1955 Pontiac Star Chief Safari

Doesn’t this recently restored 1955 Pontiac Star Chief Custom Safari look great in Firegold and White Mist? It’s a rare wagon too!

Powered by the 287 cubic inch ‘Strato-Streak’ V8 engine and also equipped with optional Hydra-Matic automatic transmission and power steering and brakes. This was the first year for the new overhead valve engine.

1955 saw big changes for Pontiac with completely new chassis and bodies. New split ‘Silver Streak’ bands that flowed down the hood, a much larger divided bumper, swept style front wheel cutouts and, like a lot of cars this year, a wraparound windshield was introduced.

1955 Pontiac Safari
Rare ’56 Safari

The 1955 Pontiac Safari actually utilized some of the same body components as the Chevrolet Nomad of the same year, this allowed both divisions to share some of the tooling costs.

side view of a 56 Safari
side view

Under the hood we have a rather immaculate 287 cubic inch Strato-Streak V8 engine outputting 180 horsepower.

The amazingly clean Strato-Streak engine sits in the highly detailed engine bay.

The Safari used the same upholstery, interior trim and external bright work as the series 28 Star Chief models but used the smaller 122 inch wheelbase, series 27 chassis that the Chieftains used. The Safari was the only model in Star Chief Custom range and was the top station wagon available from Pontiac.

Spectacular restored interior of a 1956 Pontiac Safari Wagon
Spectacular interior

Some available Pontiac options in 1955

Option Price
Power steering $108
Power brakes $36
Power windows $97
Hydra-Matic automatic transmission $178

The safari is 217.7 inches long with the tail-gate open and 204.3 inches with it closed.

Pontiac produced just 3,760 Star Chief Custom Safaris for 1955 – the lowest production figure of all the Pontiacs this year, making this a rare car. Base price was $2,962. This car was originally built in Pontiac, MI.

This ’56 Pontiac Safari is currently for sale on eBay. (follow the link for more photos)

1 thought on “1955 Pontiac Star Chief Safari”

Leave a Comment