For 1962 Pontiac quietly offered the Star Chief a 405-horsepower 421 Super Duty V8 — an option so rare it was probably never actually ordered.
Lead trim: Star Chief 421 Super Duty V8 (405 hp, 1962 option)
Pontiac Star Chief1961–1964
- 0spots by members
- Unclaimednobody has spotted one yet
- 0sets it belongs to
Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Pontiac Star Chief yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactFor 1962 Pontiac quietly offered the Star Chief a 405-horsepower 421 Super Duty V8 — an option so rare it was probably never actually ordered.
The fifth-generation Star Chief (1961–1964) was a four-door sedan and four-door hardtop (the Star Chief Vista) with no wagons offered, on a 123 in wheelbase and 218.6 in long; Bonneville taillights and three chrome stars on each side distinguished it from the Catalina (the Safari wagons of this period rode the 4.5 in shorter wheelbase shared by Chevrolet and Catalina). For 1962 Pontiac offered a 421 cu in Super Duty V8 with two four-barrel carburetors, rated at 405 hp, as a US$2,250 option when the base Star Chief listed at US$3,097, a rare option that was probably never ordered on this somewhat heavy sedan.
Collectors Spotted in the Pontiac Star Chief Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Pontiac Star Chief yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
One published trim in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Star Chief 421 Super Duty V8 (405 hp, 1962 option) | 1962–1962 | V8 | 405 hp | 425 lb-ft | — | RWD | — | — |
Owning one
We don’t estimate running costs for a car like this. What it costs depends on its condition, its specialist and how it is driven, and an average would mislead.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
1966 was the Star Chief's last stand under its own name — Pontiac rebranded it Star Chief Executive that year, the first step toward quietly retiring a nameplate it now saw as dated.
For 1962 Pontiac quietly offered the Star Chief a 405-horsepower 421 Super Duty V8 — an option so rare it was probably never actually ordered.
In 1959 the Star Chief — Pontiac's overlooked middle child, squeezed between the Catalina and Bonneville — still accounted for nearly 18% of every Pontiac sold.
The 1958 Star Chief closed out a 25-year Pontiac tradition: this was the last year the brand’s signature "Silver Streak" hood styling appeared, after debuting all the way back in 1933.
A red-on-white 1955 Star Chief convertible drove Lucy and Ricky to Hollywood on 'I Love Lucy' — one of early TV's most memorable car cameos.
The debut Star Chief quietly made history: it was the first car in its price class to offer factory air conditioning with all the hardware packaged neatly under the hood.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
It briefly served as senior sibling to Marquette, a GM companion brand cancelled after just one year.
Nissan hired former BMW engineers to help develop the 510's suspension, which is why period reviewers frequently compared its handling to the BMW 1600/2002.
A Trabant 601 won its class at the 1970 Monte Carlo Rally, with a second 601 right behind it in second.
The 600 was a stopgap: the P50's body over the 601's mechanicals, and for a while its estate was built alongside the new 601 saloon.
The G80 Sport brought a 370 PS twin-turbo 3.3 V6, a mesh grille and copper-tinted chrome with copper stitching to match.
The Vigor was sold only with a five-cylinder engine, an unusual configuration Honda used to fit a longer engine transversely under a short hood.
The GS/E coupe earned the nickname "German Charger" for its long hood, short deck stance borrowed from Detroit muscle cars.
This DeVille/Fleetwood was the first production car anywhere to mount its V8 sideways, Cadillac's front-drive gamble on the new C-body.