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54K Mile Rust-Free 1977 Pontiac Bonneville

Unlike me, the seller of this beautiful 1977 Pontiac Bonneville says that it has no knocks, ticks, or squeaks. The sixth-generation Bonneville, as with other cars from that era, has been a favorite subject of scorn lately but this car looks like it’s in almost perfect condition. The seller has it listed here on eBay in Colebrook, New Hampshire and the current bid price is a whopping $8,600 and there is no reserve.

I’m not a big fan of the term malaise era but I get that it’s a thing. I don’t like the idea of lumping things into a big package like that, as if to say that all vehicles between 1973 to 1983 were bad. They weren’t, of course, but I get it that some of them weren’t exactly fine examples of old-world-craftsmanship. Truthfully, cars from the 1950s and 1960s were sometimes shoddily-built and had problems, not to mention more than a few cars from the 1990s and 2000s.

For me, and most of us judge things based on our own personal likes and dislikes, this design is great. It’s simple, elegant, crisp, and clean. Maybe it’s because I was just barely of driving age when this car was made so naturally, anything from this era interests me. The seller says that this car is rust-free and it sure looks great. The underside appears to be rock solid and with only 54,414 miles on it, it must not have been driven in the snow too often to still look that nice underneath.

A red interior, my favorite! I mention it too often, but it’s always surprising to see a luxury car, especially one from this relatively late date, without power windows. I’m an options freak so I would prefer a loaded car but a gorgeous low-mile, two-tone silver and gray over a red interior two-door Bonneville with no rust and ice-cold AC is hard to beat.

Now that’s a clean and honest-looking engine compartment! Beautiful. As you can see from the air cleaner decal, this car has the optional 350 cubic-inch V8 with a 4-barrel carburetor and it should have 170 hp. The seller says that it just takes two pumps on the pedal and it starts right up. This sure looks like a great car to me. Are any of you fans of this era of Bonneville?

Comments

  1. HoA Howard A Member

    Well, yeah, $8600 is a lot of money to me too, but this is a lot of car. My old man had a car just like this for a brief spell, he didn’t like the downsize, or the 2 door. I think it had a 301(?), and I remember, it got unbelievably good mileage. If I wasn’t into British roadsters at the time, I should have bought it from him. Naturally, these days, I have no use for a car like this, but for any kind of travel, you can bet I’d have one of these. Great find.

    Like 7
    • Avatar Mark Holtz

      I hade a 77 with 45k, 400,limited slip rear, My lawyer stole it. Not a good man.

      Like 0
  2. Avatar Phlathead Phil

    Clean car and the price is CORRECT!

    Like 10
  3. Avatar Sherminator

    My first car was a 77 Buick LeSabre with virtually the same red velour interior. The original owner obviously loved and cared for this car meticulously, which is why that price is no surprise. Hope the new owner treats her with as much respect!

    Like 5
  4. Avatar alphasud Member

    Finally a car on Barn Finds where actual low mileage actually looks like it. So many claim low mileage but under the hood is a shamble. I’m drawn to that red interior like a moth to a flame. Nice car that I would be proud to own and drive.

    Like 11
  5. Avatar irocrobb

    Sure it has no airbags or ABS braking but you might come out better in a accident vs a Nissan Versa. I really like this car.

    Like 11
    • Avatar Jonathan

      Maybe not. Also, this car and a Versa are not comparables in their respective time periods.

      This Bonneville should be compared to a Nissan Altima or Maxima.

      Like 4
    • HoA Howard A Member

      Kind of funny you mention that, the “ABS” was in our heads, and air bags seemed to gain popularity as driver attention waned. Back then, even with a diminished size, there were no “Versa” type cars, and a big car was still considered safer. It was kind of a conundrum, as the cars were big, but restraint was almost unheard of, and not enforced like today. You really had to drive with that in mind.

      Like 4
      • Avatar Dave

        Back then you could buy the Datsun B 210. It rusted away just like the Datsun trucks of that era

        Like 7
      • Avatar Mr.BZ

        Howard, I think this part of your comment nails it for me–you really had to DRIVE!

        Like 6
  6. Avatar Joe M

    Nice car. I like the red interiors also, ever since my Uncle had a 77 silver Caprice, with red interior. I can understand why they chose the roll down window option. Would be way to hot in a car that large with broken window motors, I don’t think they were too dependable back then.

    Like 6
    • Avatar Charles Sawka

      I also believe that dealers in places wit sun zero temperatures in winter tended to order cars without power windows. An iced up glass and a very cold motor are a disaster !

      Like 2
  7. Avatar Bob C.

    350 4 barrel? Excellent! Much better than the anemic 301.

