Pontiac Bonneville History

Named for the Bonneville Salt Flats, the Bonneville arrived for 1957 as a limited-production performance convertible and became a full model line for 1958, serving as Pontiac's premium full-size car. It paced the Indianapolis 500 in its first year.

Through the 1960s the big rear-drive Bonneville helped push Pontiac to third in US sales. After a downsizing stint in the 1980s, it moved to GM's front-drive H-body and regained its role as the senior Pontiac.

Later cars offered the supercharged 3.8-liter V6 in the sporty SSEi trim. Production ended May 27, 2005, after which the full-size role passed to the rear-drive G8.