The Lone Survivor: Terry Jenkins’ 57 Pontiac Chieftain

The Camp Fire was the most destructive wild fire in California history. It claimed 18,000 buildings, burned 153,000 acres and took the lives of 85 people. Terry Jenkins was able to make it out of the fire in one piece, and miraculously so did his 1957 Pontiac Chieftain. Terry Jenkins grew up with a deep appreciation for 50’s Pontiac’s. His brother had a 50’s Star Chief, which Terry had always loved and has many fond memories of. His brothers Star Chief was first car that he drove, and Terry and his brother would sneak out of church, to just go out and drive. It was a car that at the time most people weren’t too fond of, but Terry had always loved. So in 2005 when Terry saw a 57 Pontiac for sale he had to buy it and relive the good memories he had in his brothers car.

Terry’s Pontiac is one of those cars that when you see it you know it’s special. Like other restored cars this Pontiac has had a full body off frame restoration. To start, Terry did a full powder coat on the frame and swapped the sub frame for one from a Trans Am so that he could do things such as tubular A-arms, but still fit the 400ci Pontiac engine. Terry primarily built this car for cruising on the street, so for comfort he has added a Vintage Air AC system, a modern stereo, and has put dynamat throughout for good sound insulation. Things that aren’t so common that Terry has done is shortened the car a total of 9 inches. It was shortened 4.5” from wheel to wheel, and he has tucked the bumpers into the body, shortening it another 4.5”. When it comes to the paint, Terry’s Pontiac is truly unique. The color is a Dark Emerald Pearl, which surprisingly, is a Honda color. And when asking why the Honda color Terry simply said that he liked the way it looked so it went on the car.

The outer color scheme of green and white also continues into the cabin, with a tasteful two toned blend. With the color inside and out not being stock, Terry still wanted to stay true to how the car was from the factory. So when designing how the layout for the car would be, Terry kept in mind how the Pontiac was stock and made things similar but with his own spin on it. Where Pontiac originally had the white on the seats alternate side to side from front to rear, Terry put the white on the passengers side for both front and rear. And the steering wheel was also taken out of a Trans Am, but was marbilized with that very cool Dark Emerald Pearl to match. With this car being so coherent in style from front to rear, inside and out, it is not surprising that in 2015 when Terry took it to a GoodGuys car show, he won an award for slick 50’s cars.

Terry’s Pontiac is in no way the only car that he and his family has built. They have had old Tahoe’s, El Camino’s, Camaro’s and Terry’s old Falcon. The Falcon was a purpose built car to go fast. It had all custom body work, a powerful engine and big sticky tires in the rear. Unfortunately though most of their cars, their entire shop, and their house was burned down in the Camp Fire. On the day of the fire terry recalls not having enough time to evacuate and save all of the cars. So Terry and his son parked a few cars in the middle of the lot wishing that they might be saved being away from the house and shop. It was this state of mind that saved Terry’s Pontiac, where as other cars like his Falcon were not so lucky.

The Pontiac is special not only for the personal touches that Terry has put on it, or for the memories he has of similar cars in his youth. But the fact that the Pontiac has been through hell and back, literally being surrounded by flames and came out with only a few minor blemishes. Through it all the Pontiac has persevered and is still running strong, with the style to win awards and put a smile on Terry’s face. Only time will tell what is in store for the Pontiac. But with it living through a major life event and being personalized so much with Terry’s style. This 57 Pontiac Chieftan will always be in Terry’s driveway ready to go on the next adventure.