Just Cool Cars: '57 Pontiac really is two-toned beauty
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. -- In all its two-tone glory, this 1957 Pontiac Chief is just a great looking car.
But it's owner, Jack Petitt of Long Beach, Calif., sees even more in it. For one, it brings back memories of family trips as a kid. For another, Petitt painstakingly restored it. He knows every nut, bolt and piston ring.
"I worked a good year straight on it," he told us at a car show here recently.
Petitt says he's owned the car since 1992 and loves it because it is distinctive, both then and now. "Everyone had Ford and Chevys," he says.
Petitt's father bought a Star Chief from Mike Salta Pontiac in Long Beach and family used to take it on trips to New York -- all five of them packed into the car. It was "a lot of fun" and now provides "a lot of memories," Petitt says.
The toughest part of restoring the car was rebuilding the 347-cubic-inch V-8 engine. It took more than a week. He also did all his own body work and got lucky -- there was no rust on the car. Now Petitt can sit back and appreciate his handiwork.
"There not a bad line on the car," he says.