(first posted 6/6/2013) Here’s a fine specimen of B-body 1977-79 Bonnie, in that light mint green that was available on many 1979 GM full-sizers. We recently read a number of posts concerning GM’s mistakes and subsequent crash, so let’s regroup, relax, take a deep breath and just enjoy a pristine example of what GM made best once upon a time: plush, comfy V8-powered cruisers.
This one looks great in Pastel Green, especially with the skirts and no vinyl roof. Sport mirrors are also a plus. It is no secret that I love these things, as my many posts on CC regarding the now-elusive 1977-79 full-size Pontiac have proven time and time again. As a result, I regularly troll ebay, adhuntr and carsonline.com for primo examples.
As is the case with this non-Brougham (sorry Mr. Bennett!) Bonneville four-door sedan. Remember green interiors? I miss them. It doesn’t help that my favorite color is green. Dad’s car had this exact interior, only in Camel.
Not only is this one in a rare and interesting (to me, at least) color, it is also the very same year as Dad’s–though his was brown and had a beige vinyl roof. When I was born, my folks owned three cars: a 1973 Volvo 1800ES (CC here), 1951 Porsche 356 (known as “that piece of junk” by Mom) and a 1977 Volvo 245DL wagon. The Bonneville was a company car.
It seems as though I’m the only one who really remembers it, despite the fact that I was about three when it was replaced with a new 240 2-door sedan. Thus, my love of these things thirty-odd years later. And this one is a much cooler color!
The ad has since disappeared into the digital ether, but I hope the new owner realizes what he has: a near-pristine example of one of the scarcest B-bodies, as the Pontiac versions never sold very well. But I love ’em!
Images are all from the now-expired posting on adhuntr.com.
Thanks Tom,another beautiful car I ignored,in 1979 the only Pontiacs that interested me were the Firebird/TransAm and old GTOs.You’re doing your best to make me a full size fan!
I started liking GM B-bodies after the 1977 downsizing, and this is a beautiful example of the breed. The color is like pistachio ice cream, it makes you want to grab a spoon and take bite. Um, good!
Just in case someone might want to know. That radio {yes that would be “radio” not a sound system, or even infotainment was an option code UN3. The A/C was a C60,not to be confused with the climate control optional C61. The cruise control,near as I can tell was a K30.
Somebody correct me if I’m wrong but I think thats a 301 four barrel. We did build some of the American Pontiac’s in Oshawa. At that time we only built for the U.S North East. No way, did that baby spend its life in rust country.
Very nice example.
As far as I know, the 301s were two-barrels only . . . of course, N/A in CA where I was at the time. These B-bodies usually showed up in the Golden State more often than not, with an Olds 403. Some had the Buick 231 V-6, some with the Chevy 305. There were no more Pontiac V-8’s in California after 1976 . . .
According to my Standard Catalog of Pontiac, a four barrel 301 was available in 79. I don’t recall if I’ve seen any in Bonnevilles, but I’m fairly certain I’ve come across a few Grand Prixs that had them.
I’m thinking that’s the 301, especially with the valve covers.
Regardless of carburation, I’d say GM didn’t do all of their big cars that well, because the 4.9L engine also meant it had the grenade-like TH 200 tranny. Nothing a simple rebuild and shift kit couldn’t solve, however…
Never a 231 V6 in a 77-79 bonneville. Standard motor was a 301 but a 231 was standard in same year Catalina’s
I got a glimpse of the LH valve cover & it looks to be Pontiac, so maybe it is a 301.
In 1978, a good friend’s mom took him & me to Glenn Straub Pontiac in Wheeling, WV to pick up her new Bonneville coupe. White w. maroon vinyl top and maroon vinyl top. It had the fender skirts, also. Stunning car!
It definitely had a 350-4bbl, Buick. IIRC, she special ordered it that way. AM-FM 8-track and Radial Tuned Suspension badge on the dash.
Her trade-in was a ’74 Grand Ville coupe. 455-4bbl, naturally! Maroon exterior & black vinyl top. Maroon interior.
Good times!
A quick glance at OldCarBrochures.com for 1979 shows the Poncho V8 was a 301-4bbl for the Bonneville base engine. The Catalina used the 231 V6 as its base.
Bonneville options were the 350-4bbl Buick and two different 350-4bbl Olds versions. One of these was “high altitude.”
Kinda expected to see the Olds diesel in the mix.
Alas, the 400 Pontiac was gone for good by this time.
These didn’t get the Olds Diesel until around 1980, the Olds 403 was still available in 1979 too.
Hmm, so one could order a green ’79 Bonneville with 403-4, Astroroof, bucket seats, console, rally gauges, etc with floor shift then.
Heck one or two might actually still exist.
WOOPS!
Meant to say the ’78 coupe had a maroon vinyl interior. Very well padded & comfy.
Much later, another friend had a ’77 Caprice sedan w. vinyl seats. Definitely less well-padded, but still OK.
A really quick way to tell if a Pontiac engine is a 301 is to locate the oil dipstick. Notice that it is sitting right next to the driver’s side valve cover. This would indicate a 301. All other Pontiac V8’s save the 301’s little 265 brother have the oil dipstick on the passenger side of the engine. You would need to look at the vin code to know if is a 2 or 4 BBL engine however as Pontiac did offer both for 1979 only. Y is 2BBL and W is 4BBL. I have seen many 1979 Bonny’s with the W 4BBL motor but the majority had the Y 2BBL Setup. Notice that for 1980 the 301 came only in W 4 BBL form now that the smaller 265 2BBL was being offered.
