The Pontiac Astre was a rebadged Chevrolet Vega, enabling them to participate in the subcompact boom of the 1970s. While the Vega was around from 1971-77, the Astre was only produced during those final three years. But the wagon edition lived on for 1978-79 and rebranded as the Sunbird Safari, although it looked nothing like those cars. This ’78 version is a rare find today especially since it has a reworked Chevy small-block V8 under the hood. Another great tip from Barn Finder Pat L., this wagon is located in Punta Gorda, Florida and available here on craigslist for $9,350.
Pontiac decided to squeeze as much mileage as they could out of the little Astre wagon so they would have something to go up against Ford’s Pinto with. Since the rest of the Astre line was now gone, they moved it over to the Sunbird series for two more years. Production numbers would be low, as the Sunbird Safari wagon saw only 8,424 copies made in 1978 and just 2,902 more for 1979 before GM pulled the plug. Most of the wagons were built with Pontiac’s venerable 2.5-liter “Iron Duke” inline-4 engine, not the problematic Vega powerplant of years earlier.
Though the car now resides in Florida, it began life on the other coast. It’s said to be rust-free and wears its original white paint and interior components. If the mileage claim is accurate, the Pontiac has seen just 61,000 miles of use. But the drivetrain is much newer than that, being a “fresh-built” 327 cubic-inch V8, one of Chevrolet’s most stout motors. But it’s not just any 327 as it has Dart Heads with Roller Rockers, an aluminum intake with a dual-feed Holley carburetor, and HEI electronic ignition.
The builder didn’t stop there. Also added was an aluminum radiator with an electric fan, aftermarket power steering, a custom oil pan, along with a new 3-speed automatic transmission. Rounding things out are new power front disc brakes, new shock absorbers, new full dual-exhaust, and new tires on a set of sharp-looking aftermarket wheels. And don’t forget vintage air conditioning, too. If it were not for the wheels, it could easily pass for a sleeper.
I really like this. It would’ve been neat with a Pontiac 326 or 350, to keep it all Pontiac (look close, the wheels are Pontiac snowflakes).
That really doesn’t matter, as this Chevrolet engine is very stout – this is one to have in the collection. I would get some matching red floormats (I’m a Red-interior-o-file, if thats a thing). Then – go have fun driving – to the cruises (a.m. & p.m.) the shows, the grocery store…
This is one time that seeing the auto is not a disappointment! Don’t care for the black finish on the snowflakes though, would return them to stock, get the center caps for them, and have fun cruising around! GLWTS!! :-)
Wind thru that roof rack must really whistle at the end of the 1/4, lol.
Very impressive build, even has working a/c! Nice find Pat L.. I would be proud to park this wagon in my garage.
Chevy pulled the same trick, continuing sales of the Vega Kammback wagon body with a new front-end and rebadged as the Monza wagon.
It at least had basically the same face as the other ’78-up chrome bumper Monzas. I guess Pontiac never expected to sell enough of these to give it a flat hood and four square headlights in a full-width grille like the other Sunbirds.
Gone.
Dang it, already gone. I never realized these existed. Nice swap – I would have been fine with an iron duke and used it as a fishing / surfing buggy. But with the 350, this is a sweet build. I’m going to keep my eye on this in case the listing was deleted over the flood of calls from the barn finds feature. If it comes up again, I could see driving this to work, then dragging it at the doorslammer drags in Bithlo.
Had 2 Pontiac Astre cars. And no, Astres were were built from 1971 to 1976, same as the Vega. ( In Canada) 🇨🇦
My first car was a ’72 Vega I dropped a 350 in. I bought some stronger front springs from the Chevy dealer, flipped the heater core around, and added a bigger radiator. A Doug Thorley Header and engine mount kit completed the motor swap. The stock rear ends were weak, so I got a 12 bolt rear end to put under it after putting shorter axles and mounts after a trip to a welding shop. The driveshaft had to be shortened too. It was fast as hell in a straight line, but you would wonder about taking curves with it. I sold it after I bought a ’69 Vette, the last time I saw it the next owner had busted the headers on speed bumps and was using a rope to keep his door shut because the unibody was twisting. The car was last sighted on the back of a wrecker with the rear end tied down behind it. It had been sold to a sixteen-year-old kid whe ripped the rear end out of it in two days.
cool car, i’ve also got one of these pontiac wagons with a V8, although i have to let it go real soon here in Los Angeles. really a sleeper. this was a nice build ! DRIVEN.CO
Had a Sunbird with the iron duke & loved it, however my wife hated it so didn’t keep it long.
gone