Photos & Story by Kyle Kruszewski
June, 2018
My love of Pontiac starts with the car that brought me home from the hospital; my dad’s ‘70 Tempest Coupe. Over the years attending Pontiac events and reading “Smoke Signals”, the 1951 Pontiacs with their “V” grille caught my fancy. I also was drawn to ‘51s, being Pontiac’s Silver Anniversary and the birth year of my parents. In early May, Lynn Sutton (a fellow Pontiac Enthusiast undergoing a full restoration of a ‘57 2-Door Safari) posted an ad to various Pontiac classifieds groups on Facebook for a 1951 Chieftain Deluxe Eight 4-Door, “parked since ‘69”. It stopped me in my tracks.
This 2569D was born in Pontiac, MI on December 13, 1950. A cash deposit of $100 was made by Emma Rigan on January 11, 1951 at Bartell Motor Company in Cicero, IL, with the remaining $2,579.44 (also paid in cash) on January 17. The new owners were Jerome and Emma Rigan. Jerome and his brothers ran Chicago’s “Rigan’s Department Store”.
Original owner Emma Rigan.
I was captivated upon first learning of the car. I didn’t have room, so at first talked myself out of it. But I couldn’t get it out of my mind. The car was being sold by the estate of Jerome & Emma’s daughter Elaine, so I arranged with the bank to go see it. Standing in the driveway in LaGrange and seeing the door open made me feel like Howard Carter opening King Tutankhamen’s Tomb in the Valley of the Kings (although I’m not aware of any curse for disturbing this treasure). The car still wears the Bartell Pontiac dealership sticker. All four B.F. Goodrich Silvertown whitewalls were dead flat. But under the 49 years of dirt, it was apparent the car was complete and unmolested, with the original Saturn Gold paint just a clean-and-buffing away from shining again.
How does a car get forgotten all these years AND survive? By 1969 with 43,883 miles on the clock, Emma had already acquired a ‘64 Mercury Colony Park and stopped driving the Chieftain with plans to give it to Jerome Jr. upon completing college. Tragically, he fell to his death while hiking Norwegian fjords in ‘72. His younger sister Elaine, who eventually took ownership of the House, was a sentimental soul and could never get rid of “Jerry’s” car. So there it sat waiting in its brick tomb.
June 8 was the big day! My friend Mike Foye accompanied me on the mission to liberate the Chieftain. In a light rain, we aired-up the tires (yes, they held air!) and got it rolling for the first time since the Nixon administration.
Seeing the light of day for the first time in 49 years.
Not just Hudsons were fabulous in ‘51! Kyle Kruszewski, the new caretaker of this fabulous ‘51 Chieftain Deluxe Eight, poses proudly upon a safe trip home.
The car included a miraculous collection of original paperwork, including the Pontiac Motor Division build document, and the Bartell receipts and invoice. Ironically the keys couldn’t be located, but the build document contained the key codes! After finding a locksmith with the early ‘50s GM key data on file, I had two perfect sets of keys made! The hood release cable had frozen tight over the years, but I was able to actuate the hood latch with a very long slotted screwdriver while reaching through the grille. I was very happy to discover nothing missing (except for the fact that someone had wisely pulled the battery before storing the car). The radiator still displays its 1958 coolant service tag from when it had just 19,500 miles. The Sinclair Dino Supreme motor oil that was put in in June of ‘68 at 43,170 miles is quite likely what still sits in the crankcase today.
After joining ETC, I found that fellow-member and ‘51 owner Jeffrey Arnesen lives nearby. His car (featured in the July ETCetera) is identical except for the Starmist Blue Paint (and the Concourse restoration!). He was gracious enough to host me on July 22 and share his car and stories with me.
Jeffrey Arnesen poses with his immaculate ‘51 Chieftain Deluxe Eight.
At the 2018 POCI Convention in Wisconsin Dells, I attended the ETC chapter meeting and got to meet many of the great members. Long before acquiring this car, I had admired the ETC for the fact that driving is so encouraged. I look forward to driving my new ‘51 Chieftain to a future Flathead Reunion. One such member was Ralph Hamilton who said, “The cars brought us together, but the people keep us coming back.” This car will continue the Rigan legacy while forging many new relationships.
Many thanks to Lynn Sutton and Gail Pempek for the information and opportunity to buy for this wonderful automobile!