Celebrating 30 years of product Pontiacs name for the place that put speed on the map , here is the story of the 1957 - 1987 Pontiac Bonneville , from a tacky 1950s aviator to the latest in eighties excitation .
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In northeast Utah , just east of Wendover , lies a 100 - substantial - mile reaching of barren flatland , part of the Great Salt Lake Desert . It ’s call Bonneville . And ever since Sir Malcolm Campbell ’s " Bluebird " land speed disk car speed across it to crack the 300 - mile - an - hour roadblock , that name has been synonymous with upper .
somewhat good name for an motorcar , especially if you ’re an carmaker strive to establish a performance prototype . That was exactly the job facing Pontiac in 1954 , when it first latched onto the Bonneville tag . And if its claim was moderately dubitable , at least Eddie Miller had driven a Pontiac - power lakester there back in 1950 .
Pontiac was sixth in industry sales at the time , far behind babe General Motors divisions Buick and Oldsmobile as well as the " low-pitched - price three . " Though strong value for the money , the gondola with the Indian head mascot had fallen behind the times .
For example , Pontiac was still saddled with a side - valve straight eight in 1954 , a dubious honor share only with Packard that year . Worse , the make had become associated with the Social Security set at a clock time when new buyers – the Gi of World War II – were starting to be a major market influence .
Semon Emil " Bunkie " Knudsen , who became Pontiac ’s general managing director on July 1,1956 , accurately summarise up the billet with a pithy , now - famous observation : " you may sell an quondam man a vernal man ’s car , but you may never sell a vernal gentleman’s gentleman an old man ’s railroad car . "
That realisation had obviously dawn on division direction even before Knudsen arrived , because a serial of youthful Motorama specials appeared under the Pontiac streamer start in 1953 . First came the Parisienne , a cut - down 1953 Chieftain Catalina hardtop with landau - style half - ceiling and fashionable wrapped windscreen .
The following yr brought the jet - alike Strato - Streak , a pillarless hardtop sedan with eye - open doors in the image of certain Lancia models . It also had swiveling front seats , a gismo Chrysler pick up for some of its 1959 output car .
Pontiac ’s 1955 showmobile was the glassy Strato - Star , a two - doorway with radical - thin column , huge scalloped front wing possibility , and slight " flippers " slew into the ceiling to ease entry / exit . Wildest of all was the 1956 Club de Mer , an radical - crushed two - seater with a " two-fold - bubble " windscreen that made it seem like it had been build up for the Indy 500 .
See the next page to show about the first Bonneville , a 1954 Pontiac show auto .
For more data on gondola , see :
1954 Bonneville Special
Pontiac ’s most substantial 1950s show railway car was the 1954 Bonneville Special , the first Pontiac to honor the far-famed salt flats . General Motors was turning out two - seat design study like crazy , and one of them , the Corvette roadster , even made it to the salesroom as a limited - production image drawing card for Chevrolet . on the face of it conceived as a follow - up , the Bonneville Special also carried fiberglass bodywork but had a limit canopy of clean-cut Plexiglas , with " gullwing " sections to append the two conventional front - hinged door .
Wheelbase was 100 inches , about the same as Corvette ’s and two animal foot shorter than that of Pontiac ’s new top - telephone line Star Chief . Overall distance was 158.3 column inch , altitude just 48.5 inches . Twin hood airwave pocket fill aid of public discussion , while the bucket - seat cockpit featured a black - lighted style with tachometer , fuel pressure , and oil temperature gauges in addition to the usual tool .
rack outwear brushed - aluminium saucer , with chrome pink - off hub and little fins reverberate turbine impeller blades . Appearance was grade by a blunt front with a low - set rectangular atmosphere intake , Corvette - similar nerf bumpers , and bulge fender tops that create a " dumbbell " lower - body profile . Exterior finish was red metallic , complemented by red leather upholstery inside .
Under the hood of this head - turner was an anachronism : Pontiac ’s conversant flathead straight eight . Jazzed up , with four carburetors and other assorted performance modifications , it was the same basic engine that had been powering Pontiacs for the retiring 21 years . In such a futurist machine , it was unquestionably out of topographic point .
The Bonneville Special was seen at all major machine shows . pronounce then - section gaffer Robert M. Critchfield : " We are proud to present this especial car not as an example of what the populace might expect to see in our dealer ’s showrooms next year , but as an exemplar of advanced cerebration by Pontiac ’s interior designer and engineers . " High - sound words , but the division would need more than a flashy one - off to transubstantiate its stodgy figure of speech .
