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The Pontiac Bonneville was an automobile that was built by the Pontiac division of General Motors from 1958 to 2005. Introduced as a limited production performance convertible in the Pontiac Star Chief model range during the 1957 model year, the Bonneville became its own series in 1958. EARLY DEVELOPMENT The Bonneville name first appeared in 1954 on a pair of bubble-topped GM Motorama Concept Car s called the Bonneville Special. It entered the production linup as the ''' Star Chief Custom Bonneville ''', a high-performance, fuel-injected luxury convertible, late in the 1957 model year. Only 630 units were produced that first year, making it one of the most collectible Pontiacs of all time. The Bonneville endured until 2005 as the division's top-of-the-line model. The term was taken from the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah , the site of much early auto racing and most of the world's land speed record runs. One of the 2 existing 1954 Bonneville Specials was last seen in 2006 Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction, selling for $2,800,000(+8% commission). The Bonneville expanded into its own series and added a coupe in 1958 , and it paced the Indianapolis 500 that year. In its third year, the 1959 Bonneville gained a four-door bodystyle and formed a nearly complete line in itself. It played an important part that year in the introduction of two of Pontiac's greatest marketing inspirations — the split grille and the Wide Track slogan. The latter was not just ad copy, either, as Pontiac pushed its wheels further out toward the fenders than anyone else and created what were considered to be the best-cornering full-size cars in the industry. Both the grille design and the Wide Track phrase are still part of Pontiac's image today. The Bonneville remained as Pontiac's costliest and most luxurious model throughout the 1960s and was instrumental in pushing Pontiac to third place in sales from 1962 to 1970 . BONNEVILLE'S IDENTITY CRISIS From 1971 to 1975 , the Bonneville was de-emphasized somewhat as Pontiac used the Grand Ville name for its highest-price model, but Bonneville never went away and re-emerged in the top spot in 1976, the last year before the downsized full-sized Pontiacs appeared in 1977, and continued its flagship duties on the downsized big car line until it was discontinued after the 1981 model year along with the lower-priced Catalina. In 1982 , Pontiac abruptly moved the Bonneville nameplate from a full-size car to a mid-size car previously known as the Pontiac LeMans . Customers did not take to the change, so late in the 1983 model year, Pontiac reintroduced a full-sized car to the American market by bringing over the Canadian-built Pontiac Parisienne (which was essentially a restyled Chevrolet Caprice and powered by Chevrolet V6 or V8 engines). The Bonneville was then again one notch below the top of the line. However, exactly as before, a downsizing proved its salvation. In 1987 , the Parisienne was discontinued and the Bonneville was completely redesigned as a Front-wheel Drive car, rejoining its pre-1982 platform mates the Buick LeSabre and Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight and regaining its status as the senior Pontiac. The Bonneville ''SE'' was on '' Car And Driver '' magazine's Ten Best List that year. PLATFORMS The Bonneville had used the B-body prior to 1981 , then the G-body (RWD) from 1982 to 1986 , later the H-body from 1987 to 1999 , and finally the G-body (FWD) from 2000 to 2005 . RETURN OF THE V8 Interestingly, the Bonneville regained a V8 option on the GXP trim for 2004, its first since 1986, as a result of the discontinuation of the Oldsmobile Aurora . This opened up a "hole" in the GM lineup between Pontiac and Buick, allowing Pontiac to expand upmarket somewhat. The engine is Cadillac's Northstar , and as Pontiac's website said, "With GXP, V8 power gets reintroduced into the Bonneville line in the form of the world-renowed 4.6 L Northstar V8 engine. 275 hp (205 kW), 300 ft·lbf (400 N·m) torque and 0-60 mph (~0 to 100 km/h) in 6.5 seconds demonstrates better performance than BMW 330i and 530i, and Lexus ES. Its 3.7:1 final drive ratio is the most aggressive found on any car in its class." Engines: 2006 GM announced on February 8 , 2005 that it would drop the Bonneville from Pontiac's lineup for 2006 . With more than half of Pontiac dealers also selling Buick models, the new Buick Lucerne will remain as GM's only non-luxury large car. The smaller Pontiac G8 (intended as a replacement for the Grand Prix ) will absorb the rest of the Bonneville's customer base. EXTERNAL LINKS
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