    Like 6
  8. Avatar Chris Gall

    Helped my parents order a brand new black 4 door Bonneville in ’78. I specified black exterior with red pinstripe and the red velour interior. Kept her waxed to the nines, looked like a limo. Took that car to prom in High School as well….lots of memories….unfortunately I couldn’t talk dad into the 350, so we had the 301 V-8……less than inspiring, but with the cat cut off and a test pipe along with the air cleaner cover flipped, you could get her to go fairly well.

    Like 9
  9. Avatar Pete Phillips

    Look how clean that engine is!

    Like 5
  10. Avatar larry

    I had a78 brought couple silver blue velour white landau top 400 4 bbl/ th350 redid the heads ra2 cam accel hei true duals 3inch pipes tsi th350 2800 ram stall 308 posi kyb shocks energy suspension bushings all the way round dot 5 brake fluid factors 11.5 front rotors 245/60/15 Goodyear eagle gt+4 tires 2 degree new camber on front end larger sway bars and 800cfm super duty rochchester…recurve dist car would just chirp a lil off line bang second…i was clocked on Indiana turnpike at 143 w ac on trooper let me go…God I miss that car …got stolen my mother bought it new…started in any weather…never failed me once…

    Like 4
  11. Avatar S

    This is a beautiful car! I love the two tone paint, the nice chrome on the rocker panels, and the red low pile velour interior! This is not the top of the line Bonneville Brougham but the mid range Bonneville. Still very nice! Classy. The Pontiacs came out the best when GM did the 77 downsizing of the B body cars. And the 350 – 4 bbl is a good choice. I think you could get a 400 in these at the time. There’s not much here not to like! And it’s still from the time when you could order options individually. Pontiac technically was not a luxury brand like Buick or Oldsmobile were. Cars were starting to get more expensive at this point in time, so people often ordered some options but not others to keep the price of the car down. i.e. no power windows. To me this is not surprising. A lot of people didn’t want them at the time because they were more trouble prone than non-power.

    Like 5
  12. Avatar Bill McDonald

    This car looks to be in excellent shape! I would definitely pay the 8k for it!!!!!

    Like 3
  13. Avatar DON

    Looks like someone added those “350” fender badges from an early 70s Pontiac , but other than that , this thing is as original and clean as you’ll find. Not too many of these cars were two doors either .

    Like 4
  14. Avatar George Mattar

    Beautiful. This was the year GM put Olds engines in Chevy wagons and did not tell anyone. Big lawsuit. This one has a Pontiac engine. Pontiacs never had that stupid air cleaner decal. Only Buick.

    Like 4
    • Avatar Mike Brown

      GM didn’t put Oldsmobile engines in Chevys. The lawsuit was over Oldsmobile engines in Cadillacs.

      Like 0
      • Avatar Chuck Dickinson

        No, it was about Chevy engines in Oldses. Look it up.

        Like 2
    • Avatar Mike Brown

      Let me correct myself before someone else does. GM did put Oldsmobile 350 diesel engines in a few Chevy and GMC pickups.

      Like 0
  15. Avatar Bob_in_TN Member

    Very nice Pontiac. I agree with Scotty, I too realize that “malaise era” is used to identify an era, but it carries such a negative connotation. Which in many cases wasn’t justified. This car is perhaps a good example. Attractive and stylish, modern for its day. Keeping things in context, this car is perfectly fine for what it was meant to be. It would be fun to own today.

    Like 4
  16. Avatar mike

    The winning bid was over $10k. Not bad for a Malaise Era car…Despite what the author thinks of the label it’s very appropriate for cars from 1974 to 1990 because of very under powered engines due to emission constraints. If a person can get past the underpowered engines I would say a lot of cars were not all that bad. I would replace the engine and transmission with an updated ones so the Bonneville would perform as well as it looks.

    Like 1
  17. Avatar Chuck Dickinson

    Had a Brougham twin to this car’s outward appearance, altho’ it was a FULL-LOAD, incl glass roof (red tint to match int–they did ’em that way back then). Great road car w/good mileage (301, tho’ a bit underpowered). One of my favorites of the past.

    Like 1
  18. Avatar David Conrad

    I owned a 78 Pontiac Bonneville Brougham – White on white vinyl top w/ the same red velour interior. It was loaded & had one of the largest factory sunroofs I have ever seen ( I had to have the sunroof motor rebuilt & that was expensive & a real chore); the original motors for the power windows still worked although slower than original. It was a floater & I’m now sorry I sold it 3 years ago. – it had about 75,000 original miles & was a true beauty!

    Like 0
  19. Avatar Scotty Gilbertson Staff

    Auction update: this Bonneville sold for $10,200.

    Like 1

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