For sure it is an Olds 350 which did show up from time to time. The valve covers give it away. We had a 1977 Catalina as a cab with the Olds 350 and THM350 and that car had serious torque. Really lively to drive as the Pontiac had better suspension that the Chevrolet cars.
Definitely a Poncho as evidenced by the location of the dipstick at the rear of the head and the upper radiator hose wrapping around the back of the alternator. If it was an Olds the oil filler tube would be sticking up at the front of the engine slightly to the driver’s side of center, the upper radiator hose would go straight forward to the shroud before heading to the radiator inlet, the alternator would also be mounted lower.
I would agree it does look like a 301. While GM began to share powertrains in earnest with the B bodies in 1977, since there was still the mindset of Pontiac in a Pontiac, etc. It was common practice at the dealership for the salesman to qualify a prospect with regards to engine based on that. Prospects that showed a concern for the make of the engine were steered to 301s while those that didn’t care, never asked, or wanted a more powerful engine were steered to the larger engines. Especially after the lawsuits came out it was a game.
Also, there were many varieties of powertrains in cars partly due to capacity issues (since the Bs were so popular the engine plants often ran out of engines!) and emissions certifications which was a big headache. I really felt sorry for the guys that had to work with CARB. I am generally an environmentally friendly conservationist type but sometimes it was more difficult than it was worth.
Definitely a case of being a victim of their own success. The original problem was that the Colonnade Cutlass sold too well and they couldn’t produce enough Rocket 350’s. I’m sure they expected the Chevelle/Malibu to be their top selling midsize, not the Cutlass. That wouldn’t have really been a problem except for the fact that the brochures touted that Rocket 350, customers paid extra for that engine and when the car was delivered what did they find, but a lowly Chevy 350.
Had I been looking for a GM sedan of that era, I could certainly deal with a Pontiac, given the right powertrain. However, it would be just my luck to stumble upon one in this color combo, which I simply cannot abide. The curse of the used-car buyer: find the perfect car at the perfect price in the most awful color available. I have always sucked it up and bought the car. I would have hated this one.
One of my older cousins got married in 1975 or 76 and all the guys wore tuxes in this color. I am still scarred by the experience.
Pastel tuxedos. Weren’t we all scarred? LOL!
Wrong color? On a used car?
That’s why God send us Earl Scheib.
It cost more now, of course, with Earl and his business both in for final audit; but the principle remains. If the car’s good…you don’t drive the color.
I’m with the reflexive-gag folks here. Not my hue.
I also like the car, but can’t tolerate the color. It reminds me of the institutional green paint that you’d find in a grade school boy’s bathroom or locker room. Makes me want to raise my hand for a hall pass, and hope that I make it in time.
Carlo…I actually spit my coffee on my desk on that one! You made my day.
I spent 2 summers while in high school painting my former junior high (inside) a color called “misty mint”. I’ll be damned if it wasn’t exactly the color of this Bonneville.
It was the classic New England 1940’s cinder block catholic school inside. I still hate painting to this day after painting cinder blocks for 2 summers with a roller and brush.
Glad I could help. Isn’t it funny how a color can spark a memory like that?
Lordy. I come over here….and get flooded by the memories.
Not of this car; I never had one. No…of grade-school and bathroom passes…
Never happened to me. But it did happen to a girl in my second-grade class. She never lived that one down.
It looks simliar to Sea Foam Green which was the interior color of Southern Pacific locomotives when I was railroading…when they were clean, that is. That would only have been when they were fresh and new.
Yes, it is, a very hospital-institutional color!
what a very eloquent… spring for the hood. its positively huge. struggling for positive words here, but yes that spring is very stout looking.
I remember quite well the creaking “sproingggggg” sound they would make sometimes, too.
Hood lift struts are for wimps…
Ha! Thanks for bringing back a pleasant memory!
I had a school field trip to the GM assembly plant in Linden, NJ about 1970. They were building Oldsmobiles (and possibly Caddilacs too). One car was pulled off to an area at the side of the end of the line. A worker was opening the hood, beating on the linkage connected to the big spring with a large hammer, closing the hood and then repeating this sequence. I guess he finally got it to the point of good enough and sent the car on its way. I remember being very surprised that this was necessary.
Nice example of a ’77-’79 Bonneville, Tom. I found my ’81 bonneville Safari in Wisconsin of all places – under 22k miles, in (mostly) excellent condition. I love the ’77-’81 big Pontiac instrument panel. Here’s pics on my FB page….. One of these days I’ll get Fred to take a look at it, since he’s only a few minutes away.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.472488122771134.114916.100000298509093&type=3
This color was available on a few GM big cars in 1979, I’ve seen at least one Coupe deVille and Olds 98 in this color, and both were really clean like this Bonny, leading me to believe that many of the people that owned GM car this color really took care of them. I think this pistachio green was a one year only color too.
I remember coming across a 1977 Sedan de Ville that was a true Victoria old lady car that was in this colour. It was in perfect shape and when granny died, the kids thought it uncool. Like an idiot I didn’t buy it.