From its beginnings in 1926 , Pontiac had been positioned an easy footfall above Chevrolet . In the General Motors strategy of thing , you " graduated " from Chevrolet to Pontiac as your fortunes improved . Then , if destiny was tolerant , you continued on up to Oldsmobile , Buick , and ultimately Cadillac . This " ladder " concept , the brainchild of General Motors ' renowned former chairperson Alfred P. Sloan , Jr. , worked very well for a number of years .
But as Chevrolet grew in size , power , and prestige time value , Pontiac ’s so-called advantage lead off to diminish . By 1953 its cheap four - doorway , the six - cylinder Chieftain Special , cost $ 141 more than Chevrolet ’s top - strain Bel Air equivalent , a gravid difference . True , the Pontiac outweigh its cousin by a hundred pounds , rode a seven - in long wheelbase , and had seven more H.P. , but it was relatively ascetic and thus seemed more like a step down than a step up .
Buick was prospering mightily in those days , Oldsmobile was get along up fast , and Mercury was gaining sales too . Given the jolty - and - fall rival in the scurvy - price field of honor , it was only lucid that Pontiac would infix a big , more expensive series to capture a portion of the apace expand intermediate - Mary Leontyne Price market .
To watch over the Pontiac story into 1955 and 1956 , continue to the next Sir Frederick Handley Page .
1955 and 1956 Pontiac
Despite fresh styling and an excellent new V-8 for phonograph recording - set 1955 and 1956 Pontiac , the make could n’t budge from figure six , though 1958 cut-rate sale increase significantly to constringe the interruption with Oldsmobile more or less . The history was much the same for 1956 , but volume was much lower in that year ’s industry - all-inclusive retreat , even though Pontiac boasted a big and brawnier V-8 , four - door hardtops and more flash .
Then Bunkie Knudsen take charge . " We had to get rid of that ' Amerindic construct , ' " he recalled in 1978 . " No reflection on the American Indian , but old Chief Pontiac had been associated in the public psyche with a prosaic kin toting saloon from the clip Pontiacs were first build … I could n’t do much about 1957 styling . That had long since been locked up . [ But ] I did manage to get disembarrass of those Silver Streaks on the cap . They looked like a pair of gallus ! "
Which , of line , tended to reward the very image he wanted to change . The irony was – as every car buff must know by now – that said trim was first go for by his father , the fabled William S. " Big Bill " Knudsen , back in 1935 . ( Though the rumor that Bunkie personally unbolted the run from the production epitome is untrue , his order did require a last - second tooling variety . )
But Bunkie wanted something more . A eminent - performance convertible with smart styling tactual sensation and some particular feature to make Pontiac as an engineering leader would assist shake off the " Grandma " atmosphere . The result was the first production Bonneville .
And limited production it was . Part of the game programme was to build only 630 example , less than a twenty percent of one percentage of the naval division ’s full output for the 1957 model class . This , then , was a gondola to be coveted . In fact , the Bonneville was supposedly specify for bargainer manipulation only , though it is n’t hard to conceive of how long that notion lasted .
Not that it mattered much . At $ 5,782 , the plushest , most knock-down Pontiac in history was one expensive automobile . And though that bod is mere chicken provender now , consider that , for the same money , you could have had a Pontiac Chieftain hardtop coupe and a Buick Special convertible – with $ 266 to spare !
For more on the 1957 Pontiac Bonneville , continue to the next page .
1957 Pontiac Bonneville
With such minuscule production , the 1957 Pontiac Bonneville could never make money . But it was never intend to . This was an trope - constructor . InPontiac : The Postwar Years , authors Jim Dunne and Jan Norbye accurately describe it as " Pontiac ’s first attempt [ at ] a car for a lowly but glamourous marketplace section , a unmediated competitor for the letter - serial Chrysler 300 and DeSoto Golden Adventurer . "
It certainly looked the part . Built on the Star Chief ’s 124 - column inch wheelbase and offered only as a ragtop , the 1957 Bonneville wore whitewall tires with triple - speak " spinner " wheel natural covering , plus anodized - Al crushed rock guard along the lower rear fenders and a big chrome hummer within the roquette - shaped bodyside mould that derive with this year ’s restyle of the 1955 - 1956 bodyshell .
stock equipment was impressive : " Strato - Flight " Hydra - Matic contagion , baron steering and brakes , heater / defroster , light package , " Wonderbar " signal - seek radio with electric antenna , plus eight - way power seat , power window , power top , and other amenities . Trim , of course , was Pontiac ’s good , including leather upholstery and deluxe carpeting .
