For buyers seeking a very large luxury car in the mid-sixties, it was hard to beat the Pontiac Bonneville, which measured around 18.5 feet in length when the fourth generation appeared in 1965. Despite having some massively long quarter panels, the design team succeeded in putting together an elegantly styled body for the Bonneville in ’65, especially on the 2-door models such as this one here on eBay. This coupe is in Las Vegas, Nevada, and can be bought right now for $5,900, although the seller is also considering offers. Curvette, we appreciate your excellent tip here!
Though this Pontiac is described as a project, there’s still quite a bit of good news, including the seller’s claim that the car has lived its entire life on the West Coast. The body shows a few imperfections, such as damage to the right fender and a dented front bumper, but the sheet metal appears to remain nice and solid for the most part. This one seems like a good candidate to restore to its original specs, but repainting it in a color other than white might wake up the exterior a bit more, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this Bonneville eventually ends up as a cool Restomod.
Under the hood is a 389 V8 with a 4-barrel, which was the standard engine for the Bonneville in 1965. It’s certainly a plus that the owner says the car is currently running and driving, but we don’t get much in the way of specifics beyond that, such as whether the car has been sitting for a while or if the engine has ever been rebuilt. However, it must be semi-roadworthy, since the seller says the car can be driven while you work on it, but I’m thinking performing a full restoration fairly quickly might be the best way to go here.
The interior isn’t in the greatest shape right now, so it’ll need to be redone if you’re going for anything beyond an occasional driver, but there are several luxurious features inside that aren’t typically found on most cars from this period. Some of these include a rear window defroster, power seats, power windows, and a tilt steering column, so this one would be considered loaded for the time. A shot from down below shows a solid platform, so hopefully, very little work underneath will be necessary. How do you envision moving forward with this 1965 Pontiac Bonneville?
’65 and ’66 Full sized Pontiacs are amongst my all time favorite designs. They are good looking cars no matter what angle you look at them. This one definitely looks like a great solid restoration candidate.
solid looking 4k Bonneville. needs a lot of work and by the time it’s done your under water
If your budget only allows for a project car, this is a good choice. It looks to have little to no rust, some of the work, such as the interior can be do by the owner, it’s also relatively straight. If you can’t afford a finished car, buy the best one you can afford, the car featured here likely fits that bill for someone.
Steve R
Be on my list except it ain’t got no air conditioning and no I wouldn’t be adding one to a Bonneville.
I’d take this over the Grand Prix anytime. Lovely!
What a battle wagon. This would garner some respect at the local stop n go.
wow
one of the best Barn Find deals ive ever seen !, and if this were a wagon i could get in all kinds of trouble
a ’66 though, or 5
power windows and im selling plasma
these charriots are stunning in person, pics dont do it any justice
I had to laugh at the title of the writeup. My uncle had a 66 Bonneville sedan in navy. And the family referred to it as “the Blue Bomber” because it seemed so enormous!! Other than a little refinement (IMO) at the front and rear ends, the body style of the 65s and 66s were pretty much identical. This would have been the early 70’s so the car was 7 or 8 years old and two things that stood out..1) the navy blue paint oxidized so badly you could leave a purple handprint wherever you touched it, (which PO’d my uncle to no end,) and 2) the clear lucite steering wheel, already aging to yellow, was such a 60’s anacronym as the 70’s brought forth interior trim matching steering wheels. But would I love to have that baby today!!