Meet the Executive, one of the more obscure models in Pontiac’s stellar lineup of cars in the 1960s.
1966 Pontiac Star Chief Executive Hardtop Coupe
When the Star Chief was introduced in 1954, it rested at the very top of the Pontiac product line. But over the coming years, it somehow became sandwiched between the far more popular Catalina and Bonneville models without a clear identity of its own, and sales dwindled. Pontiac executives, led by general manager John DeLorean, decided that it was time for an update for 1966, and the Star Chief became the Executive. To help dealers and consumers navigate the change, in ’66 the name Star Chief Executive was adopted, and in ’67 the Star Chief tag was dropped altogether.
1967 Pontiac Executive Sedan
Priced halfway between the budget Catalina and the deluxe Bonneville, the ’67 Executive shared aspects of both. While it was constructed on the larger 124-inch wheelbase chassis of the Bonneville rather than the shorter 121-inch platform of the Catalina, its trim and standard features were more similar to the junior model.
A 400 cubic-inch V8 with four-barrel carb and 290 hp was standard in ’67. However, economy-minded buyers could opt for a 400 CID V8 with a two barrel carb and 265 hp, which ran on regular gasoline thanks to a lower 8.6:1 compression ratio. (Oddly enough, a few GTOs were also produced with the two-barrel, low-compression V8.)
1969 Pontiac Executive Sedan
A broad variety of body styles was offered: Two-door hardtop, four-door sedan and hardtop, and from ’67 on, six-passenger and nine-passenger station wagons. Just as one might expect with a full-size car in the mid-price fange, the four-door post-style sedan was the volume leader, routinely outselling the two-door and four-door hardtops by a two-to-one margin or better.
It seems only logical that the name Executive, less dated than the Star Chief label and a better fit with Pontiac’s buyers and brand image in the ’60s, should perform better in the showrooms. But in practice the name change didn’t do much either way, as sales continued to lag. In 1968, for example, the Executive sold around 45,000 units, compared to 276,000 for the Catalina and 104,000 for Bonneville. For 1971, the Executive name was dropped, the Bonneville was demoted one spot to slip into the Executive’s slot, and a new flagship model, the Grand Ville (see our feature here) was introduced.
1969 Pontiac Executive Station Wagon 
I’ve often wondered why Pontiac insisted on having three model lines of the full sized car, seeing that invariably it performed poorer than the other two. I’m guessing it was a GM convention at the time (Biscayne, BelAir, Impala later BelAir, Impala, Caprice, etc.) due to some written in stone marketing decision.
The “Executive”( whistles) I can just see some poor guy relegated to the mail room, with no chance of promotion, goes out and buys an Executive,,by golly, that showed them. The pictures shown were a carry over from the “Wide Trackin” days, and the pictures of the cars were exaggerated to look wider than they were. My late uncle had Pontiacs of this era, they were great cars.
Not as well handled as the move from passé Super, Century, Roadmaster (and Limited) to snobby Le Sabre, Invicta and Electra (225).
As always, your choice of subject matter was *superlative*. However, may I – with all due respect (which is quite a lot, frankly) – suggest that the black, four door sedan in the fourth from the top picture is actually a 1969 Executive rather than a 1968. In 1969, Pontiac introduced the “Endura” (Pontiac Trade name for whatever plastic material it was) strip on the front bumper of its full sized sedans (in fact, the 1969 Bonneville had Endura on the rear bumper also). In 1968, the full size sedan front bumpers were all chrome, no “Endura”. No, I am not a “Pontiac Geek.” What a strange question. Why did you ask that 🙂 🙂
Keith, you could always order any Pontiac model with the standard Endura front bumper with the “ENDURA DELETE” option, and get a chrome bumper instead of it. My mother’s 1969 full-sized Pontiac Ventura (Ventura at that time was a higher trim level for the Catalina) had the Endura bumper, and that thing never “endured” anything. The paint faded and mismatched the rest of the car, making it look hideous. Glenn in Brooklyn, NY.
Well, I hear ya on the endurance of “Endura”. My first car was a (heavily) used 1969 GTO and I absolutely was (and had been) *wild* about GTOs. However, by the time I purchased the 1969 GTO, the plastic material behind the painted finish on the “Endura” had become very dry and brittle. While the original TV commercials for the 1968 GTOs showed the “Endura” bumpers getting hit with a baseball bat and having no damage, if you had done that to the 1969 GTO after I had purchased it, the dry and brittle Endura would have caved in and there would be a large (and very hard to repair without complete replacement) ding in the “Endura” bumper. So,, let’s give Pontiac a hand for introducing what might have been the first “5 MPH Bumper” when new – even though the Endura faded in effectiveness with time. As for your comment regarding the “Endura” bumper delete possibility on 1969 models, I believe my comment is completely consistent with yours. All I was saying was that in 1968 one could not (no matter what option was ordered) obtain a full sized Pontiac with an Endura Strip on the front bumper. Therefore, the black Pontiac in the fourth picture from the top – had to be – a 1969. That’s all
You are correct. Good catch. Correcting the typo.
Well in the late ‘60s, executives drove Buicks or Cadillacs. Pontiacs were for shift supervisors or senior factory floor workers.
Just another example of badge engineering that didn’t impress most people… also see Pontiac’s “2+2” of the same era.