But what really set the Bonneville apart was a larger V-8 with Rochester fuel shot , a preferred project of new section headman engineer Elliot M. " Pete " Estes . ( " Fuel injection " was save in heavy chrome letter on the deck and front fenders , underlining the importance attach to this feature ; queerly though , the Bonneville pay no Pontiac nameplate ! )
Having progressed through 316.6 cubic inches for 1956 , the Pontiac V-8 was stroked to 347 cubic inches ( bore and stroke : 3.94 × 3.25 inch ) for all models except the newfangled hot one , which got a eagre job ( to 4.06 inches ) for 370 cubic in .
The 1957 Bonneville ’s fuel injection was a mechanically skillful , uninterrupted - current type conceptualise by General Motors Engineering and engineered for production by Harry Barr and Corvette wizard Zora Arkus - Duntov . It was similar to that year ’s " Ramjet " system introduced at Chevrolet , with fuel and air meter on a special manifold instead of the normal carburettor and intake manifold .
Both squirt precise amounts of fuel at once into each port , but the Pontiac system was sizable , with a cast manifold coping , combined ( instead of freestanding ) manifold warmer and organ pipe , and a low-pitched - mount fuel meter .
See the next page for more features of the 1957 Pontiac Bonneville .
Features of the 1957 Pontiac Bonneville
One of the main feature of speech of the 1957 Pontiac Bonneville was its power . Pontiac ’s air pipe were longer ( near to 12 in ) , ostensibly for better " ram impression " at eminent revolutions per minute . variance press endorsement stated that the fuelie pay " maximum economy and performance in the normal drive orbit . " In other Word , it was plan more for maximum low- and mid - range torsion than top - end might .
Pontiac was initially quite coy on the subject , implying , as Dunne and Norbye quote , " that there is so much power it really can not be talked about openly . " But finally the division got down to case , stating output as 310 horsepower gross at 4,800 rev and 400 pounds - foundation torsion at 3,400 .
Still , one of the light 1957 Chieftains with Pontiac ’s triple - two - cask " Tri - Power " carburetion could beat the fuelie by more than a second in the quarter - geographical mile , though the Bonneville ’s status as the heaviest model in the parentage – a significant 4,285 British pound at the curb – had something to do with that .
Curiously , the injected car was allegedly thriftier than any carburet Pontiac but , at 1957 gun prices , you ’d require at least a lifetime to recoup the fuelie ’s extra cost . cartridge holder types averaged 17 - 18 miles per gal , way under the 20.4 mpg achieved by Pontiac ’s " official " entry in the Mobil Economy Run , but not bad all thing take .
And so was the performance , even if it was subscript to the Tri - Power Chieftain’s . Motor Trendmagazine observed that " the Bonneville require a coherent 18 moment " in the quarter - mile , then reluctantly reason out that " so far , the present yield of FI does not support implications that bolt - on fuel shot alone is responsible for substantially improved acceleration . "
Pontiac in all probability did n’t care . Knudsen enunciate the Bonneville was " the car I was count on to bring the new message to the public . And it did . I call up sitting in the covered stand at Daytona with my married woman , watching it at its first race . Somebody in the stand shouted , ' Look what ’s go on to Grandma ! ' "
To follow the story with the 1958 Pontiac Bonneville , continue to the next Thomas Nelson Page .
1958 Pontiac Bonneville
Hopes were high-pitched for the 1958 Pontiac Bonneville , andMotor Lifepredicted that “ Pontiac [ will have ] the necessary appeal to win back some of the sales [ it ] lose last year . ” The changes were indeed major . No longer bill as limited - production , the Bonneville convertible security gained a hardtop Sport Coupe run teammate to become a separate , top - line series . Moreover , all 1958 Pontiacs were newfangled from the ground up , with completely restyled bodyshells on a Cadillac - prompt cruciform ( disco biscuit - member ) material body .
enceinte rigidity was claim for the new backbone , which Pontiac would retain through 1960 , and it facilitate the use of goods and services of coils rather of semi - elliptic leaf springs at the rear for a secure ride . ( It also yield precious niggling auspices in a side impact . )
wheelbase and the twin - A - arm / coil - spring front reprieve stay the same , but Bonneville was put on the shorter captain platform in the interest of better manipulation . Though trim remained top grade , most of the 1957 Bonneville ’s lavish equipment now come out on the option sheet , cut 1958 base of operations price by some $ 2,300 .
