The Pontiac Club de Mer was a purpose-built experimental roadster shown at the General Motors Motorama in 1956. Named after the French for “of the sea”, it was a two-door sports car with a low, aircraft-inspired body and a modified Pontiac V8 driving through a rear transaxle.
Pontiac Club de Mer at a glance
| Maker | Pontiac, General Motors |
|---|---|
| Shown | 1956 GM Motorama, Miami |
| Type | two-door sports roadster, show car |
| Designers | Harley Earl, with Paul Gillan of the Pontiac studio |
| Body | stainless-steel monocoque |
| Height | just under 39 in (990 mm) |
| Engine | 287 cu in OHV V8, two four-barrel carburettors |
| Power | about 300 bhp (220 kW) |
| Drive | rear transaxle, De Dion rear axle |
| Built | one car and one quarter-scale model |
| Fate | scrapped in 1958 under GM’s kill order |
Based on one source: the English Wikipedia article on the Club de Mer.
History of the Pontiac Club de Mer
A Motorama showpiece
The Club de Mer was built for the 1956 Motorama to celebrate GM’s commitment to futuristic design. It was the brainchild of Harley Earl, with Paul Gillan, then head of the Pontiac studio, also involved. The car was a two-door sport roadster whose sleek, low body wrapped a large engine, a theme borrowed from the land-speed-record cars that ran at Bonneville in the 1950s. One prototype and one quarter-scale model were unveiled in Miami, Florida.
Design
The body drew on contemporary aircraft construction: a stainless-steel monocoque, individual windshields like those of the 1955 Lincoln Futura, a fascia that flowed down from the bonnet to cover most of the grille, concealed headlights and a single dorsal fin on the rear deck. Twin “silver streaks” ran into low bonnet scoops, a carry-over from the Bonneville Special of two years earlier. There were no bumpers, the door handles were tiny, and the whole car stood just under 39 inches tall. The interior was finished in red with triangularly arranged gauges behind a three-spoke GT steering wheel, the speedometer on top and a smaller gauge in its own pod on either side.
Mechanical parts and legacy
Under the bonnet sat Pontiac’s new 287 OHV V8, the Strato Streak, fitted with a high-lift camshaft and two four-barrel carburettors to produce about 300 bhp. Drive went to the rear wheels through a rear-mounted transaxle on a De Dion axle with independent suspension, a layout Pontiac would use again on the 1961 Tempest. The aerodynamic windshields were carried over to the 1955 and 1956 Corvette race cars, and Revell sold a 1/25 scale kit of the car. The prototype was reportedly scrapped in 1958 under GM’s kill order; the surviving car passed through the collection of Joseph Bortz and sold at Barrett-Jackson in 2007 for $75,000. A running replica on a 1959 Pontiac chassis, built over three years by Marty Martino, made $110,000 at the same auction house in 2009.
Design and features
- Stainless-steel body: a monocoque shell rather than a separate chassis.
- Aircraft-style glazing: individual windshields later adopted by Corvette racers.
- Rear transaxle: a De Dion rear axle with independent suspension, revisited on the 1961 Tempest.
- Very low profile: under 39 inches (990 mm) tall, with concealed headlights and no bumpers.
- 300 bhp V8: a twin-carburettor version of the 287 Strato Streak.
Pontiac Club de Mer versions
- Full-size prototype (1956): the single running show car.
- Quarter-scale model: displayed alongside the prototype in Miami.
- Martino replica (2009): a running copy on a 1959 Pontiac chassis.
The Club de Mer previewed ideas used on the Bonneville and the Tempest. More Pontiacs are in the Pontiac collection.
Sources
- Pontiac Club de Mer, English Wikipedia: design, engine, fate
