1955-56 Pontiac Fender Skirts and Brackets

by Larry Gorden, July 2007, Revised June 2008

In 1955-56, Pontiac offered fender skirts as an option.


1955 Star Chief Catalina

1955 Star Chief 4-door sedan, model 2819D (Pat Schneider photo)

 

   

1955 Safari (left) and 1956 Safari

 

Back Side of a Stainless Skirt, Passenger's Side

In the photo above, there is a rubber seal around the front/upper/rear edges that seal the skirt against the car body.  Reproductions of these seals are available.

Here are part numbers for the skirts ("fender shields" in Pontiac terminology) from the Pontiac Master Parts Catalog.

The 1955-56 Chieftain station wagon (25/2762-63) skirts are unique in the Pontiac lineup but are the same as Chevrolet station wagon skirts.  All Chieftain models used painted skirts whereas the Safari and Star Chiefs with stainless molding around the wheel well (sometimes called "rock guards") used stainless skirts.  An exception is the 1955 Star Chief model 2819D (low priced 4-door sedan) which did not have the stainless wheel well molding like the other Star Chief models -- it used the painted skirts like the Chieftain models.  See photo above.

Postcard photos were made of early 1955 Pontiacs with the stainless wheel well molding and painted skirts but we don't know if cars were actually sold with that configuration.  It was not an option in the 1955 Pontiac Accessorizer nor in the 1956 Pontiac Accessorizer.

   
1955 Pontiacs (postcard scans by Harold Cary)

Skirt Brackets

There are four brackets required for mounting stock fender skirts on 1955-56 Pontiacs: Front, Rear, Upper Front and Upper Rear.  Here's what we find for the brackets in the Pontiac Master Parts Catalog.

Note that all 1955-56 models used the same brackets EXCEPT the Chieftain station wagons (25/2762-63) used a different rear bracket.  The Chieftain station wagons used the same quarter panel sheet metal as the non-Nomad Chevrolet station wagons so have the same wheel well and likely use the same skirts and brackets as the Chevrolet.

Photos that follow are all of the left side wheel well of a 1956 870 Chieftain station wagon. These brackets are the same for other models except for the rear bracket.

This photo shows locations of the four brackets in the rear wheel.  The upper brackets are visible and they prevent the skirt from pushing on through the opening.

Left Rear Wheel Well showing Fender Skirt Bracket Locations.

The following photos show close-up views of the four brackets.

Upper Front Skirt Bracket Viewed from Inside Wheel Well

 

 

Upper Rear Skirt Bracket Viewed from Inside Wheel Well

 

Front Bracket Looking Forward from Inner Wheel Well

 

Front Bracket Side View Viewed from Inside Wheel Well

 

Rear Bracket Looking Rearward from Inside Wheel Well.

 

Remember that this is the Chieftain station wagon rear bracket.  The bracket for other models is a little different bit looks very similar.

 

Rear Bracket From Inside Wheel Well

 

Rear Bracket Side View From Inside Wheel Well

 

Alternative Front Skirt Mount.

This is a photo of my Safari front skirt mount.  This car does not have the front skirt bracket but has apparently been modified with a hole in the wheel well flange for mounting the front of the skirt.  The front bracket of the skirt is inserted into this hole rather than sliding into a bracket.  It works quite well and might be an alternative if you have a missing front bracket on a Safari or Star Chief.

 

My 1956 Safari Front Skirt Mount Hole (Looking Forward)