1979 Pontiac Bonneville

When Pontiac restyled the Bonneville in 1977, it represented a drastic change over the previous 'fifth generation' of styling, being 14 inches shorter in length and weighing approximately 800 pounds less. It continued to serve as the company's top-of-the-line model, and although it had a smaller footprint, the headroom, rear-seat legroom, and trunk space had increased, as did its fuel economy.

The hardtop sedans and coupes of the previous 'generation' were discontinued leaving just a two-door coupe with optional opera windows and a pillared four-door sedan. A station wagon was also available and the first time it was offered since 1970.

The styling was modern, boxier, and clean with an eggcrate-style grille segregated by a central 'V' (Pontiac emblem) element, flanked on either side by quad rectangular headlamps with four-section marker lenses, and parking/signal lights integrated into the bumper. The standard engine was the 350 CID V8 four-barrel with the 6.6-liter V8 available as optional equipment. The interior could be finished in Morrokide or Lombrady velour cloth.

An optional four-barrel version of the 301 CID V8 was available, with 150 horsepower at 4,000 RPM and 240 lb-ft of torque at 2,000 RPM. A 350 CID V8 was also optional and had overhead valves, a cast-iron block and head, 8.2:1 compression, and 160 horsepower at 3,800 RPM and 260 lb-ft of torque at 2,400 RPM. With 8.0:1 compression it delivered 155 hp and 280 lb-ft of torque.

The interiors of the coupes could now be optioned with cloth bucket seats with a console. The interior of the station wagon, now called the Bonneville Safari (instead of the Bonneville Grand Safari), was done in Chamonix cloth. The Broughams had Dante cloth with a new pillow-style design.

The two-door coupe had a base price of $6,200, the four-door sedan at $6,330, the Brougham Coupe at $6,960, the Brougham sedan at $7,150 and the Safari wagon at $6,630. The most popular body style was the sedan with 71,906 units sold, followed by 39,094 of the Brougham Coupe, 34,127 of the coupe, 17,364 of the Brougham Sedan, and 16,925 of the Safari wagon.

By Daniel Vaughan | Jun 2022