Somehow, after all the years Barn Finds has been showing vintage vehicles, we’ve only seen five 1979 Pontiac Bonnevilles. One was a wagon, two were four-door sedans, and two were coupes like this gorgeous 1979 Pontiac Bonneville Coupe. This example can be found here on craigslist in Appleton, Wisconsin, and they’re asking (are you sitting down?) $38,500. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Tony P. for the tip!
It was 1964, but my parents paid $8,000 for their house on two acres. That’s still only $85,000 today, which is crazy cheap. I always think of that when I see a vehicle for what seems like an exorbitant asking price, like this Bonneville. There is just no way that the seller will ever get $38,500 or anything close to that for this car, no matter how nice it is. I hate to be the “price guy,” we usually leave that up to the commenters, but dang.
This is a really nice car, though! The two ’79 Bonneville Coupes that we’ve seen here on Barn Finds were written up by yours truly, and the nicest one, easily as nice as this car (and it was a Brougham), sold for $13,433, and it had just 32,000 miles on it. The other one was just a month ago, and that one sold for around $4,500. Still, it’s hard to argue with a black, two-door, ultra-low-mileage Bonneville Coupe. A car exactly like this one is shown on page 8 of this brochure.
The sixth-generation Bonneville was part of GM’s downsizing effort in the wake of the energy crunch in the 1970s. They were made for the 1977 through 1981 model years, and were shorter and lighter, while retaining most of the interior comfort for passengers, along with the luxury customers expected. Sadly, for a $38,500 car, the photos aren’t the best. They’re all verticals (head exploding), other than one horizontal photo, and there are only three interior photos, with none showing the back seat area. I’m not sure why that is, but I’ve stopped trying to figure out humans after this many decades. I can barely figure myself out half the time.
But, then again, there IS an engine photo! This is a Buick-sourced 350-cu.in. OHV V8, which was factory-rated at 155 horsepower and 280 lb-ft of torque when new. It’s backed by a three-speed Turbo-Hydramatic sending power to the rear wheels, and the seller says that this is your chance to get a basically new 1979 Bonneville if you missed your chance back in ’79. Any thoughts on this gem?
I want some of whatever this seller is smoking. You’d have to be pretty high to think this car is a $38,500 car. Of course it’s nice…. but sheesh! And as soon as someone drives it some, the premium for low mileage is down the toilet
I inherited a lo mi 2 dr. ’79 Pontiac Catalina in baby bottom brown with a 302 or 301 from my wife’s aunt. It was a decent enough car but was a slug with that motor. The doors were so long that I couldn’t open them wide enough to exit the car when in the garage. I also got a lot of tickets with that car. Cops hated it. I’ll never know why.
It’s nice, but is it likely to find a buyer anywhere close to the $38,500 asking price? It goes to show 1960’s and early-1970’s musclecars aren’t the only cars overpriced.
Steve R
Sounds to me like someone’s wife is making them sell the garage-hog. A simple calculation will give you one horsy for every $208 you spend on it. That’s fiiiiiine.
Sorry, I meant 305, not 302. My T-Bird had the 302.
who would insure this vehicle for any where near that price?
38K?? Wow. I bought a 1981 Bonneville back in 1997 for $500. Seller has lost his marbles.
The star of the show here is the buckets-and-console interior. While just about everything has bucket seats and a console today, in 1979, this was a rarely chosen option for the base Bonneville coupe. It still doesn’t justify the price, but it does add a bit of interest to an otherwise ordinary car.
A coworker from Wisconsin told me when you talk to anyone from Wisconsin that you have to speak slowly. Super nice car, ride in style, agree with many others before me that the asking price is way off base.
Finally! Barns Find called out a seller for their outrageous pricing of a car. Need more of that. Also BF needs to call out 5 digit “low mileage ” odometer claims.