Rarely seen compared to its corporate twins from Chevrolet and Buick, this Pontiac Catalina Safari Wagon is a recent find from an estate sale and offered by a dealer in Waterbury, Connecticut. Said to have only 22,000 miles from new, these are the epitome of Grandma’s preferred cruiser in the 1980s, assuming she was a full-size type of lady. Find this clean Catalina here on eBay with a Buy-it-Now of $7,995 and the reserve unmet.
GM didn’t try overly hard to distinguish the different models from each other, but the Catalina has a slight advantage in the rarity department alongside its platform mates. The solitary Pontiac logo in the center of the rear gate and the chrome stripes across the taillights are two ways to tell these large wagons apart from each other, along with modestly revised front grille treatments.
Though odometers are not the final word on mileage, this Catalina appears nice enough to validate the low-use claims. The carpets are clean and the bench seats are untorn, and typically worn surfaces like the fake wood treatment in the dash appear as-new. The seller doesn’t offer much in the way of details about the Catalina’s history, other than to say the previous owners were well into their 90s before it was offered at the aforementioned estate sale.
As a 1978 model, this Catalina could be equipped with any number of V8 options, ranging from the 301, 350 or 400 mills. Pontiac, and the entire GM lineup, was in a perpetual state of downsizing at this point, so horsepower outputs were nominal relative to the massive engine displacements on motors like the 400. Still, there was one highlight for 1978: a tailgate that could be swung open to the side or lowered like a truck tailgate. Is this Catalina a survivor worth saving at almost $8K?
Probably has so few miles because no one would want to take a vacation in a wagon without air conditioning.
lool absolutely
Exactly.
.. and that tailgate was designed by Gerry Coker, who designed the Austin Healey 100 after he left the UK and went to work for GM.
Still you could drive this for three seasons of the year if you live in Canada 🇨🇦 or the northern States. Saves you the embarrassment of being seen in a fwd minivan.
Or Monterey CA
All year in Monterey.
Definately a great car worth saving and way better than a modern minivan, I happen to love wagons. Wish I had the dough.
If you decode the VIN number which is shown in the picture of the title on the dealer listing the engine is a 301 with a 2 barrel carb
Aka the last true pontiac V8.
I had one of these in the 80s ! Loved it.. Not a hot rod by any stretch of the imagination but a great substitute for a pick up.. Mine was a cheapie with vinyl seats and an AM radio but a quick trip to a wrecking yard and a factory AM-FM Stereo was installed.. Mine had A/C and; as nice as this one is. With no A/C , Ill pass…
These are great cars. Plush ride, lots of windows to see the world, and they rarely break down in like new condition. Only new once, and this is a cream puff of a car. Not much power on tap, but enough motivation to steer her down the lane and let her weight and size do the talking…so to speak. You can certainly drive this without air conditioning in Canada in all seasons except one…winter, where salt would destroy it. We all have cars with air nowadays, but I just roll down the windows…it’s not that hot in summer, but those huge windows would need to be spooked out to keep the inside temp from baking everything.
I like it.
We bought a new one in 1980. Best family vehicle ever. Had the rear facing seat and the two way tailgate….Ours was tan with tan leather interior.
Being a Connecticut Car the owner probably did not see the reason for AC. My Uncle Joe was in the US Navy for 25 years and lived in Groton, because of Submarine Base. He never bought a car with AC because he said he never needed it up there. Besides he was at sea 3/4 of the year.
Nice car thought!!!
Uncle Joe must have been pretty tough. I worked as a welder at Electric Boat in Groton. Electric Boat was a division of General Dynamics (GD), and it was GD hot and humid in Groton.
Add Vintage Air and Rallye II wheels….can’t do much with the 301, but it would be a nice cruiser.
No Air and only AM radio, they obviously spent no money on options. I love wagons but not interested in such a Plain Jane example. If it were mine, I’d hide it in the far back corner of the garage and put no miles on it also.
This car has been for sale for a while now and I suspect the reason is that it is very low spec. When I first saw it listed, it caught my attention, but I never went to look at it because it lacks a/c. I will take a non functioning a/c car, but NO a/c is a deal breaker for me.
A Vintage Air could be added, but that would need to come out of purchase price.
Ya gotta love these small time independent used car dealers. The dealer has this listed on eBay as having only one option… a 6-speed manual transmission.
a solid basic hauler with no frills, right up my alley
wonder why the family didn’t want it, sad
With only 22k on the clock, no memories were made. That being the case, it probably has no sentimental value.
Memories are sometimes made in park…
The eBay Auction on this wagon just ended less than an hour ago. The high bid of $6,250 did not meet the reserve and was not good enough for the seller so NO SALE. Look for this to be relisted perhaps in the fall (hopefully with a lower Buy-it-Now price) when the lack of air conditioning is not as much of an issue.
I see this one is still for sale. It won’t be a high price fetching B body wagon as it is without A/C, has the base 301 engine that is the least desirable V8 engine in a B body, no power options, and the blue on blue is not a strongly desired color scheme. At least it is devoid of vinyl woodgrain, but there isn’t even a roof rack. There is some interior plastic panel fading, and the engine will likely need to be freshened up with seals and gaskets. It’s still collectible to the right person who just wants a very simple classic wagon, and would make a great limited use/novelty/show cruiser. It’s a $5000-6000 car, no more.