The asking price is $3200 for this big beautiful 1968 Pontiac Bonneville, and it’s offered for sale here on craigslist. It’s located in Highland, Illinois, just outside of St. Louis.
This is Pontiac-like-you-mean-it, and with all the emphasis on low-riding cars with tops chopped, bodies channeled and so on, I can never understand why cars that have these features seemingly built in-aren’t more popular.
I wouldn’t do any of those things to this car, and the fact that it doesn’t look like it needs them is one of many reasons why. Parental discretion advised, I’m going to have to throw out a P-word warning again: this car has a nice, light patina, and I’d probably leave it the way it is. But with the great lines and styling, restoring it to look like new would certainly be understandable.
Have you ever seen a fastback with such mammoth proportions? Fender skirts and original hubcaps round out the appearance.
The appearance of the interior is consistent with that of the outside, this is a car that hasn’t had too many hands on it. The blue vinyl goes well with the white exterior. The seller says it has tilt, cruise, and air.
Years before generic GM corporate engines, this one is all Poncho under the hood, 400 cubic inches of it. The carburetor has been professionally rebuilt, and the car is said to run well. The seller says it needs some maintenance such as new tires and shocks. From the look of it, some new plugs and wires wouldn’t be out of place here either.
This car isn’t rust free, but I think it’s still an attractive enough original car that it would be fun to take out on a Sunday, and not start grinding my teeth if I got caught out in the rain. It would sure turn heads in the modern shiny plastic-car world we live in today. These are fun cars to drive. They mandate that you think ahead. You’ve got to think about it. When you’re going somewhere, the front end gets there a little while before you do. The back end, a little while later. Even more so if you’re turning the steering wheel to negotiate traffic obstacles or in a crowded parking lot. Ah, but the ride on the highway to get there. I love it. How about you?
That air cleaner and air intake horn are mysteriously exposed with rusty looking metal, like maybe it caught fire at one time and cooked the paint off it?!?!
Also has a factory cruise unit on the fender well, as optional equip, that’s disconnected along with the AC compressor.
A lot of the rust you are seeing I have seen before on the older cars of the era, The heat tube on these horse of a motor can get hot and I have seen worse rust then this. I don’t think it was an engine fire, in these parts that rust is not uncommon.
The cruise control is factory, seen many of them on this era of car.
That is one gorgeous car! I need a 200′ x 200′ pole building, stat!
Perfect candidate for the $50 Rustoleum paint job.
Those are the coolest tail lights ever.
Why Rustoleum when for a few hundred Maaco can make her shine again?
Very well written Marty, I love love love this car. It seethes coolness and needs a little touch up on the rear quarters but then clear e patina.
must be OK – the see thru wheel is still there
Any car this age will have issues.. This one is in pretty good shape and IMHO needs springs all around and a nice urethane paint job.. The interior could use a hand also.
Be sure to inspect the frame and rear trunk floor area.. The trunks on these were huge “HUUUUGE” and the floor just behind the rear axle faced all kinds of incoming road spray..
Nice find..
68 was the first year of mandated side lights, if I recall. Love pontiacs design, the heritage use of an arrow.
You know someone will F it up, with
24″ wheels.
24 inch man that’s old school I think they are up to 30 inch today lol
It’s beautiful just the way it is.
tiny purple fishes run laughing through your fingers
and you want to take her with you to the heartland of the sea.
her name is aphrodite and she rides a crimson shell …….
that’s all i recall and the song would go well with this pontiac blast from the past. kudos to those who hum along the melody once you read the words.
And you know you cannot leave her, for you touched the distant sands
With tales of brave Ulysses; how his naked ears were tortured
By the sirens sweetly singing…
My kind of car. Great looker.
I recommend repairing the rust and a new white paint job. When it is roadable it will make for some fun Wide Trackin’.
Repair the rust, paint her up, new carpet and tires, fix the A/C and cruise control, and there you go. This one floats my boat!
This was a great year for all of GMs full sized cars.
I guess you could say NASCAR styling.
If only they made a 428 super duty to go in it.
Maybe hide away head lights?
RIP Pontiac
Just need some pompoms and dice for the rear view mirror man and big Chico will love it man
I remember when these were fairly ubiquitous. Cool. Some where nice, others pretty ratty. A neighbor had a dark green one. Like some big spaceship.
I’m thinking I’d have white pearlescent paint layed on, then straighten out some of those interior issues. From there, I would move to some PMC, period correct rally wheels with “not-too-wide” whitewalls……S.S.Bonneboat !
Escalade white pearl with 6 coats of a urethane based clear, new carpets and re-die the seats. Oil changes all around and some oversized chromies, and yes some engine room cleanup. Just enjoy and cruise!
And, if the engine is HOT, don’t turn it off if you need to start it again soon, like in 15 minutes, since the heat swells up the starter motor, and it will seize and not work until it has cooled down some. So you keep it running while you buy gas, for instance. Had one for 3 years, great car, 400 cubes eventually snapped the cross brace that holds up the back of the transmission, not rusted, just metal fatigue, sometimes both sides broke on this car, at once. No shortage of effort by dealer, or independent mechanic could fix the starter problem, cross brace got welded back up and ran again, but when it ran, it RAN. 11 mpg in town, 19 on the highway.
I saw one of these at a Seattle car show a few years ago. It was done simply. It was bagged , shaved and a nice gold paint job. Not over the top at all, but of all the cars at that show, wow, I boogalooed right to it. What an eye catcher it was. Out of everything there, that was the ONE. Who can’t love a proper Pontiac?