The
Ventura was a mid-range Pontiac line for the 1961 model year. Only two body types were offered, both hardtops (no full-height B-pillar) -- the Sport Coupe and Vista Sedan. Today's post is a visual walkaround of a Sport Coupe Ventura.
General Motors brands all received essentially redesigned bodies for 1961. A major difference from 1960 was the return to aft-slanting A-pillars from the panoramic (wraparound) windshields the corporation offered from 1954 or thereabouts through 1960. Tail fins were in the process of being phased out in 1961 as well.
All GM divisions used the two-door hardtop body featured here. The Pontiac Ventura version was not necessarily the most attractive (that might have been the Chevrolet Bel Air), but it's a nice-looking if slightly over-decorated machine.
All images bellow are via Mecum Auctions.
Gallery
1961 saw the return of Pontiac's two-segment grille introduced in 1959 but dropped for 1960.
The lower body isn't tall compared to what was common a decade earlier. Its contrast with the tall, curved, airy passenger compartment greenhouse enhances that effect.
The beltline is horizontal, but the nearby flowing fenderline reduces a potentially static appearance.
Rear fenderline tops retain hints of tail fins.
The little V-shaped logo on the trunk lid is Pontiac's, the letters between the tail lights spell "VENTURA."
The sculpted side decoration hints of jet planes or space ships and probably should have been eliminated or perhaps replaced by something simpler.
End of walkaround.
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