Everyone that bought a full size GM car this color was 65 and nicknamed “Na-Na”.
My father had a ’79 Camaro (purchased to resell at his failed car-lot attempt) in this color. It was a base coupe with green vinyl interior and had been repainted a darker metallic green. I wanted that car so bad….but not bad enough to trade my ’78 Firebird for it.
There was another base Camaro on CL several months ago in this color that I almost looked at (bought).
I had an aunt and uncle in Tennessee that had a 1979 Chevette in this color.
Really? I’ve never seen a small GM car in this color.
Had the same car for a short time many years ago, only difference was mine was red with the pimpest red velour interior I’d ever seen. That 301 is gutless, but driven gently will easily get 25 highway mpg. Alas the Cleveland saltworm ate it up…
Love the mint green. it works so well with the green interior. Who said 70s cars were all ugly earth tones?? And, whatever happened to cool colors for cars?
Does that one have a split-bench, too? Would seem like a very “non-base” option in an other wise non-Brougham Bonnie.
Love it, love it, love it. That always seemed like a one year only color. I hope it doesn’t get donked or the dash cut up. It looks like a show car with all of it’s books in the trunk, hope it stays one. To own a b-body is to love one. I bought my Caprice coupe when I was 18 and still have it now at 29. My only complaint like many is the weak engines, but the interiors and overall good engineering makes up for it IMO. Mine has had it’s share of followups too, not pictured was a g-body Bonneville I was using.
I like the 98 and looks like the Brougham with the electroluminescent coach lamp on the B pillar. We developed a work around for replacing those on the RWD cars and the FWD cars when they went bad because the plastic lighting strips were delicate and on the B&C cars were prone to moisture contamination.
The original runs ran off of an inverter in the trunk, but when the strips were discontinued we rigged up a fiber optic unit like the E cars used that operated from a light source off of a 194 bulb. They are not particularly hard to make something work if you are handy and can tap into a 12v hot wire nearby.
The RWD 98’s got the electroluminecent light later in their run no, like around 83-84? They moved the coach lamp to the B pillar from the C-pillar where it was before. What was the first car with an EL coach lamp? It had to be either the 1979 E-bodies or the 1980 Fleetwood Brougham.
I loved how those EL lamps glowed, there is a way to repair them still using the same system, someone has documented the procedure online using an 85-86 Park Avenue.
I believe the illuminated passenger side emblems on the Park Avenue and Regal Limited were also lit with EL lighting no?
The first application of B pillar EL lamps was the 79 Cadillac Phaeton, at least in the form we are discussing. The 79 E cars with C pillar lights (like my 83 Biarritz) run off of a 194 bulb in the trunk. That is where we got the idea of the repair. You can also go online and buy cheaply EL replacement sheets and if you are crafty make a replacement that operates off the original mechanism. The EL inverter for the FWD C cars I believe is in the dash behind the passenger side wood molding between the vents. Its just a little plug in box. Most of the damage is with the actual EL strip on the outside. On the B pillar cars water gets in there and degrades the wafer.
Fleetwood Broughams got the EL lamps standard for 1980 through 1992. Only Brougham models got the EL lamps starting in 82 with the introduction of the Brougham model. Non Broughams could still have the C pillar lights as well as the coupes. In an interesting oddity, all of the FWD 98s had the EL lamps but on the Buick version, on the Park Avenue did. The relatively rare Electra 380 had only an emblem attached to a painted B pillar. The 88 LS sedan also got the EL lamps which used leftover 98 parts. The Toronado never offered EL lamps, my 85 Caliente did have any coach lamp of any kind.
The Phaeton, I forgot about those, thats right they had a coach lamp on the fake convertible top deVille, I didn’t remember those being EL.
I’ve seen 79-85 Toronados with coach lamps, but the traditional bulb style, and 86 and up, none on the Toro, but it was still avialable on the 86 and up Eldo Biarritz and on some Rivieras with the landau roof option.
Did any of the 79-85 E-bodies get an EL coach lamp? Because I could swear that the illuminated “R” coach lamps on the 79-85 Riviera are EL, at least on the Rivieras.
The RWD Park Avenue had a EL coach lamp from 80 and up as well, do you remember the illuminated passenger side dash on those Park Avenues?
The coupe Phaetons had the coach light on the canvas while the sedans had it on the B pillar. Which is where I reference as the first B pillar light on GM.
My Caliente had just about everything minus the talking computer and a few other obscure options. I can not remember now if coach lamps were even allowed with the Caliente package, a quick scan of Google Images turns up no examples.
According to GM parts book, there were two EL styles on the Riviera, a 79-81 that used a separate inverter in the trunk and a 82-on style that used an internal inverter that simply was wired into the regular electrical system. So, yes, in fact the Riviera was a true EL.
My Eldorado I guess use an “EL-look” system where it is driven off an incandescent bulb but through the use of fiber optic and a filter plate gives off the look of EL.
Don’t ask me why they did this. Otherwise I tell people if they own an EL equipped car don’t really bother looking for a NOS part just retrofit it. The 92-96 Roadmaster also used EL lamps in the Limited models, but the last go round of the Fleetwoods dropped it.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Rebuild-Your-Cars-EL-electroluminescent-Lights/
This website seems to do the trick.
cool didn’t realize the different styles of coach lamps
btw oldsmobile had a talking computer?- what was the option called?
