I took another stroll through the Cohort and was met with another submission by Mike HayEs (whose name I spelled correctly this time (says the red-faced author).
Anyone who has spent more than three weeks at this site knows that I am a sucker for the big original cars that are never seen at car shows because they were what the attendees were forced to drive because they did not have that cool GTO, 442 or Road Runner in the driveway. “Daaaaad, can I borrow the caaaaar?”
This car is every big GM car from my youth – and there were lots and lots of them. A big Bonneville 4 door hardtop was the car for every successful suburban Dad who didn’t want to look too self-important.
I love the skirts on these cars and find them perhaps the best-styled B body cars of their era. A set of the Pontiac 5 spoke wheels would look great here, but on this unit complete with vinyl roof, the fake wires don’t look bad – and this from someone who normally doesn’t care for fake wires. In truth, I don’t really remember many Pontiacs out on the streets with these.
And finding a cool old car in one of those paint colors that everyone forgot about but that were everywhere for a short time. Is it green? Is it gold? I didn’t know then and I still don’t. I think Pontiac called this one “Champagne”. Is there such a thing as green champagne? I am just happy to see one that is not red.
My one quibble is that I never really got the front end styling on these cars. Pontiac was the leader in the over/under headlight trend, but this car shows that they may have been running out of ideas. Stacked headlights and loop bumpers are difficult to combine. Perhaps I am in the minority here (like that ever happens?) and will be set straight by readers who consider these the best looking front ends ever.
But I think my favorite part about the car is the hood-mounted tach. Was there ever a single Bonneville built with one of these? Was it even available? Or did a guy who had to settle for something to satisfy the Mrs. make that one little attempt to make the car live up to its namesake when he had the dealership parts department order one in for installation before delivery. “Gee honey, they built it wrong. The dealer can order another, but it will take about 8 weeks.”
So we have a car named Bonneville after the high speed salt flats, and that wears the famous Pontiac hood tach. All on a seasick gold four door hardtop with a vinyl roof and fake wire wheel covers. The metaphors on this car may be mixed, but I find it a tasty combination.
Note: a rerun of an older post.
Not the best front end IMO but still bold and distinctive. Like so many others I will genuflect at the altar of VF AK illustrations. I was intrigued with them as a child and am no less enraptured by them as an adult, knowing that they s t r e t c h e d the width of the cars for greater effect. “You want wide-track? I will show you wide- track”
A great uncle had a ’68 Gran Prix that was ordered with the hood tach; it NEVER operated correctly, even after being sent back to PMD for repair/rebuilding three times! I, too think that the Rallye II wheels would look a lot better than the wires. For me, the absolute coolest look of the ’67 bumpers was on the Gran Prix with the concealed headlights. Even though my preference is for two door cars, I’d park this beauty in my driveway!! 🙂
My Dad had a ‘68 Catalina, four-door hardtop, slick top in this color. Black vinyl interior. I was eight years old. Great exterior color; beige interior would’ve looked better, though. Nice car; served our family of five well.
The ‘67 model front clip was a lot more interesting to me. The ‘68 was much less so, but it was cleaner looking if not less complicated.
My dad also had a ‘68 Catalina 4-door. It’s the first car I remember and I’ll be writing about it soon. The 67 seemed to be a lot less common than the ‘68s and ‘69s, at least by the time I was old enough to notice. A teacher had a 67 Ventura in the early ‘80s and I recall being stunned by its face. To me it looks like it’s halfway submerged in a lake, the painted top half above the water line and the loop bumper bottom half is its slightly distorted reflection in the water.
I love this description of the 67 Pontiac’s face!!
I was never a big fan of the ‘67 refresh of the GM B bodies. Too swoopy and a bit overdone. Not bad, but the ‘65 and ‘66 came off tauter and more athletic. That being said, the Bonneville was always the best of the premium B bodies. A clear step up from Caprice and more youthful than Olds 98 and Buick Electra.
Great looking car. I always liked 4 door hardtops. I imagine however, they don’t fare too well when T-boned. Love the hood tach! That’s something I would do!
Nice `67, but I doubt I ever saw one of these in champaign with a RED vinyl top! Yuck.
Wow, I just noticed that that roof is not black but dark red! It looks like the interior matches. And I am with you, I do not ever recall seeing this combination on anything out of GM (and I remember this color quite well). Every time I looked at this photo my brain translated that roof to black vinyl. I might have gone an whole different direction with this essay if I had ever noticed that.
Nice car Indeed. I always give 4 drs a hard time. yea, Hard Tops are better but, I like 2doors, unless.. WAGON.
THAT SAID, This Bonnie Really pulls off the 4dr HT very Nicely. It’s probably the swoopy-ness of the body, I guess ‘almost’ like ya don’t see the rear doors. I guess you see them, but they don’t interfere with the Beauty Bonnie Body.
I think the reason for the loop bumpers in this era (at least one reason) was to protect the grille and lights. Earlier cars often had exposed grilles and/or lights that could be damaged in parallel parking or other ways.
The loop bumper gave a hard surface that didn’t damage the bumper as easily, so repair costs for minor contacts were reduced or eliminated.
Pontiac styling was trying to marry that idea with the stacked headlights that the division had become known for (and other copied).
Always liked the “67’s”, look. Remember a lot of gold ones.
I think that the four door hardtop comes off a lot better than the long, sloper fastback two doors. Another model from Pontiac’s greatest era. They really had their act together then, Ponchos were more desirable than their more expensive cousins like Olds and Buick. They still had a trace of that performance image, even in the larger models. I thought that my Dad’s ’64 Tempest wagon looked kind of sporty.
1967 did turn out to be the year that Pontiac ran out of ideas for stacked headlights. 1968 had horizontal headlights inside a loop bumper, 1969 had a soft Endura nose, and 1970 had the big, garish “radiator-look” grill and glitzy round ornaments beside it.
Unfortunately Pontiac lost irs styling moxie that year…my opinion.