[MUSIC PLAYING]
MIKE MUSTO: Things that are orange--
pumpkins, cats, Doritos, lollipops, orange sherbet,
cheese, orange juice, carrots, tulips, tigers--
rrr--
orioles, Monarch butterflies, and sunburned Irish people--
and the 1959 Pontiac Bonneville
that sits behind me.
Welcome to a very big, big episode of "BIG MUSCLE."
My name is Mike Musto.
Each week I travel the country with the goal of showcasing
the best and baddest muscle cars and hot rods around.
Every car has a past, and every owner, a story.
Welcome to the world of "BIG MUSCLE."
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MIKE MUSTO: Over the past three seasons of "BIG MUSCLE,"
we've shown you a wide variety of cars from a host of
different time periods.
However, if we were to pick one that was guided by sheer
wonder and forward thinking, it would have to
be that of the 1950s.
This was a time when ornate designs and artistic freedom
defined American transportation.
Automobiles had interiors that looked like opera houses,
fenders that made you stare, and faces as different as the
people who bought them.
Today's market, on other hand, demands a relatable
individuality, which explains why there are so many
four-door coupes on the road and why everyone's headlights
look so damn angry.
This is the 1959 Pontiac Bonneville.
The interior is a jewelry box, the exterior, a perfect blend
of intricate creases and smooth folds.
This car is about design.
So guys, let's start by saying this.
This is not a road burner of a car.
It is not a tire smoker.
It is not a drift car.
It is not a canyon carver.
And it's not something that you sit in and do donuts with.
Therefore, you might be asking yourself, well, why is it on
"BIG MUSCLE"?
And the reason is simple--
look at it.
One of the best-looking cars that I've seen in
a long, long time.
When we first met Chuck, I asked him flat out, I go, what
is going on with this orange paint?
The fact that he said it was Lamborghini orange, the car
was on RideTech's airbag suspension, you know, you
start to think of things.
And he did have somewhat of a vision with this car, and he
pulled it off absolutely beautifully.
You have to get past the fact that it's not a 500 or
600-horsepower car and look at the details.
You have to look at the dashboard and look at how
everything is aircraft inspired.
You got to remember, this was 1959.
This was the jet age.
So everything is kind of airplane related, right?
You've got these beautiful toggle switches that you flip
down for your temperature, your heat, and what not.
Push buttons for the controls, not fancy or ornate.
Ah, they work.
That's even better.
All right, so let me ask you a question, I mean, why a '59
Bonneville?
CHUCK CUSHNER: Why not?
It's a beautiful style.
I love the mid to late '50s cars.
The '59 Bonneville was the first of the wide body.
It was an extra-long car.
It was just a beautiful car from the factory.
And I was never able to afford one when they were new or even
within a few years of that.
So I saw this one for sale and thought I'd go for it.
The car had been sitting in Kansas in someone's backyard
for probably about 15 years.
They had tried to customize it, again, probably about 15
years before, got tired of it.
It was sitting in the backyard, but it was
basically all there.
I was able to get it at a reasonable price.
I saw pictures of it.
So I had them ship it out.
It was in decent condition for a car that's
sitting in a field.
I mean, there were rats living in it, and there was some body
rot, but there was definitely a lot of potential.
And as I was telling you earlier, that when the flatbed
came up and this thing was on the back of the flatbed, my
wife came out, and she was ready to call the
psychiatrist.
I was definitely gone over the edge.
But I said I have a vision.
MIKE MUSTO: Now, was that truth or--
CHUCK CUSHNER: Well, I always tell her I have a vision
anytime I want to do anything.
I never go into anything blindly, right?
It may be stupid at the time, maybe even afterwards.
But I thought it was the right decision.
MIKE MUSTO: For '59, it was Pontiac's first year of the
quote, unquote "wide-track" stance, which means the wheels
on the car on the front and back were actually moved to
the outer corners.
This helped the car get a much more stable
ride, which it does.
This car rides beautifully.
And they used the whole wide-track thing for about 10
years or so, then they dropped it.
Then the mid to late '80s hit, and it was Pontiac wide-track
all over again.
It was more of a marketing thing.
But if you look at the body itself, this is a massive,
massive car.
This car is 19-feet-long.
The rear quarter panel stretches from the back of my
door-- obviously, it's not a surprise.
But to the end, the rear quarter panel is
almost 8 feet long.
That's one panel.
Think about the stamping process that the manufacturers
had to go through for that.
Think about how big the deck lid, right?
We open that trunk, you can almost fit-- and I'm not
exaggerating--
a full-sized mattress in the trunk laid down.
In fact, you could fit the entire--
let's see, we could probably fit nine Chris Harris', OK?
I'm going to go with 13 Leo Parentes.
We can do maybe seven JFs.
In short, the entire DRIVE team could go on holiday in
the trunk of this car.