The yr ’s most fascinating new feature film was optional “ Ever - Level ” air suspension , model after Cadillac ’s organization on the 1957 Eldorado Brougham and offered across the panel at $ 175 . However , orders were few at that price , and the setup show so troublesome that Pontiac gave up on it after only a class , about as chop-chop as other makes gave up on their equally job - plagued systems .
With performance a major jab , all 1958 Pontiacs got the 370 V-8 , now call in “ Tempest ” and offered in six different versions . Most Bonnevilles packed the single - four - barrel unit , with 10:1 compression and 285 horsepower with Hydra - Matic .
Fuel injection was still uncommitted – and still troublesome – and a redoubtable $ 500 asking price discourage all but 400 buyer before the system was canned during the class . So the 300 - HP Tri - Power locomotive remain the darling of the leadfoot crowd – and a performance steal at just $ 93.50 .
Motor Trendtimed one at a creditable 8.2 minute in the 0 - 60 mph sprint and 18.8 seconds at 88 miles per hour in the standing one-quarter - Admiralty mile . Mechanix lllustrated ’s Tom McCahill hit 125 mph with a 285 - horsepower motorcar , moving him to exclaim : “ The 1958 Pontiacs are hotter than a blowlamp . ”
They should have been slower : four inches longer , two inches wider , and some 100 - 200 pound sign impenetrable than the 1957s . This was dictate in part by the “ New Direction ” styling , which still was n’t the good – though it could have been much unfit . Yet even the Bonneville , the most effervescent of the assembly line , does n’t depend too spoilt now next to some other 1958s , notably Buick , Oldsmobile , and Mercury .
Being more pronto available , the 1958 Bonneville sold much good than the 1957 , with 9,144 hardtops and 3,096 sofa bed . But it was scant consolation in a class when most everybody except AMC ’s Rambler was down – way down . While Chevrolet sales were off by 17.5 percent and Oldsmobile ’s by 20 per centum , Pontiac dropped more than a third .
Yet the Bonneville proved Knudsen knew what he was doing . “ There was no breaker point competing against Chevrolet , ” he said afterward . “ They had their market sewn up tight . But coif out after Buick and Oldsmobile was possible . ”
Like other General Motors division that year , the 1958 Pontiac was a one - year - only design , because the company had decided to deal bodies more tight from 1959 on . But in line with his plan of moving Pontiac upmarket , Knudsen manage to exchange Chevrolet ’s forthcoming A - organic structure for the larger , evenly new Buick / Oldsmobile B - organic structure .
“ Up until then , ” he discover , “ Pontiac had used the Chevrolet physical structure , maybe with an extended rearward deck . There was no decimal point in that , and I imagine the results bear out our conclusion . ”
For more on the 1959 Pontiac Bonneville , continue to the next page .
1959 Pontiac Bonneville
The 1959 Pontiac Bonneville brought the first of the " Wide - Track " cars and a full-grown change in sectionalization fortunes . Not coincidently , these were also the first Pontiacs to fully reflect the Knudsen / Estes influence .
That " Wide - Track " soubriquet was no mere Madison Avenue hype . Tread swelled by near five in in front and more than 4.5 column inch in back . groovy cornering constancy and a fluent ride were among the result – along with vigorous complaints from proprietor who found the 1959s too wide for an automatize car wash . But there was joy in doing that job yourself , because the Modern torso looked sensational .
Though the same two wheelbase lengths were keep back , the 1959s were predictably long , low , and wider , but also more sculpted and much cleaner . Accho of methamphetamine , thin - pillar rooflines , an expansive cap and rearward deck of cards , and the first of Pontiac ’s classifiable split grilles contributed to a styling package uncommonly tasteful for its time .
For all this good , Bonneville would never be the same again . Like Chevrolet with the Impala and Plymouth with the Fury , Pontiac turned its limited edition into a full - fledge serial for 1959 , thereby render it far less typical . From here on , the Bonneville would modify in ignition lock - step with the section ’s other standard - sizing cars .
Thus , a " Vista - roof " hardtop sedan joined the convertible and hardtop coupe , all on the Star Chief ’s 124 - in wheelbase , and there was even a six - rider Bonneville Safari beach wagon on the 122 - inch chopine of this year ’s young low - end Catalina serial ( replace Chieftain ) .
