The Pontiac Bonneville has been a long-standing fixture in the company’s lineup, often seen as the predominant large sedan that had some sporting undertones. I use “sporting” quite generously here as these were not sports sedans, but Pontiac was trying to carve out a niche for itself as the brand under the GM umbrella that built cars with an eye towards performance. This is a low-mileage SSEI that came with the supercharged 3800 and is listed here on craigslist for $31,000.
The Bonneville clearly just got rolled out of the garage where it’s been slumbering for a few years, which certainly adds to the intrigue. I wouldn’t necessarily say the ninth-generation Bonneville has attained collector car status at this juncture, but it’s certainly an interesting specimen. This was an era wherein Pontiac’s styling was nothing if not adventurous, even if it was sometimes considered slightly over the top when it came to weird angles and acres of buttons in the cockpit. This is also a totally 90s paint color scheme, with forest green paint and a tan leather interior.
The 3.8L V6 in SSEI guise was fitted with an Eaton M62 roots type supercharger which gave the Bonneville a respectable 205 b.h.p. and 260 lb.-ft. of torque. Those were good numbers for the middle 90s, and in general, this is considered a very durable engine. Found across GM’s mid-sized lineup, the supercharged 3800 makes any number of otherwise mundane models far more exhilarating to drive, and like most any supercharged car, there’s plenty of easy bolt-on upgrades for more power available via the aftermarket.
The Bonneville was not light on luxury in the upper-tier trim levels, with lots of leather and high-end features including a head-up display and digital gauges. The seller doesn’t go into much detail about how this Bonneville is equipped, and I suspect he is just testing the waters to see if anyone will step up and match his asking price; otherwise, this low-mileage garage find Bonneville is much better suited to the auction marketplace. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Rocco B. for the find.
I love these cars. $31k? Welcome to 2023 I guess. I find that obnoxious and I’m really tired of seeing it.
Agree on the overly generous pricing.
I had two of these the last in 2001 (when GM offered 0% interest after 9/11) and absolutely loved them both.
I’d pay half that and make a daily driver though.
He is crazy as a bed bug if he thinks anyone is going to pay that kind of money for that car. They are nice cars but certainly not that nice.
31k?? LOL!!! Try 3,100 for one of these. Even in these crazy times.
It seems like 90% of these Bonnevilles were green. I was sick of it then, and it hasn’t changed.
Beware the upper plenum manifold gasket troubles. Nice car, unreasonable price.
I’m not sure if the supercharged engines had plastic intakes like the NA ones. If so, the melted-EGR-passage-leading-to-massive-coolant-loss of the NA Series 2 engines could be a non-issue on this car, but correct me if I’m wrong.
The METAL supercharger is the intake.
Nice car but for that much money , could have at least detailed it so you can see the beauty. Still too much even after that!
Insanity. I clicked on it because I was interested in buying if it were ultra low miles and reasonable. At $18,000 miles, it nicked one box but the asking price should be below the mileage on this one….
Its a no for me, dawg.
Scott,
People can ask what they want but hardly will they get that kind of asking price for a car like that! My Dad had one like that one!, thought those SSEI’s were something to own. But I saw only a money pit and after the transmission went out so did the car due to the cost to repair it.
Another delusion
not worth it then, not worth it now.
This is the Eaton M90 supercharged L67 3800 with 240 bhp. The naturally aspirated 3800 had 205bhp. Also 1997 SSEi was the first year for the HD 4T65E transmission making this the one to have. Sadly not at that price.
I like it. They were like a high-performance family sedan back in the day.
“I am trying to sell the car, Honey”
Ha ha! Been there, done that.
“Guess we can’t sell it right now, maybe next year, all of these lowballers out there. Get in, let’s go!”
My 2004 Dale Earnhardt JR. Edition monte carlo ss had the same engine. It made good sound but made that car very nose heavy. Will not buy another GM car again.
The FWD Grand Prix GXP with the all aluminum 5.3L V8 that replaced the GTP at the top actually weighed a bit less than the Supercharged V6 which was kinda crazy.
The LS4 in those Grand Prix was not an all aluminum engine. It was an all iron truck engine/ boat anchor. The all aluminum 32 Valve engine you are thinking of was the beautiful Northstar that went into the Bonneville GXP. Never in the GP.
FireAxGXP – Since your moniker contains GXP, I suspect you know your stuff, but this is a contrary view from Wiki:
“The LS4 is a 5,327 cc (5.3 L; 325.1 cu in) version of the Generation IV block. Though it has the same displacement as the Vortec 5300 LY5, it features an aluminum block instead of iron, and uses the same cylinder head casting as the Generation III LS6 engine. The LS4 is adapted for transverse front-wheel drive applications, with a bell-housing bolt pattern that differs from the rear-wheel-drive blocks (so as to mate with the 4T65E).
According to GM, “The crankshaft is shortened 13–3 mm (0.51–0.12 in) at the flywheel end and 10 mm (0.39 in) at the accessory drive end – to reduce the length of the engine compared to the 6.0 L. All accessories are driven by a single serpentine belt to save space. The water pump is mounted remotely with an elongated pump manifold that connects it to the coolant passages. Revised oil pan baffles, or windage trays, are incorporated into the LS4 to ensure that the oil sump stays loaded during high-g cornering.”[53] Active Fuel Management is also used. Output of this version is 303 hp (226 kW)/300 hp on LaCrosse Super and 323 lb⋅ft (438 N⋅m).
