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Pontiac style was colorful back in the ‘30s
 A 1933 Pontiac coupe dressed in Vendome Blue, (www.TOCMP.com) 
"Popular for comfortable and sociable motoring." That’s how early thirties Pontiac pitchmen worded the sales brochure for the Pontiac automobiles for 1933. Wow... they had a way with words back then, didn’t they. Take this bit of not-so-creative copy writing for what it’s worth. Buyers pretty much knew what to expect from Pontiac... a sound automobile that provided room and comfort to suit the average consumer. Not pretentious like a Piece Arrow, Cadillac or Lincoln, the Pontiac filled a niche in General Motors lineup... a small step up from the entry level Chevrolet models, but much more attainable than the company’s luxury cars at the upper end of the scale. When it came to performance, Pontiac had a decided edge over Chevrolet. Under that stylish, long hood, with its waterfall, plow-shaped grill, lurked a standard eight cylinder engine... something that would not arrive until more than twenty years later from the bow tie brand– and then, only as an extra cost option. Pontiac ad men called the rather small, 223.4 cubic inch displacement engine “an unusually economical motor”. It produced a modest 77 horsepower but that was seventeen more than Chevrolet and a scant, two pony lead over Ford’s legendary V-8 engine. The handsome Pontiac coupe shown in the illustration above is dressed in Vendome Blue, one of seventeen colors on the Pontiac palette for 1944. The accent stripes on the belt line and the wire wheels are done in Cadet Blue. Other creative color names were Media Red; Royce Green; Cashew Tan (love that one); Martini Brown; Vineyard Lake Maroon; Maylene Maroon; Minoqua Maroon; Billiard Green; Inverness Green and... well, they must have exhausted all of their creative juices when they came to the last one and called it simply... “Black”. Poor, under appreciated Henry Ford black. Few cared to waste their energy on basic black, but they could have come up with something. Other manufacturers did it with names like Tuxedo Black; Raven Black; Piano Black and more. Whatever color you chose, you were getting a car you could be proud of in the 1933 Pontiac. The specifications page of the 1933 brochure challenged buyers to “Look... Drive... and Compare” including a chart listing the attributes of Pontiac (cylinders; wheelbase; ventilation system; weight; horsepower; speed; lubrication system and price) and fill-in-the-blank columns for Car No. 1, 2 and 3. Whether or not many potential buyers actually filled in the tiny boxes or not is questionable, but the intent of the marketing team was not. An entire page of fine print touted the quality and features found in Pontiac for 1933. Buyers shelled out roughly $700 for the privilege of owning a 1933 Pontiac Sport Coupe– about two hundred more than a Chevrolet or Ford of similar body style. But the 90,198 who did, felt it was worth the extra wampum. Event: The St. Louis Chapter of the Jaguar Club of America will hold its annual Concours event in Clayton on Friday, October 9 and Saturday, October 10 in Clayton,. A well rounded display of some of Coventry’s finest will be on display as the city of Clayton closes down North Brentwood Boulevard between Maryland Avenue and Forsyth. Meet the Fin Man at this event. The event is free to spectators and you can be sure you’ll see some rare and beautiful cats displayed on Brentwood Boulevard. For more information on this event, go to jagsl.org.
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