Voice Reminder Package, or something like that, it was available on the Toronado and the FWD C-body 98, through at least 1986-87. It kinda sounded like a robot Ted Koppel.
I think you can YouTube a video of it.
cool thought that was just a Chrysler/Nissan thing
I managed to get mine working again but it was time consuming. Mine also had the moisture contamination as I would see condensation inside before I repaired them. There is a place online that sells 1″ wide strips and I was able to put them in and solder them up. I had to use a Dremel to make a groove for the wire inside the light as there was no way to solder anything to the copper strips (which are in the center on these)as it said in the instructable. I tried it that way and it broke or ripped away as soon as it was handled, and was just about impossible to keep from shorting once it was put back together. The new inverter I bought from the same source as the strips. Has a nice cool glow at night.
They do have this cool futuristic glow when they are on.
Here’s something for me to whine about:
Why were the power window switches on the Bonnevilles mounted on a panel on the door, like a Cadillac, but the pw switches on the more expensive Buick LeSabre/Olds Delta were flat against the door panel, looking cheap like a Chevrolet Caprice/Impala?
I refuse to sleep for one minute until this extremely important question about power window switches on 35-year-old cars is resolved!!
Depends on the level of trim, Buick and Oldsmobile got them when the higher spec interior was ordered, if not it would have the flat on the door, like a Catalina would, a Limited LeSabre or Delta 88 Brougham would have the power window pod, if it had power windows. Remember every thing was “al-la carte”.
The Bonneville was the top of the range Pontiac, where the Delta 88 and LeSabre were the junior big cars to the C-body 98 and Electra
Not only was everything a la carte, sometimes some really odd combinations could come along, like a car with am radio, cruise and nothing else. It was also amazing, at least here in Canada, how many GM cars had cranker windows at this time. These cars had nice interiors, the only real downside was the pull straps on the doors pulled right off very easy as they were only anchored to sheet metal.
These cars did BC mountain roads surprisingly well, especially the ones with the bigger motors which always had 3.08 gears. Nice cars.
Its better to pull them from the little pocket, but that tears too. I’ve seen these with the upscale interior and crank windows too. Yeah, you could get these with all sorts of odd combos back then. I remember the black cheapo seatbelts you would see on these if you didn’t get the deluxe color keyed belts…
If you added two thin washer’s between the door metal and the pull strap that virtually eliminates the problems. Our group issued the TSBs back in the day. We had “official” TSBs and then “unofficial” ones that got spread by word of mouth. It was great working in the service group. Here we are working for the biggest auto manufacturer on the planet (at the time) it was real Cuban-style maintenance. But did it work!
Good tip!
My Caprice actually had those, they are definitely more ergonomic compared to the panel mounted switches, especially in that location.
Nice, I didn’t notice your Caprice was a later coupe, those are rare, there was a really clean one for sale on ebay about a year ago.
Nice car, very clean example. I always prefered the Catalina’s to the Bonnevilles/Parisennes with skirts from this era. The cars looked much better without skirts. At least in Canada our Pontiacs came with the 305 versus the Pontiac 301. 1979 was the worst year for power for these 2bbl engines, as GM swtiched from the tried and true 2GC carb to the more fuel efficient and cleaner dualjet.
One of our good family friend bought a ’79 Catalina brand new, ruby red 4-door loaded. He bought a second white one to use as his winter car. The white car was retired somewhere in the 90’s after rust set in, but his red car was summer only stayed in near showroom condition. The car was became his only daily driver up until about 6 or 7 years ago when he decided to buy a new Impala. The old ’79 was still mint, but he got hardly any money for it, as it was just an “old gas guzzler”. Within one year the new owners had destroyed this near perfect example in an accidental fire. I told him he should have kept it as his Sunday driver. It was a very reliable car, never gave him any serious mechincal issues in it’s nearly 30 years of service.
I remember the 301 2v from 79 well. It was in my very first car, a base model Grand Prix. I used to flip the air cleaner lid over alot to improve the sounds coming from under hood, although doing so really reduced power in a bad way.
These cars could go astronomical miles if at any way at all looked after properly. The big motor ones were the best of the lot and well worth the extra fuel consumption. People were so dumb they avoided the 350 cars but they were so much more reliable they more than made up for their thirst, which in town was prodigious.
Of course everyone was freaking about gas prices and supply so the 301 became a compromise between the big V8 feel and some semblance of economy and to get the gov’t off our backs on CAFE.
The 301 and Buick 350 needed to be handled with kids gloves to go the distance. The 301 used a lightweight crank, block and heads and had it’s RPM redline curtailed to but 4400 RPM. Any overheating or lack of service quickly did them in. The Buick 350 used an external oil pump with aluminum gears that after time wore and reduced oil pressure so maintenance was critical on these too. The best engines were the Olds 350 and 403 along with the Pontiac 350 and 400.
There are leaves/foliage that color, so I think it is an Earth tone. But I Do Love it.
Earlier 69-72 The Pastel Lime Was a Lincoln Mark III favorite, worked well on a 69 T Bird With White Leather etc.