Applications:
2005–2008 Pontiac Grand Prix GXP
2006–2009 Chevrolet Impala SS
2006–2007 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
2008–2009 Buick LaCrosse Super”
FireAxeGXP is totally wrong, it’s definitely not the same as the truck engines. All aluminum heads and block, I owned one when they were brand new in 2005.
Definitely garage fresh, dont care if detailed or not, would rather handle that myself anyway for fear of amateurs messing the paint up. But the price is crazy, even with the low miles. You can buy a darn nice classic for that kind of money.
We had one just like this when it was fairly new. Great car till something goes wrong. Torque converter went. Remote never worked quite right. Weird water leak from sunroof drain. My 01 SSEI had lots of weird issues but man what a car.
I drove my 01 from 0 to 104,000 miles only issues were heated drive seat quit working and the gas gauge, guess I was lucky. I loved that car!
My 01 had a multitude of issues and thankfully under warranty. Steering components, something with the steering column, broken window tracks, swoopie rims leaked air like crazy no matter what. It was a slick ride but it was $6k in warranty work in 2 years time. Then out of pocket. Plus an invisible coolant leak at the throttle body I found. Loved the car but not the bills.
Seller is getting high on his on supply. $10k for the right buyer, and good luck finding that buyer.
31k lol. I’d buy 2 nissan 350z with a 6 speed
Supercharged meant 240HP on the 3800.
And natural asperated was 205 that was the big change between series I and series II
That’s a very nice $10,000 car.
I have owned 3 of these and they were great cars. They were a good balance of comfort and handling. As I have aged though, I have come to dislike the obnoxious body cladding that Pontiac became synonymous with. RIP Pontiac.
Anyone who says these “aren’t Sport Sedans” hasn’t explored (nor exploited) their capabilities. The FE3 suspension is nothing short of magical (it cured the float of the FE1 suspension, without making the ride too stiff for my 91 year old Dad: The same H-Body components are used on the C-Body Olds 98 Touring Sedan (and I use them on my 1996 Olds 98 Regency Sedan with Cadillac 14 Spoke wheels, shod with Michelin Defender T+H P215/65-16 98H, 820 Rated, 85,000 mile tires) rides very comfortably, without floating and digs into corners as well as any F-body coupe of the same era.
It’s amazing what the early Mustang boys call a “Monte Carlo Beam” that connects the strut towers does to stiffen up the chassis. And the factory piece on an FE1 Comfort Ride suspended Olds 98 is bolt together and modular and can be shortened with a metal saw blade.
Agree, as far as the LS-4 engine/4T65E-HD transaxle, the heads, valve-train, intake, exhaust manifolds swap over. Lighter than the Blown L-67 Series II 3800 /4T-65E-HD transaxle with 3.29:1 final gearing. As far as I know, Nothing from the Transverse short block interchanges with the RWD short Block (maybe the oil pump, timing set, camshaft, lifters and lifter “pockets” that keep the roller lifters correctly aligned to the cam lobes.
I want to swap a LS-4/4T65E-HD driveline with a 3.29:1 Final drive gearing, PCM wiring Harness and Body Control Module into my Olds 98, as the little L-36 Series II 3800/4T60-E driveline with 2.86:1 Final drive fuel economy gearing make it sluggish in traffic, without providing any additional fuel economy.
I have owned (and still own) many mid ’90s C/H bodies. I always added the strut tower brace and the sway bars from either an LSS, 98 Touring Sedan, or Park Avenue. My current DD is a ’90s Buick LeSabre with those mods plus heavier springs from an early Bonneville SE. It’s a very tight handling car for its size and very comfortable on the highway.
add a digit to the odometer, subtract a digit from the dollars… throw in a bit of rust, and you get this:
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/08ca8b1e-4328-419e-9083-ac2c2559b02f/
GM introduced the 3800 series II in 1995 with the N/A L-36 at 205 HP and 230 LB-FT of torque. It was followed by the L-67 Supercharged in 1996 with the Eaton M-90 Generation 3 blower replacing the Eaton M-62 blower which made 205 HP and was upgraded to 225 HP (just by using an epoxy coating on the rotors) before it was replaced by the L-67 at 240 HP, 280 LB-FT of torque. The successor to the 3800 Series II was the 3800 Series III which used a Generation 5, M-90 blower on the L-32 engine, making 260
HP with a Drive by Wire Throttle Body.
Jake: Do you have any experience with top swaps for a NA Series III? I just picked up a clean ’08 Lucerne CXL 3800 that would make a very cool sleeper with 260hp on tap.
SSE’s and SSEi’s were pretty nice cars at the time,?I had 2 new ones, a 92 and a 93. Crafted a custom smaller supercharger pulley to build 4-5 psi more boost and that really woke the car up!
Way too much money on this car though.
$31k 😆😆😅😅🤣🤣😭😭
I think he’s got the decimal point off by one
I’d rather save >20K and pick up a decent Riviera with the same engine.
Much better looking, too, IMO.
I couldn’t agree more. $10k or less buys a decent driver Riveria 95-98. Gorgeous car that feels special.