Combining luxury and utility, top-line station wagons of the ’70s appealed to successful heads of family with a zeal for all-American activities like towing a travel trailer, camping, or transporting impressive items like hand-made furniture, antiques, or bee-hives. If this sounds like you, consider this 1970 Pontiac Executive Safari Wagon in Poolesville, Maryland. Offered here on eBay, this imperfect but mostly solid-looking road schooner can be yours for the Buy It Now price of $9,500.
Most car buyers understand the concept of a safari. Frankly, it requires some imagination to envision this Pontiac gliding across the Serengeti as Lions and Tigers yawn and sniff about it hoping to discover Oscar-Meyer bacon within. Speaking of yawning, Pontiac’s 1970 sales brochure stated that most wagon-owners “used to yawn a lot,” but these wagons offered so much performance, handling, and luxury that owners would “never yawn again.” You be the judge.
Oddly no picture of the dashboard made the listing, and some of the visible plastic parts show sun-damage. Assume that rust repair will extend beyond what’s indicated in these pictures. The seller plans to clean up the car, perform some repairs, get it running, move it to Maryland, and acquire a title… all, presumably as part of the sale.
Grease pencil markings from 1984 correspond with the year this Safari began a long slumber from which it only recently awoke. Air conditioning, power steering, and power brakes should ease the challenges of safari life. While a 455 cubic inch V8 would have topped the chart of options, this 400 (most likely the 290 HP version) should do well enough while sipping less fuel. What manner of safari would you experience if this wagon turned up in your driveway in tip-top shape?
This is the kind of car I would pick up when I was young because it was a lot of car for very little money.
These high prices are just something I don’t understand. Have people really all of a sudden realized they are worth 10 times what they used to be?
They are becoming popular because they are huge hits at car shows. This car will get more attention than a restored LS6 Chevelle because people at the show can relate to riding all over the country in these when they were kids.
I was in a car show a few years ago and the guy next to me had a totally pimped out Cobra kit car. He probably had 100k into it. Next to him was a guy with a 1973 Pinto that had 30k original miles. People FLOCKED around the Pinto. All you could hear was “I had one of those and it was the biggest POS ever…can I sit in it like old times?” The guy with the Cobra got hardly any looks compared to the old Ford firebomb.
Key words there—“Cobra kit car”. I love ‘em, but I wouldn’t get as jacked up as I would over a REAL 260 Mk1 or a 427 S/C… call me strange, but I think seeing a time capsule Pinto would be super cool.
Used cars of all types are artificially inflated price wise.
Goes back to a farce called cash for clunkers in 2009. Lots of perfectly good cars scrapped.
Now that I went to the Ebay listing and saw the pictures, this is not the type of car I would have bought.
The fenders are rusted through and I would not want to deal with that.
Also no interior pictures is a huge red flag.
There are too many cars out there that are in better condition for much less money.
Also, no underside pics. A lack of good pics is a turnoff for me. And it is apparent that these pics were taken before the current owner cleaned it up (says so in the write up). Basically, I like this one. But, the price is, like everyone is saying, too high. $5K tops for me. It is obvious it has sat outside for a long, long time.
I like the car but the price is too high
Exactly.
There is a significant amount of rust, who knows how much. It also isn’t running, the car is to expensive to gamble on. I also think the pictures and the ads description were well thought out to play down problems with the amount of rust and the condition of the interior.
Steve R
The prices go up due to supply and demand. Each year there are fewer and fewer of these on the road due to accidents and rusting out. It’s not like you can go down to the Pontiac dealership anymore and order a new 1970 station wagon.
Hey Rust costs money!! :^)
I love classics Not much station wagon fan but I hope new buyer Not molest or hot rod this 70s station wagon Keep it original !!
😲👎for some reason when i try to list, it say’s black listed spam that said i haven’t done anything to be black listed i want my membership money back👎😎
Hi David, you need to check your email. I’ve emailed you multiple times to help you get this figured out, but never hear back from you. Email us and we will get things straightened out ASAP!
Big Pontiac fan but that grill just screams Edsel, If I was in the market for a station wagon it would be a Ford Country Squire or a Chevy Impala. JMHO
Mom and Dad had a 70 Country Squire. It was a beautiful wagon, but was prone to rusting. Loved those fold-down seats way in the back, although not a good place if you get motion sickness.
I’m thinking this thing was exposed to high enough humidity that there is mold all over the interior. The white dots appear to be mold. I could be wrong. The DiNoc is probably holding the sheetmetal together :) But other than that reminds me of the time when cars ……cars.were huge.
Nice classic Pontiac wagon. Overall in good condition with potential to be great again. However, it’s not a $9500 car, even if she were running & driving. Sitting since ’84, she’s going to need more than just a simple tune-up. $5k is about it for this Executive. I do hope that the new owner doesn’t rat it out. Keep it original as possible.
Liked the ’69’s better. To me, the grille on those car looked more
like a Pontiac should look–wraparound front bumper with that
classic Pontiac split in the center. Bought a ’69 Catalina wagon
off my parents in the late ’70’s dirt cheap. You got a lot of car for
your money when you bought one new or used. After all, why spend
your life savings on a new SUV when a wagon like this would do very
nicely.
My father had this car when I was a kid, virtually identical right down to the color. It was his 2nd or 3rd big Pontiac wagon, but also his last. The rear axle came apart on him at highway speeds in the mountains of Pennsylvania. Did a number on the car, but he was lucky enough to walk away.
I wish there were more interior photos. Those arm rests, door handles and window cranks bring back memories. For some reason I was fascinated by the of white plastic rings that were installed behind the window cranks on that car. They seemed out of place, like a car of that caliber shouldn’t have had such a visible mechanical detail marring its interior. The mind of a 9 year old can be a weird place…
DeLorean and his crew at Pontiac had designed the full-size ’70 Pontiacs to have Endura front ends, but when JZD got kicked upstairs to Chevy his successor wanted ‘more Chrome!’ so that big shiny thing is what Pontiac buyers were stuck with.
Agree. I learned to drive (and took my driver’s test!) in our maroon ’69 Pontiac Executive wagon. What a boat!
At least get the damn home and running IF that is your intention BEFORE you try to sell it.
DeLorean and his crew at Pontiac had designed the full-size ’70 Pontiacs to have Endura front ends, but when JZD got kicked upstairs to Chevy his successor wanted ‘more Chrome!’ so that big shiny thing is what Pontiac buyers were stuck with.
This one has the 400? I love the big sleds, will wait for the 455, after all its 1970
This car looks familiar. There was a big auction in wisco last winter and I was ogling this very car! Or one in the same condition and color combination. Looked like there was all kind of rust flakeson the ground under it, so I passed. The bid on this wagon was sub $1000 at the time…
“Never yawn again”? I’m already yawning…
Wisconsin = rust.
I have been a station wagon guy even before they became cool again. I would find 1 that had been sitting and buy it fix up everything that make it road worthy again and paint it if it needed it and most of them did. Then drive it for about a year then sell it.I have doing it for the last 20 years.Now the prices are just crazy so I think I am going to just hold on to my 87 Buick Estate station wagon I just painted and got it road worthy again, a least till the crazy selling bubble pops. Bruce.
Bruce, there are always deals out there if you look hard enough.
Actually, when you stop looking or have no money is usually when you find the best deals.
When I was a kid, my dad bought a wagon like this one for my mom to drive. I wish we still had it. What a dream it was. Very unlike this one. $9,500? A wrecking yard might pay $100 for it. That is about all I would pay for it.