Loved it’s short encore here. There Was a 2 tone dianond Green Grand Prix in 79, 80. that a co-worker had, I wanted that instead of my 85 Grand Am. Maybe 2015 There is Hope for this color coming around again?
The “official” name of this color is Willowmist Green.
In 1978, me and two friends at work went on B-body frenzy all within a month. I led off with a LeSabre Sport Coupe wth a two tone silver/black paint and blue interior. Kenny was next with a tripple Black Bonnie 2 Dr. Brougham and Paul brought up the rear with a tripple burgundy 88 Holiday (? cant remember) Coupe. We always parked them three abreast feeling quite smug for three guys only in their twenties.
Haven’t seen one of these in ages. The two late 70s Bonnies I knew firsthand when I was a kid had pretty unusual equipment. One was a ’79 like this, in yellow with no vinyl top, and it had the cast aluminum “snowflake” wheels, which were very sharp. It belonged to the dad of a friend of mine, and I also remember riding in it. The interior was saddle vinyl, split bench front seat, full power options, and the very rare gauge package. I always thought that Pontiac’s dash was arguably the nicest of this generation of B bodies. The other Bonnie of this vintage that I remember belonged to a family a few blocks away. It was a ’77 Brougham and it had the Valencia interior trim, which had to have been low production. The car was brown, with a tan top, wire wheel covers and the crazy brown striped velour inside. Very wild and 70s looking.
Valencia you say?
Wow we had a sofa in that exact same velour!
That’s it!! Not sure when they dropped that trim, or if it came in other colors. But I will never forget those brown striped seats.
From what I have seen, I think it was a 77 only option, there was a…..oh boy……RED valencia interior too, I couldn’t find a picture, but it was intense, the main seat being red where this one is tan and the stripes were dark red, black and silver or something like that.
Red Valencia! Now that would be a sight! For the ultimate in 70s suave, imagine a ’77 Bonnie Brougham in either a red on red two-tone or a silver with a red vinyl roof, naturally with wire wheel covers (with the red Pontiac center caps) and a red Valencia interior. Broughmazing!
Trust me, the red Valencia interior was painful to behold! The brown though, was quite attractive IMO.
I did a “Craigslist Classic” on a ’77 Brougham with Valencia a few months back. With Rally IIs, no less: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/craigslist-classic-christmas-money-burning-a-hole-in-your-pocket-how-about-a-77-bonneville-with-valencia-interior/
I would have liked to see the Valencia interior in black/white/silver, blue and, of course, green too!
Here it is in red. Only in the ’70s……
The ’77 Bonnie Brougham offered Valencia striped velour only in tan. For ’78, the Brougham got new seat trim more befitting of the Brougham designation (crushed velour button-tufted loose cushions) and the previous Brougham interior was fitted to standard Bonnevilles. The Valencia interior added red as a second color choice. Valencia trim was discontinued in ’79 in favor of another, more restrained multicolored scheme whose name I don’t recall. I remember seeing Valencia trim in the ’77 brochure and even saw a swatch of the actual cloth on the flipboard at a dealer, but have never seen an actual car so equipped.
Somebody recently posted a ’78 Safari with the Valencia cloth on E-bay. Already sold for the B.I.N.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FULLY-LOADED-all-original-1978-Grand-Safari-woody-wagon-with-Valencia-interior-/321139805512?forcev4exp=true#ht_518wt_1035
WOW, I never even saw that, and I cruise the Pontiac section every day almost, nice, no 3rd seat, I wonder if the 3 seat would have been “Valencia” as too?
I see that the infamous Valencia cloth made it to 1978, I thought it was a 77 only thing, loaded, and for REAL, I hate it when people through the word loaded around when a car isn’t, this is clearly not one of those cases.
Cool! I knew it was available on the wagons, but have never seen one.
I’m not a big fan of the color, but the cars were indeed nice. May favorite of the entire era would have to be the ’84 Buick Park Avenue in dark, dark blue. And no, I never owned one. I had an ’84 Olds 98. Still a large, very comfortable car but blockier looking and weak-kneed with the 307. Like all the GM big cars of the day it had a gas gauge needle that wobbled like a drunken stick-man.
The best cars by far were the 1977-79 cars. The high trim Pontiacs were great cars for the money, easy a Caddy competitor and with bucket seats, floor shifter, and sport suspension a really great road car.
Its too bad that the bucket interior never caught on in any of the B’s. Buick, Oldsmobile and Pontiac all offered one, but they were all gone by 1980 or so. A Bonneville coupe with the buckets and the gauge package would have been an awesome car. Different from a Caddy, sort of a drivers full size B-body, a spiritual successor to something like the 2+2 from the 60’s.
You always had the Delta 88 Holiday coupe with the 403. With F41 it was bruiser.
I suspect that Pontiac buyers interested in that type of driving simply bought a Grand Prix. Or Firebird or something else that was available since Pontiac had more sporting options. It wouldn’t make sense for Pontiac to cannibalize sales of those cars offering a sporting B Body. Oldsmobile did it because of the Pace Car and the Holiday Coupe being already well known.
I always had a thing for the even more obscure LeSabre Sport Coupe with the turbo V6 and the bucket seat interior.
Yes those are interesting. My uncle’s mother had one of those, it was very attractive in a light blue metallic with a medium blue cloth interior and of course the Turbo V6 engine. A pic below is basically what I remember. She worked for Packard Electric and of course bought under the GMS plan. The Regal Turbos are well known and popular, the LeSabres less so, they weren’t that popular new and she got a good deal.