It's just obscenely huge.
Power-wise, you step on the gas in this thing, and it's
got more than enough grunt.
CHUCK CUSHNER: It's got plenty of power for me.
MIKE MUSTO: But the motor's original to the car, correct?
CHUCK CUSHNER: Yeah, the running
gear is 100% original--
the engine, transmission, rear end.
And I haven't changed anything mechanically on the car.
MIKE MUSTO: And how big is the engine?
CHUCK CUSHNER: It's a 289 cubic engine, 300 horsepower.
MIKE MUSTO: And the car's got to weigh what?
4,800 pounds?
CHUCK CUSHNER: It's about 4,800 pounds, so
it's a lot of weight.
You do need a big engine, but it's plenty powerful enough.
These cars did come with three 2s also, which brought the
horsepower up.
But this car when I found it had the four barrel, and I
loved it that way.
MIKE MUSTO: The Bonneville--
I think you were saying before, this
shares the same basic--
I guess it's the glass and the roof line with a couple of
other cars, no?
CHUCK CUSHNER: Right.
I guess it's called the roof line or the belt line up.
It's the same exact as the 1959 Chevy, 1959 Cadillac, and
the Pontiac.
So '59 and '60 are exactly the same.
So the windows, everything about it is exactly the same.
MIKE MUSTO: The '59 Bonneville, though, this
design, with the tail lamps and the split fin, this was
'59 only though, correct?
CHUCK CUSHNER: Correct.
So the body itself from the side windows down is 1959
Pontiac only.
So this has four fins in the back.
That's '59 only.
The split grill in the front, this was the first year of the
split Pontiac grill, but in '60 they did away with it.
So when you see a car with the four fins in the back and the
split grill in the front and almost 19 feet long, you know
that it's a '59 Pontiac.
MIKE MUSTO: One of the cool parts about this particular
car is the rear-view mirrors.
The rear-view mirror is just this beautiful little stalk,
adjustable, but it's very nicely sculpted.
Now for your side-view mirror, which the car only has one,
it's not mounted traditionally on the door, which most cars
obviously have.
It's actually mounted up here on the front fender.
I mean, you could bring that back today, and it would make
perfect sense.
Manufacturers, they lose their way at times, I think, and
they forget about what design is.
And I can guess we know times have changed, and we know
modern elements come into it.
And there are things like safety features and whatnot,
and all the technology that they want to put, so parts
become bigger and bulkier.
But I don't understand why you still can't design something
that's beautiful.
I mean, think about it.
When was the last time you saw a really beautiful car?
Aside from something super exotic, like a Ferrari or a
Lamborghini, when was the last time you saw a beautiful car
that made you stop and go, oh my god.
A car like this that makes you just want to look inside of it
and under it and look at the gauges and the switches and
stuff, the chrome work on the car.
The fact that Bonneville is actually raised
off the dash in script.
The fact that the bezels have the fins of a starship on
them, and that your gauges are so unbelievably clear, that
why can't you do that again?
The fact that we have these little quarter windows that
are-- oops, that's the real window-- little quarter
windows that are cranks, and they crank open.
I love it.
You people say, well, what do you think about modern cars?
I think they're appliances.
They have some semblance of use, and we all know that.
But man, for style, you can't touch a car like this.
You simply cannot touch a car like this.
When I first saw this car, I felt like I was a kid at the
World's Fair.
I felt like it should be on a rotisserie, and this should be
a concept car.
It almost doesn't look real to me.
You look at the ornate dash, the chrome and the orange
paint, the wire wheels and the white walls, and then you get
in it and you start it, and you hear that rumble.
It's not crazy fast.
It doesn't handle like a slot car, and
it does not do burnouts.
This is a car that's made for driving, and it was just
outstanding.
Some cars have distinct personalities.
This one just says look at me, enjoy me, and don't let me go.
And it's something that I don't want to do.
So on that note, guys, thanks for watching "BIG MUSCLE," and
we'll see you again next week.
I love this car.
I actually might go to jail, because I don't want
to give this back.
You got pulled over here.
THADDEUS BROWN: Was it right here?
MIKE MUSTO: This is where you got pulled over in Zack's
Cobra last season.
THADDEUS BROWN: Oh.
MIKE MUSTO: Right here.
THADDEUS BROWN: Right here?
MIKE MUSTO: Uh-huh.
This is where your hat flew off.
THADDEUS BROWN: Oh.
MIKE MUSTO: Yep, that's the place.
Thaddeus got busted here last year when we were filming
Zack's Cobra.
And he was like, I just want to drive it once.
And you drove it, and you went from 0 to 85 in about 8
seconds and immediately got pulled over.
THADDEUS BROWN: I made it farther than that.
MIKE MUSTO: You did?
THADDEUS BROWN: Much farther than that.