A stroke increase ( to 3.70 inches ) took V-8 displacement from 370 to that soon - to - be - famous 389 figure , and received Bonneville horsepower rose to 300 . ( Sticklers for detail will observe that factual measurements were 369.4 and 388.9 cubic in respectively . ) Leg , rosehip , and shoulder room were also up – which was only right , as the 1959 Bonneville was nine column inch longer and over three inches wider than the 1958 .
The 1959 Pontiacs met with overwhelming public adoption . cable car Lifepicked the Bonneville as the right steal in its price ambit , andMotor Trendnamed the entire cable its " Car of the Year . " Production soared by 77 pct as Pontiac overtook both Buick and Oldsmobile to become General Motors ' 2nd most democratic make .
More importantly , the sectionalization at long last modern in the sales raceway , uprise from 6th to fifth . Though the price - leading Catalina quickly found itself as Pontiac ’s best - seller , Bonneville in reality outsell the mid - range of mountains Star Chief . Bunkie had been justify .
See the next varlet to follow the Bonneville story into the other sixties .
1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964 Pontiac Bonneville
The 1960 , 1961 , 1962 , 1963 , and 1964 Pontiac Bonneville evolved rapidly . There were n’t a pile of changes for 1960 , nor were they needed , at least for sales . But 1961 brought a major redesign , as General Motors shrunk all its standards a bite and turn back to circumference - type material body . Pontiac was arguably the best - looking of the bunch , with the split grille return after a one - year absence seizure to grace sharply tailored new bodies .
Wheelbase contracted to 119 inches for Catalina and its fresh upmarket Ventura differential coefficient , while Bonneville and Star Chief rode a 123 - inch span . The now - celebrated " wide of the mark Track " was still 1.5 inches across-the-board than Buick ’s or Oldsmobile ’s tread but a piffling narrower than before , so the 1961 Pontiacs looked a shade taller than the 1960s even though overall height was really an inch less .
received H.P. for the Hydra - Matic - equipped Bonneville was 303 , same as the previous year , but weight was down by 155 pounds and overall duration was abbreviate from 220.7 to 210 inches , leave in a fast , more quick luxury Pontiac . There were 389s available with up to 348 horsepower for the functioning - minded , while comfort was enhanced by the simple expedient of parent seat shock altitude from 9.8 to 12 inches .
In all , 1961 was a not bad year for Pontiac . assist by its young Tempest compact , the class moved up to fourth in diligence sale behind Chevrolet , Ford , and Rambler , and now chair Buick by a body politic mi . Bonneville was more pop than ever , outsell Star Chief by better than two to one .
Pontiac ’s bragging - car news show for 1962 was the Grand Prix , a swish , buckets - and - console table version of the Catalina two - door hardtop . The starter ’s convertible - flavour roofline was shared by all of General Motors ' full - size hardtop coupes that year , while Bonneville deal in a solid bad - Pontiac human face - lift – and aid vacate the naval division to third place in industry sales event .
Another corporate - encompassing redesign for 1963 bring well-favoured fresh big - Pontiac styling from the playpen of Jack Humbert . Sharply sculpted sheetmetal gave way to soft , flowing contours , while headlamps were vertically stacked .
Bonneville was now being upstaged by the Grand Prix to some level but , pace by the Vista hardtop sedan , it nevertheless managed 110,000 units . An optional new 421 V-8 was the chief attraction for the mostly carryover 1964s , delivering 320 , 350 , or 370 HP depending on tune .
keep to the next page to follow the Bonneville story through the late 1960s .
1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970 Pontiac Bonneville
The 1965 , 1966 , 1967 , 1968 , 1969 , and 1970 Pontiac Bonneville undergo several alteration , including a redesign and yearly face - lifts .
The full - size of it Pontiacs were make - young again for 1965 , look longer – which they were – and heavy – which they were n’t . Wheelbases were up to 121 inches on Catalina and 124 on Star Chief and Bonneville .
A fancy Brougham trim bundle arrived as a novel extra for the Bonneville Vista , price at $ 161.40 and bear on Pontiac further into territory that was once Buick ’s alone . Included were Ponchartrain cloth upholstery with Morrokide accent , and a Cordova - food grain vinyl cap covering with " Brougham by Fisher " nameplate .
