Pontiac Bonneville | |
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Overview | |
Manufacturer | Pontiac (General Motors) |
Production | 1958–2005 1983–2005 (Canada) |
Assembly | Pontiac Assembly, Pontiac, Michigan |
Body and chassis | |
Class | Full-size car (1957–1981 and 1987–2005) Mid-size car (1982–1986) |
Layout | FR layout (1958–1986) Transverse front-engine, front-wheel drive (1987–2005) |
Chronology | |
Predecessor | Pontiac Star Chief Pontiac Executive (1971) |
Successor | Pontiac G8 |
The Pontiac Bonneville is a model line of full-size or mid-size front-engine rear drive cars manufactured and marketed by Pontiac from 1957 until 2005, with a hiatus for model years 1982-1986.
The Bonneville (marketed as the Parisienne in Canada until 1981), and its platform partner, the Grand Ville, are some of the largest Pontiacs ever built; in station wagon body styles they reached just over 230 inches (5.8 m) long, and at 5,000 pounds (2,300 kg) and more were also some of the heaviest cars produced at the time.
The Bonneville nameplate was introduced as a limited production performance convertible during the 1957 model year, its name taken from the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah — an early site of US auto racing and numerous world's land speed record records, itself named after U.S. Army officer Benjamin Bonneville.