I don’t need to tell you I love the Nimitz Class 1971-76 GM B- and C-body land cruisers. But I’m especially enamored of the 1975-76 Pontiac Bonneville, Bonneville Brougham and Grand Ville Brougham.
So this morning I was up at the lake, because the cruise night in Mt. Carroll was tonight. You know, the kind of show where everyone is welcome, and there are no wine snots vamping pretentiously behind roped off sections?
Anyway, it was. For this morning, their Facebook page announced it was being cancelled due to the weather being crappy. Isn’t that the way? All this week at work, gorgeous, sunny, just excellent.
Then Saturday: Boop! Rainy and cloudy and thunderstormy. Yep. F you Klockau! So I decided to see what non-electric, non-beta, non-embarrassing classic cars were being advertised. And came up with this beauty my friend Dustin Carpenter shared on his page.
And what a car! Not only is it a most excellent ’75 Bonneville 4-door hardtop, it was also in a most excellent green with matching interior and Rally II wheels!
It looks opulent as it sits, but the Grand Ville Brougham was top of the line this year, with even plusher button-tufted seats, flossier door panels and wider chrome rocker moldings with rear extensions.
But this one is still pretty nice, and is available as of this writing in Minnesota. As the seller related, “All original 1975 Pontiac Bonneville 4 Door hard top! Very low miles, we bought it from the original owner.”
“Every option that you could get on this car in 1975: 400 V8 engine, 2brl carb, power steering, power brakes, heat/AC, tilt, cruise, power windows, power locks, we have the original radio if wanted, white vinyl top.” Ah, but she’s missing cornering lamps Mr. Seller! And if I’m not mistaken you could get a four barrel 400 as well as the 4 barrel 455 V8…
“Power seats, we have the original window sticker with all the options if I am missing any. Originally purchased in Madelia MN. Please give me a call or message me if you have any questions. I am helping my dad sell this as he doesn’t have Technology… lol. $8,500 OBO”
Really nice car, nice colors. And if the car isn’t hiding classic MN rust, a fair price, I’d say. Hope someone rescues it before it gets snapped up and turned into a horrid custom. I just don’t think these can look any better than as they rolled out of the factory.
$7270 in 1975 equates to $41342 in 2022. I bet a big one like this had a nice discount/rebate in 1975 so shortly after the gas lines.
I like the color, the herringbone cloth, and the idea of the 400 with single exhaust and a 2 barrel. Sacrificing some higher rpm horsepower, but retaining the really high amount of torque a heavy car like this needs. Hopefully even adding a little economy to the mix. On later lighter models a Olds 307 with a four barrel was tuned almost exclusively for off the line torque. It met CAFE but many owners thought it was still too weak. I wonder if a mild 400 TBI could have been coaxed to meet CAFE with a better customer experience?
She’s a beauty. Great lines, and those Rally II wheels always set those Pontiacs apart to me. I like that old Johnson(?) outboard in the background too.
That is lovely. If it were closer and I had a hanger to keep it in I would be tempted.
Beautiful car- thank you Tom!
Thanks for this Poncho. I have great memories crawling around the back seats of boats like this one. Speaking of boats, I thought the outboard in the back of pic #4 was an intentional visual pun. The other detail I noticed was the installation of the aftermarket stereo. It’s more work to rear-mount the deck but it looks soooo much better. This baby’s been loved.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a “sport cloth” interior in a full size Pontiac before. That’s GORGEOUS.