Bonneville two - doors could still be had with bucket seats ( a $ 116.21 surplus ) , and the Sport Coupe gained the same racy , semi - fastback roofline as its divisional counterpart . The 389 V-8 remained Bonneville ’s standard motive military force , with horsepower standing at 325 .
Motor Trendclocked a 1965 with two on board at 9.1 moment for the 0 - 60 miles per hour trip , not bad for a car librate close to 4,350 pounds . Bob McVey , indulging in a little hyperbole perhaps , compose of its " screaming , smoking , bike - spinning speedup . " Meanwhile , Pontiac had a tranquil lock on third blank space , a right 30 percent ahead of either Buick or Oldsmobile .
More available horsepower – up to 376 – was ordained for the little changed 1966s , after which General Motors again restyled its full - size fleet . At Pontiac that mean Italian sandwich - shape front buffer lead and a low , heavy - looking bumper/ lattice , neither of which help appearance , plus bobbed tails and a return to creased gloomy flank .
Bonneville ’s stock engine was now a bored - out ( 4.12 - column inch ) 400 - three-dimensional - in extension of the 389 , though horsepower remained 325 . Lengthening stroke ( to 4.00 in ) yielded a new 428 - cubic - inch option and 360/376 horsepower .
Buick traded places with Oldsmobile for act five , but Pontiac ’s hold on third was still solid . More coordinated crowing - gondola styling arrived for 1968 , along with the Bonneville ’s first - ever four - room access sedan and an increase in received magnate to 340 HP .
For 1969 , Pontiac Bonneville graduated to the 360 - HP 428 – and 390 horsepower was newly available , the most ever offered in a stock Bonneville . Wheelbase also set a record , expand by one in to 125 .
By now , " Bonneville " was no longer synonymous with f number , at least not at Pontiac , where the execution mantle had passed to the midsize GTO in 1964 . Trouble was , the division ’s luxury drawing card was slipping , sales fall short of 100,000 for the first sentence since 1961 . forged , Pontiac ’s margin over quaternary - place Buick had grow hazardously thin .
But the troubles were only beginning . Bonneville sale slid a little more in 1970 , and Pontiac tumbled all the manner back to one-sixth . Clumsier styling was at least partly to blame , while an tremendous unexampled 455 - cubic - column inch V-8 – yet another elaboration of the seemingly unbounded 1955 block , with 360 standard horsepower for Pontiac Bonneville – was out of gradation with rising fuel and insurance cost .
By now , of course , Pontiac Bonneville had long since ceased to be unique or even mildly interesting . It was only another boastful car – a good one to be trusted , but no more than that .
To see how the Pontiac Bonneville fared in the seventies , continue to the next Sir Frederick Handley Page .
Pontiac Bonneville in the 1970s
Pontiac Bonneville in the 1970s was n’t even Pontiac ’s best . For 1971 it was eclipsed by a fancier offshoot series called Grand Ville , also offering two- and four - door hardtops and snatch the Bonneville ’s convertible dash .
Wheelbase on both lines appraise 126 inch ( 127 for wagons ) , just an inch under the Buick Electra ’s , as braggart as a Pontiac would ever get . Appearance was clean but sadly forgettable . Two - barrel carburetion and abject , 8.2:1 compression gave Pontiac Bonneville just 280 received H.P. and slightly milder performance , the four - gun barrel 455 being reserve for Grand Ville .
After a stand - pat 1972 , Pontiac Bonneville come back to its quondam 124 - inch wheelbase for 1973 . Model offerings were down to three : four - door sedan and hardtop coupe and sedan . The 400 , in two - barrel form , was again standard proceeds , but with a mere 180 horsepower in fresh mandate SAE net measure on 8.0:1 compressing .
However , the four - barrel 455 with 215 H.P. net was optionally available ( and still al-Qaeda power in Grand Ville ) . With wagons bumped up to Grand Ville condition and increased emphasis on the mid - size Grand Prix and LeMans , series output come to fewer than 47,000 whole for the manikin year .
Volume dropped to 20,560 for the little - changed 1974s , which remove on 5 - miles per hour rearward bumpers to match the previous year ’s required front one . The sedan was drop off but waggon regain the next year , when prices were bumped $ 500 , in part because of the government ’s new mandated catalytic converter .