I have never seen a bucket seat LeSabre, even Sport Coupes I have seen were all benches with the most obvious distinction being the tri spoke steering wheel.
Whenever I get another creative burst of energy (like when I wrote that Insider’s piece in 2 hours) I plan to do a CC on the Turbo Buick V6 with discussion of the models that it went into.
I have also never seen a bucket-seat LeSabre although the owner’s manuals I have for these cars do mention a floor shifter. I’ve probably seen around ten Sport Coupes but all were column-shift.
The Holiday 88 I used to have had the same console & bucket seats as the Cutlass. LOTS of things slipped between the wide gap between the seat & console and the seat belt receptacle always laid flat on the floor.
What a profile on that Sport Coupe in the pic!
The LeSabre Sport Coupe that I remember was also light blue, but it had the buckets from what I recall, I remember seeing in the parking lot at church when I was a kid, my mother had a LeSabre Limited coupe of the same vintage and we used to park next to the Sport Coupe, I remember the cooler looking blacked out trim and the BIG Buick Road Wheels that the Sport Coupe had compared to our smaller road wheels.
Of course being a car nut since small, I had already read our LeSabre/Electra owners manual and I knew that the Sport Coupe had a “turbo boost” gauge built into the bottom of the gas gauge and turbos always made everything cooler.
Another bit about the Lesabre Turbo Coupes was that due to the physical size of the B bodies, the turbo motor cleared the hood of the car. So the LeSabres used existing hoods. There was no real way to tell them from regular LeSabres except by the hood ornament or the B pillar label. Of course trained eyes might raise an eyebrow to the blacked out door trim, but seeing as a lot of Buicks had the rally wheels then, the LeSabre Sport Coupe was something of a sleeper.
The ventiports were also replaced with a ribbed “turbo 3.8 litre” panel.
Carmine, I bought my ’78 LeSabre Turbo Sport Coupe new. I remember it as the buckets weren’t available. I say that because I was dissapointed that I couldn’t order it with buckets. Regardless, what’s a young man making way too much money to do if he wanted buckets? He installs a set from an Olds. Which I did. I knew somebody would bring this issue up 35 years later. LOL.
I think the ’78 Rivs had buckets, though. And they were simply a LeSabre with Bonney Landau roof line in my opinion.
There was one of those for sale on Carsonline.com a while back, now sold. Black, bucket seats, center console and the snowflake alloys. Very, very nice.
Here’s the interior. Those center consoles have got to be rare, though they look like they could be the same unit as used in the Grand Prix.
Too bad about the Camel colored interior. I think maroon would have looked so much better.
I actually don’t mind the tan, but agree that a maroon (or navy blue) interior would be better.
I think they all used the respective console from their divisions mid-size car.
Correct about the center console. It is the same one as found in a 1978-87 grand Prix or 78-81 Lemans.
Yes, I tried to buy that car but I lost out by a few hundred bucks. It is now listed on Ebay by a dealer/flipper at twice the price that what I KNOW he paid for it.
I must be more of an import guy than I thought because I am totally stumped on the dual crotch coolers in this Bonneville.
I have seen plenty over the years mainly on, I think, old Impalas. It always struck me as odd that they weren’t on all GM full-sized cars and I just assumed it was a limited 60s thing. Now here they are on a ’79, and there are two of them?!
It’s getting really weird for me because my ’86 FWB doesn’t have any nor did my granddad’s ’78 SDV.
Tom, after you Carmine and Junqueboi get done rolling yours eyes could one of you please tell me when they started and went away? Which brands got them? Were there always two or did some models have just one like I remember?
Cadillac didn’t put them on their cars, perhaps they thought their customers would find cooling their crotches unseemly?
I think they started with the 71 B/C and the Colonnade A, stayed on the 77 B/C and went away for the 78 A/G.
I did have them on my Colonnades and 76 and 77 Cs.
Cadillac did not get them because of the automatic climate control.
Thanks guys that makes sense on the cooler application and I remember seeing them now on a Colonnade or two. Also makes sense the Caddy wouldn’t have because of the ATC and besides even with the 134 conversion there would be risk of freezing your n*** off.
Hmm, I’ll have to do a quick inventory when I get home and report back 🙂
Based upon my ’71-’76 large car and ’73-’77 intermediate experiences/ownership (excluding Cadillac), all A/C-equipped jobs got coolers on both sides regardless of whether or not they were equipped with ATC.
My 1987 Cutlass Supreme Brougham had them, and…believe it or not, I had a 1995 Toyota Corolla that had one under the steering wheel!
I’m sorry but I just don’t like the mint exterior and olive interior. My 71 Riv was repainted in this color at some point and had the olive interior too, the original olive paint would have looked so much better.
I also think the Ponchos were the worst looking of the B’s and it is one of the few cases where I think it looks worse with skirts than w/o. The dash is also the worst and cheapest looking of the B’s in my opinion.
I don’t care what color this car is – it’s a plain, non-brougham steel-top beauty! Very very nice, indeed.
Nice find. I hope I don’t have to get in a bidding war with you on Ebay Tom. I’d hate to think we’d be bidding against each other someday.
