General Motors' 1959 Four-Door Hardtops

During most of the 1940s and 1950s General Motors produced cars using one or another of three basic bodies -- the term "platform" is used today, carrying some of the previous meanings of "body."

GM's A Body was used for its entry-level (and by far its best-selling) brand, Chevrolet.  Most or all Pontiacs (depending on the year) used this body too.  Entry-level Oldsmobiles also sometimes had A bodies.  The B Body was sometimes used by Pontiac and always for many Oldsmobile and Buick models.  C bodies were for upscale GM models: all Cadillacs and senior Buicks (Supers and Roadmasters), and around 1950 for Oldsmobile Ninety-Eights as well.

A while back I posted this fascinating Special-Interest Autos magazine article dealing with GM's use of its B and C bodies around 1950.  Definitely worth reading.

General Motors styling hit the wall in the 1957 and 1958 model years when Harley Earl lost his touch, no longer having a sense of styling trend directions.  One result was declining sales.  Another was a crash project to correct this starting with the 1959 model year.

To make this happen, GM dropped its three-body policy and used a single body for all five brands.

By "single body," this includes detail variations by type -- hardtop convertibles, station wagon, two- and four-door sedans and such, each variation used from Chevrolets all the way up the hierarchy to Cadillac with few exceptions.

The present post illustrates this using four-door hardtop (lacking the above-the-beltline B pillar) models from each brand. Unless otherwise noted, images are of cars posted for sale on the internet.

To set the scene, I first show examples of 1958 model year A, B and C body hardtops.

Gallery

A Body: Pontiac Star Chief Catalina Sedan.

B Body: Oldsmobile Super 88 Holiday Sedan.

C Body: Cadillac Sedan de Ville.
Oldsmobiles, Buicks and Cadillacs were redesigned for 1957.  Chevrolets and Pontiacs were all-new for 1958, a highly unusual one-year-only run terminated by the need for fresh styling in 1959.  All the bodies used the same wraparound windshield style and their cowlings look like they might have been the same.  The similar beltlines are not structural, mostly a corporate style signature.  Definite differences are in the C-pillars, back windows, and the size of the passenger compartments.  All this changed for 1959.

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Chevrolet Impala Sport Sedan: wheelbase 119 inches (3023 mm).  Observe in the following photos that passenger greenhouses and doors are consistent across all brands in 1959, while wheelbase and overall lengths differ.

Pontiac Catalina Vista Sedan via RD Classics: Wheelbase 122 inches (3099 mm).

Buick Electra 4-door hardtop: wheelbase 123 inches (3124 mm).

Pontiac Bonneville Vista Sedan: Wheelbase 124 inches (3150 mm).

Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Holiday Sedan, Mecum Auctions photo: Wheelbase 126.3 inches (3208 mm).

Cadillac Sixty-Two four-Window Sedan: Wheelbase 130inches (3302 mm).

The Chevrolet again, for comparison with the Cadillac.  The Cadillac's wheelbase is 11 inches (280 mm) longer.