The 1956 Pontiac Club De Mer was the unique masterpiece of GM's Motorama car show for 1956. The body was made out of anodized brushed aluminum and was a scant 38 inches high. The engine compartment housed a 300 horsepower Stato-Streak V8 engine with dual 4 barrel carburetors. The companion car for the full scale Club De Mer was a quarter scale model, which traveled with the car to all of the auto shows throughout the United States. While the full scale model was destroyed in 1958, the Quarter Scale Model was retained by General Motors and was later motorized by Harley Earl, chief designer of General Motors and given to his grandson, whose first name was tiger, as a peddle car. Thereafter the car went through several hands and was recently purchased and restored by the Bortz Auto Collection.
The Following are facts and specifications for this model:
- Man responsible for designing the Club De Mer: Paul Gillian.
- 300 Horsepower V8
- Rear mounted transaxle
- 104 inch wheelbase
- Large dorsal fin undoubtedly the most dramatic cue for this car.
- Headlights and parking lights are placed in a dual arrangement one over the other in a rotational unit that when not in use revolve and disappear, leaving a completely smooth front surface.
- Debut: Miami, 1956 (Note, the Quarter Scale Model of the Club De Mer was unveiled earlier in North Miami Beach at an exclusive club).
- Ultimate Status: No one seems to know whether this carefully crafted aluminum masterpiece was unceremoniously removed from General Motors by some sympathetic person.
- Last known whereabouts: 1959 in a warehouse in Warren, Michigan.
by Pontiac