1959 Pontiac Bonneville Hardtop Coupe Walkaround

Pontiacs and the rest of General Motors were redesigned for model year 1959 (aside from Cadillac's line-topping model 75 nine-passenger cars).

This was in reaction to Chrysler Corporation's sleek 1957 line that made GM's more rounded new 1957 (Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac) and 1958 (Chevrolet and Pontiac) designs seem dumpy.  Those designs were the final ones entirely developed under the direction of long-time styling chief Harley Earl.  His staff rebelled, being shocked and impressed seeing some pre-release Chrysler models.  The result was a crash redesign for 1959; those '57 and '58 designs normally would have remained in production for three or four years.

Earl did not reach retirement age until 1958, so the new '59 designs were technically created under his direction.  What I do not know is how much input was his and how much came from those rebellious staffers.

My guess is the the flat rooflines on the new cars (clearly influenced by Chrysler) and the tail fins on all brands save Oldsmobile (also via Chrysler) along with lower hoods were what the rebels wanted.  But the trim and other details were more in Earl's line of thinking.

That said, let's take a look at an example of Pontiac's most expensive model line.  Images below of a 1959 Pontiac Bonneville Sport Coupe are via Raleigh Classic Car Auctions.

Gallery

The general impression I get is fussiness.

GM's wraparound windshields introduced 1953-54 have mutated to "wrap-over" as well, a short-term industry fad.  The fussiest segment is the rear fender zone.  Here we see tail fins, the after segment of a chrome strip, teardrop-shaped wheel opening and four chromed horizontal dashes, three of which crowd the chrome strip too closely.

That fussiness seen from another perspective.

The V-shape dual tail fins are an odd touch that adds nothing positive to the design.  It's a "Hey, we're different!" kind of thing.

Those projections at the edges of the bumper mostly relate to the side profile of the car while negating the purpose of the bumper.  And the bumper's functional part is the narrow band along its top that partly frames the taillight assemblies.  From a practical standpoint, the car has minimal rear-end protection coupled with features (the projections) that could unnecessarily damage another car.

Note the sculpting on the upper part of the front fender.  As seen here, it does not seem helpful to the overall design.

In actuality, that sculpting is an extension of grille framing.  So it's somewhat logical, but not attractive.  The front bumper functionally is a narrow, upper band, as was the case at the rear.  At least there are no pointed projections to spear another car. 

Viewed from the front, the design becomes more simplified.  The two segment grille theme that became a Pontiac "trademark" appeared here for the first time.  It disappeared for 1960, but returned for '61 and beyond.

The dashboard features plenty of chrome that might yield blinding light reflections.
I didn't comment about the passenger compartment greenhouse design because it was the same as on other GM brands' hardtop coupes.  My focus was on Pontiac-specific features.