One of the concept cars displayed at the 1956 General Motors Motorama show was the Pontiac Club de Mer, a futuristic roadster that was designed by Paul Gillian under the supervision of famed GM designer and engineer Harley Earl. This particular study and other GM “Futuristic Dream Cars” of the time, pointed the way to cars of the future - or at least they tried to.
GM built only one Pontiac Club de Mer (albeit a non-running mockup), but unfortunately it had it destroyed in late 1958. There was also a 1/4 scale model which survives to this day. However, there is another life-sized Pontiac Club de Mer in mint shape and fully functional.
Built by custom car expert Marty Martino, who specializes in concept car recreations, the Pontiac Club de Mer was brought back to life as a replica using the chassis and powertrain of a 1959 Pontiac. The recreation is powered by the 1959 Strato Streak engine mated to the Jetaway Hydro-Matic 4-speed transmission.
The body’s inner structure is all steel and uses the 1959 Pontiac’s inner doors, jambs, cowl sections, hinges and latches, augmented with square tubing. The OEM-style chassis is built using mid-sized Pontiac suspension clips with custom boxed rails.
On top of the steel structure, Martino added an authentically sculpted fiberglass outer body that replicates the original design by Pontiac’s Paul Gillian. The car features many unique details specifically crafted for it, including bumpers, lights and interior components.
It is painted in the concept’s original and unique Cerulean Blue paint, while the interior features custom-built leather-covered bucket seats and chrome finish on the one-off trim parts. The car took three years to build and was sold at a 2009 Barrett-Jackson auction for $110,000 (€80,980).
By Dan Mihalascu