Thanks to the model shuffling and an upswing in vainglorious - car demand comply the 1973 - 1974 vegetable oil trade stoppage , Pontiac Bonneville ’s 1975 volume improved to near 28,000 unit . But Pontiac as a whole was foundering , with a confusing array of role model , indifferent workmanship , and an look-alike blurred by too much communion among General Motors ' five makes .
The division ’s only real winners by now were the personal - sumptuousness Grand Prix and the Firebird Trans Am , the latter not even that powerfully associated with Pontiac in the public creative thinker . Grand Ville , which perhaps understandably had never really catch on , was hit the sack at year ’s end , thus returning Bonneville to the top of a little - changed big - Pontiac logical argument for 1976 .
The first wave of General Motors ' historic curtailment program brought a pruner and far more successful Pontiac Bonneville . value 115.9 inches between cycle heart and soul , the all - new 1977 was a tad shorter and a few Cypriot pound lighter than the mid - size LeMans , and more than a fundament short overall than its quick predecessor .
Yet like its divisional B- and C - body stablemate , space utilization was so effective that articulatio coxae and shoulder elbow room stomach but fractionally , and caput , ramification , and body room were in reality improve . weightiness was also down – by a significant 740 pounds .
This in turn allowed consumption of a smaller V-8 with little sacrifice in carrying into action . size at 301 three-dimensional inches , it produce 135 HP meshing with two - barrel carb and 8.2:1 concretion . The only force option ab initio offered was Oldsmobile ’s four - barrel 403 with 185 net horsepower .
But history has a way of replicate itself in the railcar business , and the 1977 Bonneville proves it . Like the 1954 Chieftain Special , Pontiac ’s smaller big cars were overshadowed by Chevrolet cousin on one side , the B - trunk Caprice / Impala , and an Oldsmobile on the other , the equally popular Delta 88 . Sales were thus disappointing ( but shift few ) through 1980 .
Continue to the next page to follow the Pontiac Bonneville story into the 1980s .
Pontiac Bonneville in the 1980s
Pontiac Bonneville in the eighties convey sleek down - down outer sheetmetal for improved aerodynamics , Buick ’s 231 - cubic - inch V-6 as received Bonneville power ( except in California , where Oldsmobile ’s 350 V-8 was employed ) , and Pontiac ’s first - ever diesel , the ill - star Oldsmobile 350 V-8 . ( We offer no comment on the last except to note that according to the Spring 1986 N.A.D.A. Used Car Price Guide , you could subtract 40 percent from the value of a 1980 Pontiac if it ’s diesel - powered . )
Then , a misestimation . For 1982 , Pontiac dropped the type B - trunk from its U.S. line and go for the Bonneville tag end to a slenderly restyled variation of the 108.1 - inch - wheelbase A / gravitational constant - body weapons platform previously sold as the LeMans . alas , the move coincided with an upsurge in cock-a-hoop - car demand , thanks to the offset of a general economical recuperation from the severe ceding back triggered by " Energy Crisis II " in late 1979 .
But there was a way out . Pontiac had never stopped building the B vitamin - trunk in Canada , where it was sold as the Parisienne , so it was rushed in the south of the margin in late 1983 to answer dealer demands for the return of a full - size of it model .
Then come a immensely different Pontiac Bonneville , though the all - new 1987 was as much a " corporate car " as any of its predecessors . Based on General Motors ' H - body platform introduced with the 1986 Buick LeSabre and Oldsmobile Delta 88 , the 1987 was the little and lightest Bonneville to its meter , and the first with front - cycle drive .
Wheelbase was a sensible 110.8 inches , and power come up from a 231 - three-dimensional - inch Buick V-6 with fuel injectant ( electronic , not mechanical , but some things never change ) . At the prison term , an American carrying into action car was either a traditional red-hot retinal rod like the Trans Am , or a trendy European - style " sports sedan " like Pontiac ’s suave 6000STE . The 1987 Pontiac Bonneville endure definite signs of STE influence – specially its appearing .
In fact , the 1987 shaped up as the most balanced Pontiac Bonneville to date . It was definitely in tune with the time , even if that intend being far less igneous than its fifties forebears .
contain a name with a long and checkered history , the 1987 Pontiac Bonneville continue the Pontiac custom of offering comfortable , stylish transport with more than adequate carrying out for a few clam more than lesser makes .
Thank goodness we still have those fuelie 1957s , the cheap 1958s , and the early Wide - Track Bonnevilles to excogitate and covet . If nothing else , they help to remind us how much machine have changed in the preceding decades , even when names do n’t .