When I first spotted this car on adhuntr, I was in a transitive period between jobs. Now that I am in a pretty secure, full-time position, I am thinking more and more that I am going to have to get myself a GM biggie someday! First choice would be one of these, but a 1990-92 Caddy Brougham would be a close second, and far easier to find.
I would like to see it in a nice maroon or a darker shade of green. Still, it’s an incredible survivor.
They look excellent in navy blue, too:
(from my adhuntr ad photo collection)
looking for this car$$ 419)480-9419 Robert King
I could almost take the GSA green exterior if the olive green interior didn’t clash with it.so much. Love the car but the interior color is the worst.
couldn’t resist
I shot a CDV identical to this last summer…one of these days I’ll dig the pics out and share here.
You must! Love the 1977-79 CDVs. Think of the Brougham Society…
I’m still waiting for you to join up over there…I could use the help you know!
The interior green matches the color used on major appliances in the 1970’s.
The interior is very avocado green like. The exterior more minty, like a Mylanta bottle.
That deVille above is a twin of the one I saw in this color, it might even be the same car. This, from as far as I can see, was a full size only color, I’ve never seen an intermediate or lower car sporting this minty green.
I have a shot of a 2tone Grand Prix where this is the light and a green like this interior is the dark.
Looks very nice with White Leather interior, and Matching white vinyl Roof, as Betty White’s given to her by Alan Ludden, on her Seville.
I miss this Color, although I have seen several interesting light greens on Eco friendly cars.
I remember the Camry Hybrid came in a color similar to this in about 2007-08, although it was a metallic. Haven’t seen any recently…
I don’t care for vinyl tops on the coupes on B cars like this in these years. However a clean two toned all metal coupe like pictured below is a looker. Two tone silver/grey with red pin stripes and red Brougham interior is a very stylish coupe with wire covers or the honeycomb wheels.
With interior like this.
Our phys-ed coach had one of these coupes in gold without the vinyl top and with the Pontiac Rally II’s, it was sharp.
Thats the 79 Brougham interior, which is towned down from the 78, which is over the top with almost Park Avenue like crushed velour seats.
Agree: they look so much nicer with the steel top–especially in coupe form. Here’s another pic of this car, from my 1977-79 Bonneville stock files:
And Carmine, you’re right. Although the seats of the ’79 were more or less the same as ’78 sew-style-wise, they lost the “wrinkled” effect, as seen in the ’78 Park Avenue. They looked a LOT like the ’78 Park Avenue inside.
’78 Park Av. interior for comparison’s sake:
The 77-78 Park Avenue interior borders on obscene…
I’d love to find a nice coupe.
There was a really nice Electra 225 coupe on ebay a while back: red, white top, and white vinyl interior with red dash and carpet. It even had the Road Wheels with whitewalls. Very sharp!
Sweet Electra Tom!
They are ostentatious but I think the cup gets taken by the 1974 Fleetwood Brougham Talisman and the 1974 Buick Park Avenue (special edition).
The 1974-1976 Talisman are largely the same, but in 1974 only, they have a rear console and vanity set. Crushed Medici velour in a dark hue with throw and pillows. Simply over the top.
Living in large East Coast cities, I associate these Bonnevilles as the cars driven around “The Block” looking for some company for tonight.
early episodes of cops may or may not bear this out.
“The Wire” comes to mind.
This is a beautiful Pontiac. I’m in the minority and like the mint green outside okay. I love the green inside though!
The condition of this car is amazing & I also hope it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. The base wheelcovers shown would be my top choice over the Rally IIs, Snowflakes, or wire caps. I like the simple elegant design: easy to keep clean, not “busy”, and well, I like the bright red centers 🙂
Those are the very same wheel covers Dad’s had; I also have a thing for them!
I cant get down with those wheelcovers, they scream Bufford T. Justice.
I won’t hold it against you man.
All the posts knocking the color show why cars today are nearly grayscale. People are don’t want to be ‘made fun of’ that they just get go black/white/gray, and avoid the ‘ewww’ comments.
OTOH, look at interior house paint selections at Home Depot and see the billions of colors. On Home Improvement shows, wide variety of colors are in style. This Pontiac’s shade of green would fit right in a few kitchens or bathrooms of new McMansions. Opposite of the 80s/90s when most homes were ‘sellable’ with plain white walls.
Fear not Tommy, it’s perfectly acceptable to me 🙂
I’d like to add more to this, but I think all that can be said has been said.
But, I am going to share this with The Brougham Society.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheBroughamSociety/
My brother had the Bonneville coupe of this same year in triple black with the wire wheel covers. It turned alot of heads.
A neighbor growing up had a 1979 Catalina coupe that they bought used in 1981 in this exact color combination, with a rare factory power metal sunroof – I know because a friend of mine’s mom had looked at that exact car at the local Oldsmobile dealer and was almost going to buy it but the deal didn’t work out. Ironically it ended up at a neighbor of mine’s house and was their everyday car for many years. They moved away and the Catalina went with them – I often wondered what happened to that car!
Just returned from a day at a massive car show/cruise-in. Well over 1,000 cars lined various streets. We arrived at 1230PM and got hom at 9PM EST. Everything and anything was there. Here are some B-body highlights.
