The Wide Track era at Pontiac began in 1959. And naturally, there’s quite a story behind it.

There’s more than one version of the story as to how the WIde Track era began at Pontiac. In the most popular rendition, as told by Jim Wangers and others, Pontiac general manager Bunkie Knudsen was looking over the proposed 1959 models in the General Motors styling studios, where he perceived that the wide ’59 bodies looked awkward and tippy perched upon the narrower ’58 chassis, with the wheels buried well inside the wheel openings.

GM design boss Bill Mitchell had a rather different memory of how and why it happened, recalling that the wider stance arose within his styling studios for unrelated reasons. But in any event, Pontiac chief engineer Pete Estes widened the front track width to 63.7 inches and the rear to 64 inches to broaden the stance and fill out the wheel openings. That was more than five inches wider than the ’58 chassis, and several inches wider than the ’59 Chevrolet, Olds, and Buick, which shared the same basic body shell.

It’s perfectly true that a wider track width reduces lateral load transfer in roll and cornering, improving ride and handling in a significant way. But here, it appears the greater distance between the wheels was added strictly for aesthetics. Ad writers on the Pontiac account at McManus, John, and Adams, seizing upon the development, proposed the terms “sports stance” and “wide-track drive” to describe the look, but Wide Track won the day, and it became a Pontiac catchphrase for several more decades.

Along with the all-new exterior sheet metal and more athletic stance, there were further changes at Pontiac for ’59. The division’s V8 (347 and 370 CID in ’58) was bored and stroked out to 389 cubic inches across the product line, which was streamlined to three trim levels. Catalina was promoted from a body style to a full model designation, while the mid-range Super Chief was dropped. Now the lineup was Bonneville, Star Chief, and Catalina in descending order. A new four-door hardtop body style, called the Flying Wing at GM and marketed as the Vista by Pontiac, made its debut (more on the ’59-’60 GM Flat Tops here).

Famed Pontiac illustrators Art Fitzpatrick and Van Kaufman, who presented their work as Fitz and Van, had their own take on the Wide Track theme. While their art is  celebrated for its almost photo-realistic attention to detail, they weren’t above taking some artistic liberties. The ’59 convertible below suggests a front seat suitable for four, maybe five passengers. When the GM full-sized cars were downsized for 1961, Pontiac returned to a more conventional track width, but the Wide Track label at Pontiac carried forward for years to come.