Once again, I have to thank my good friend Jayson Coombes for finding a car I would have gone gaga over had I seen it myself. Sadly, I haven’t seen a “just right” downsized 1977-79 Pontiac full-sized station wagon since my dad’s friend, John Ringier, had a gorgeous Firethorn Red ’77 Safari (with color-keyed Rally wheels!) circa 1989-90. But Jayson was in the right place, at the right time! I owe him another steak dinner.
At the time of this writing, he and his friend Danny had traveled from Texas to the CLC Grand National show in Murfreesboro, TN. Anticipating his sending me approximately 33,000 classic Cadillac pictures (including a Terra Cotta Firemist ’74 Coupe de Ville and a black ’65 Fleetwood Sixty Special restored to the highest standard by CPS … more on those at a future date), I was shocked when he texted me this gorgeous wagon.
You see, if you haven’t been reading my Brougham-obsessed posts from the beginning, you might not know my first car memory ever, was riding in my dad’s root-beer-brown metallic ’79 Bonneville sedan. Any full-sized Pontiac will therefore get my immediate attention.
Of course, I immediately texted him back. “Is it still there?! Can you get more pics?! Now?! Please please please???” Fortunately, despite the 10.5-hour drive, and his wanting to check in and have a whiskey neat with dinner, he was kind enough to get many more pics of the glorious Sky Mist Blue woody wagon you see here.
He did joke to Danny, though, that they’d driven almost 11 hours to a Cadillac show and Klockau was bugging him about pics of the Pontiac station wagon. Ha!
I really wish woody wagons were still around. They delivered in hauling persons, 4′ x 8′ sheets of plywood, and taking the Mr. and Mrs. to the annual Christmas party in Bolingbrook, Olathe or Ames … with style to spare.
They were lush in their higher trim levels, too, as seen here. The Bonneville Safari was the cream of the crop in 1979 Pontiac Station wagons. True, you could get a Catalina Safari with the exact same size and shape and hauling capacity, but it wasn’t quite as, you know, BOSS.
All 1979 Pontiacs were announced on September 28, 1978. A total of 907,412 Pontiacs of all shapes and sizes were built for the year, not bad.
A total of five Bonnevilles were offered in 1979. There were the “standard” Bonneville sedan and coupe, at $6205 and $6330. Then there were the Brougham sedan and coupe at $6960 and $7149, respectively. And, of course, there was the wagon. A total of 16,925 Bonneville Safaris were produced. They weighed in at 4022 pounds and carried a base price of $6632.
Standard powerplant was the 301 CID V8 with a two-barrel carburetor, it produced 140 hp at 3600 rpm and had 235 lb-ft of torque.
Optional was the 350 V8 with 160 hp at 3800 rpm and 260 lb-ft, breathing through a four-barrel carb. I believe these also could have the GM 350 Diesel V-8, though I can’t imagine there were too many built with it. The 350 would have been your author’s personal preference.
And I was lucky in bugging Jayson so soon. After he sent the initial two photos, he somewhat reluctantly ventured back outside for the remaining photos you see here.
And it was good that he gave in to my annoying texts, for the following morning, this magnificent example of high-style haulers was gone. He didn’t see it again, the whole time he was at the show.
For some reason, the 1977-79 Pontiac wagons are much less frequently seen compared to their Chevy, Buick, and Oldsmobile brethren. A shame, as I think they are the prettiest ones of all! But I freely admit I am biased. GM, can we get another Bonneville some day? I’d be a buyer, whether sedan, coupe or wagon. Just make sure I can get a Brougham interior.
A friend’s dad had a 77 Bonneville coupe. I think it was a Brougham; if not, the velour interior was certainly very brougham-y. I just loved the dashboard, with its wide expanse of wood-grain trim. It was the newest, nicest car, with the biggest back seat, in our group, and we all were ecstatic when his dad would let it loose for a night of cruising. I never drove it, but it seemed to have plenty of power to haul around 4-5 teens at a time. If I recall correctly, it had a rear sway bar, so it must have had some kind of upgraded suspension. Whatever, it rode really well, even with a full complement of passengers.
I really miss those cars, and those nights.
I own two older wagons (95 Mercedes e320 and 02 BMW 525iT) and love them. I never get out of a wagon and say “gosh, I wish this thing wa a sedan!”
Nice find! As has been stated many times in this and other Hagerty articles, the Canadian version was called Parisienne, of which our family had the 1979 sedan version. Ours had two options: valour cloth interior and A/C.
This is a uniquely optioned Bonnie – Tilt, Cruise, P. Locks, A/C, Wire Wheels (could’ve been added, but certainly an option I would have ordered), and what looks like a period-looking but likely Bluetooth-enabled radio. Manual crank windows, standard vinyl seats and no upmarket Brougham trim. I would have optioned it similarly, but would have preferred the cloth interior.
Very cool find!
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