Unfortunately there was a 78 Bonneville Brougham coupe with the shirred velour interior I wanted to get a picture of. However the owner was driving it in the parade cruise and I lost track of him. It was clean. Triple tan very attractive.
Early 80s two tone Caprice.
I just got back from a cruise night myself. I bet you’d like this car Craig! It was in mint condition too.
Yes I do like my modern day Cord.
Another early 80s Caprice coupe that had been modified with a 502 Chevy crate motor. I was not able to get a frontal but you can see through the windshield the fiberglass power hood. The car had a heavy idle with dual vintage exhaust, I can only assume the owner did the car right and it must be a tear to drive.
Taken at the Plunkett car show yesterday. The black spot is dirt under the lens
interior
Rear
Just beautiful!
Notwithstanding my favorable comments above, I think this color combo would be even better on the ’77 version and if I had to buy a ’77-’81 Bonneville the first MY would be my pick. There’s something about the extra cross hatching on the front amber indicators and the taillights as compared to the ’78-’79s that really adds to the appearance for me. I feel similarly about the ’77 Electra and ’77 Cadillac taillights vs. the ’78 and ’79 versions.
I’ve always liked that the designs kept changing in ’77-’79 (as in years prior) unlike what followed in the ’80 and beyond models which, whatever engines were under the hood, pretty much stayed identical except for grill changes.
Really impressed by the paint. It retains much of the original colour. Lack of fade is impressive. The paint on the skirts have more yellow in them. They may have been stored separately. A peaceful colour then, and now.
The mint color looks good on its own, but often I saw this paired in a two-tone combo with Kermit Green covering most of the body – which is basically the interior color too. This one’s missing some common options – has passenger side rearview mirror but no inside control, no rear window defogger, no power antenna, no digital clock. All of these would be (or have a control) in the center of the center of the dash above the climate controls. There was an analog clock available too, but this one has a vacuum “fuel economy” gauge in its place instead.
Weird how the 1978 model had narrower, taller taillamps, but the ’79 reverted to the 1977 style lights (with the center ribs filled in)… but not as weird as how the Pontiac-specific rear sheetmetal was replaced with Chevy sheetmetal in 1982 for the Parisienne, only to return to the original Pontiac sheetmetal again in 1985.
The exterior color of the Poncho should be called Air Force Dormitory Green-the barracksI was living in was virtually the same color.
Speaking of green on green cars, we recently bought a 1997 Ford Taurus LX Sedan in Pacific Green with Willow Green cloth interior. A late holdout for the green-on-green cars, although a Grand Marquis in Medium Willow Green over Willow Green interior would be closer to this beautiful Pontiac.
I photographed this identical example 10 years ago. I wonder if it’s the same one?
Doesn’t look to be – this one has a chrome mirror rather than the differently-shaped painted “sport mirror”, and a vinyl roof.
Hey Adam–That looks like the Providence skyline in the background! All my family is/was from RI, and I lived in Cranston for a while when I was very young (mid-1960s). Also spent many summers and weekends there, as I grew up mostly in Eastern CT. Lots of fond memories of RI.
My grandfather special-ordered a red-on-red-on-red ’77 Bonneville Coupe (see my earlier comment) from Regine Pontiac, which I think no longer exists. Just a shout-out to another Rhode Islander!
Here’s my 1979 Oldsmobile Holiday 88 (for sale on cars-on-line). Rocket 350 and red interior. A great cruiser that loves the highway – despite the high cost of fuel these days.
Its funny how if you fully option out a 70’s Bonneville, Lesabre, Electra, Olds 88 or 98 they are just as plush inside as a Cadillac. And all of those cars came with a huge 400 cubic inch or better engine like a Cadillac.
Yeah maybe you dont get things like leather seats or automatic climate control, or that extra wheelbase/rear seat legroom. But you save a ton of $$$ on a car that is about 95% of that Cadillac experience
My grandfather special-ordered a ’77 Bonneville coupe–triple red–red paint, Bordello red velour interior, and thick-padded red Landau vinyl top. The car turned heads everywhere it went, and I loved to ride in it (and got to drive it in 1978-1979 before he traded it for a crappy ’79 Olds Cutlass–never understood that one!). He ordered it with the optional 350 4v engine, limited slip diff, automatic climate control (his first car w/AC!), the handling package, and AM/FM radio. My grandma–the frugal one–prevented him getting cruise, tilt, and power accessories, which I always thought was a shame. But man did that car ride beautifully, and it was whisper quiet. In my 15-16-year-old mind, it rode as well as any Caddy I was ever in. Grandpa was a Pontiac guy in the 1960s and 1970s–he had a ’59 Catalina Safari wagon, a ’61 Bonneville bubbletop sport coupe, and a ’69 Catalina hard-top sedan, which ended up being my first car. Love Curbside Classic site! My 1st Post!
Hey Adam–That looks like the Providence skyline in the background! All my family is/was from RI, and I lived in Cranston for a while when I was very young (mid-1960s). Also spent many summers and weekends there, as I grew up mostly in Eastern CT. Lots of fond memories of RI.
My grandfather special-ordered a red-on-red-on-red ’77 Bonneville Coupe (see my earlier comment) from Regine Pontiac, which I think no longer exists. Just a shout-out to another Rhode Islander!
I’d like to purchase the Bonneville