Pontiac Delivery Truck restomod 1951 images

Pontiac’s sedan delivery was always the overlooked sibling in GM’s fleet lineup, rare enough that only a fraction survive today compared to Chevrolet’s more common version. This 1951 example has been reworked with a 400 cubic-inch V8, leather interior, and modern comforts the original spartan service trucks never came close to offering. Here’s what makes this uncommon body style worth a second look.

These panel trucks were originally marketed asÂ service vehicles and wereÂ traditionally very spartan inside, but this restomod version is anything but plain. There is a 400 CID engine under the hood which is coupled to a three speed automatic with cruise control. Â Leather interior, modern stereo, power brakes, power seats and power windows have been installed.

further more you can buy it hereÂ goo.gl/2AwGNm

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MCF thanks Gateway Classic Cars for the images provided here.

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Most people flipping past a row of restomods at a classic car lot would walk right by this one without a second look. Sedan deliveries never had the glamour of the coupes and convertibles parked next to them, and this particular badge, Pontiac, made even fewer of them than its more common Chevrolet cousin. Yet somebody took this spartan service vehicle and gave it a 400 cubic-inch engine, leather seats, and a modern stereo, transforming a truck built for grocery runs into something closer to a boulevard cruiser. The contrast between what this body style was originally built to do and what it’s capable of now is the whole appeal.

A Body Style Built For Fleets, Not Showrooms

Pontiac’s sedan delivery traces back to the late 1940s, with GM tooling up an A-Body version for both Chevrolet and Pontiac dealers. Pontiac formally introduced its version in 1949 as the Streamliner, and it stood apart from Chevrolet’s competing model by offering a V8 option, a genuine rarity in this segment at the time. Production for 1951 is estimated at roughly 1,822 units, a tiny fraction of what Ford, Chevrolet, and Plymouth built in the same body style, since most fleet buyers gravitated toward the cheaper competition rather than the pricier Pontiac and Oldsmobile versions. That scarcity is exactly why survivors like this one draw attention at events decades later.

From Spartan Hauler To Leather-And-Chrome Restomod

This particular restomod pairs a 400 cubic-inch V8 with a three-speed automatic and cruise control, a significant departure from the spartan service-vehicle spec these trucks originally shipped with. Leather interior, power brakes, power seats, power windows, and a modern stereo round out the build, according to Gateway Classic Cars, which supplied the images shown here. Where the original panel trucks were built strictly for utility, with minimal trim and rock-simple mechanicals, this version proves the platform can carry modern comfort and drivability just as easily as it once carried cargo. Restomods like this one typically appeal to collectors who want a genuinely unusual, low-production body style they can actually drive to shows and back without babying a fully original, decades-old drivetrain, which explains why builders keep dressing up overlooked platforms like the sedan delivery instead of restoring them strictly to factory spec.

The Color and Finish Up Close

In the photos, the truck wears a deep burnt-orange metallic paint with a high-gloss finish, set off by polished chrome trim around the windows and a wide chrome strip along the beltline. It rides on a set of five-spoke aluminum wheels rather than anything resembling the truck’s original steel wheels and dog-dish caps, another sign of just how far this build strayed from its utilitarian roots. The cream-toned leather visible through the glass echoes the interior work mentioned in Gateway Classic Cars’ own description, and a color-sanded, buffed metallic finish like this one isn’t cheap to lay down correctly on a body this size.

How Sedan Deliveries Became Custom Culture Icons

Long before restomod culture existed as a hobby, sedan deliveries like this one found a second life among hot rodders and custom builders starting in the 1950s. Their smooth, unbroken panel sides made them a favorite canvas for custom paint and pinstriping, while their commercial-vehicle rarity gave builders something genuinely different to show up with at a cruise night full of coupes and convertibles. That tradition of taking a forgotten workhorse body style and turning it into a rolling showpiece is exactly what’s happening here, decades later, just with a modern automatic transmission and leather seats instead of a straight-six and a bench.

What a Showroom Consignment Says About the Market

Gateway Classic Cars operates multiple showroom locations across the country, buying, consigning, and reselling everything from unrestored survivors to full-blown restomods like this Pontiac. A build this complete, with a matched interior, sound system, and drivetrain swap, typically arrives at a dealer like this only after an owner has already sunk years and real money into it, then decided to let someone else enjoy the finished product. The showroom setting in these photos, with even lighting and a clean concrete floor, is standard practice for consignment dealers looking to present a build at its best for potential buyers browsing online.

Driving It Versus Trailering It

The choice to add cruise control alongside the three-speed automatic signals this build was meant to be driven on real roads, not just rolled onto a trailer for static car show displays. Power brakes, power seats, and power windows matter enormously on a body style this size, since the original panel truck would have relied on manual everything. That’s the appeal restomod culture keeps chasing: all the visual drama of a decades-old body with none of the compromises that made driving the original an actual chore.

The Restomod Market for Unusual Commercial Bodies

Restomod builders and buyers increasingly chase body styles that were never common to begin with, since finding another coupe or convertible restomod at a car show is easy, but finding a sedan delivery is not. That scarcity premium has pushed panel-truck and delivery-wagon restomods from a niche corner of the hobby into a genuine subcategory buyers actively search for, particularly among collectors who already have a more traditional muscle car in the garage and want something that won’t blend in at a cruise night.

What a Fresh Owner Should Budget For

Buying a finished restomod like this one means skipping the years of labor and headaches that go into a ground-up build, but it also means paying a premium reflecting all of that invested time. Prospective buyers researching a car like this typically budget for ongoing maintenance on the modern drivetrain components as much as the vintage bodywork, since a build blending decades-old sheet metal with a contemporary automatic transmission and power accessories needs upkeep on both fronts to stay reliable.

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