Having some fun with my 70 Pontiac Bonneville

[MAD6Gun]

Brother and I went out for a drive in my Bonneville. Having a little fun with it.


https://www.facebook.com/mark.doenges.7/videos/1314504768574427/

[msb]

Love it...that's awesome

[Gavin_Sons]

Awwww you can do better than that Mark

[RDKLL]

Here's mine, Mark!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOl86wjpyXk

[SpidyJ]

  350, 400, 455 ?

[RDKLL]

347...but I know you were asking Mark...I think 455.

[MAD6Gun]

 Gavin. It will do better. Should have held it longer.  I did one not to long ago that was over 100 feet long.  Not bad for a 4600 pound car.

SpidyJ. It has the original 455 HO. Stock it made 370 HP but I have built it. It's has been bored 30 over with forged flat tops. The bottom end is balanced and blue printed. It has the stock heads with a gasket match port job. Cam is a comp 268 duration with 460 lift. Stock intake and quadrajet. Stock distributer with a Petronix 3 electronic ignition. It exhausts through 2.5 inch pipe and Flowmaster mufflers.

[old2soon]

My brother and I were standing in Marks garage when he cranked that Monster up!    You not ONLY hear it-you FEEL it!  Good vid Mark.  RIDE SAFE.

[Gavin_Sons]

Very cool car, I have no doubt it will light them up as long as you can hold it. 

[RDKLL]

Mark I was raised with Pontiacs
1963 Grand Prix
1967 Catalina Executive
1968 LeMans
1976 Catalina Coupe immediately traded in the next day because the doors were too big and heavy for a
1976 Bonneville
1978 Bonneville
(2) 1979 Bonneville
All ove the Bonnevilles were white, swore I would never have a white Pontiac sedan and then my first near-new car was
1986 6000STE

[solo1]

Many, many years ago I took Mark to look at this Bonneville. It belonged to a friend of mine at work. Ray had bought it new because he didn't want to be passed by Corvettes on the way to Florida. He ordered it with 'the biggest engine you got"  The 455 HO wasn't put in many Bonneys.  So it has provenance.

Any way, Mark said he didn't want a big car............that is until he drove it and opened up the 850cfm carb.  He forked out the 500 bucks to buy it!  Unfortunately, it's an Indiana car and the body is rusted.

Mark has a California Bonney body, no rust so maybe he'll get around to a restore.

[old2soon]

Many, many years ago I took Mark to look at this Bonneville. It belonged to a friend of mine at work. Ray had bought it new because he didn't want to be passed by Corvettes on the way to Florida. He ordered it with 'the biggest engine you got"  The 455 HO wasn't put in many Bonneys.  So it has provenance.

Any way, Mark said he didn't want a big car............that is until he drove it and opened up the 850cfm carb.  He forked out the 500 bucks to buy it!  Unfortunately, it's an Indiana car and the body is rusted.

Mark has a California Bonney body, no rust so maybe he'll get around to a restore.

              I do NOT doubt you Wayne but more of a double check-Five hundred American Dollars? And what time frame was that please. As a guess-mid 70s gas crisis? RIDE SAFE.

[solo1]

500.00 bucks is right.  I'd say the Eighties.   BTW, the '70 Bonney was just short of the massive screwup with the high displacement, low horserpower V8's.  Good ole gov't.

[czuch]

They were giving gas hogs away in the late 70, early 80's.
I was lucky enough to get a few.
Too bad I wasn't smart enough to pamper them and hold on to them.

[old2soon]

They were giving gas hogs away in the late 70, early 80's.
I was lucky enough to get a few.
Too bad I wasn't smart enough to pamper them and hold on to them.

          76 Olds Toranado-455 pass anything BUT a gas station. Mash it hard you could light up the front tires. RIDE SAFE.

[MAD6Gun]

 Yes Dennis I payed $500.00 for it March of 83. It had wire wheel covers and fender skirts. I took the skirts off and eventually  replaced the wires with Pontiac Rally wheels.  Oh and dad had one thing wrong. I never saw the car except in a poloroid picture before i bought it. I saw it in person when dad brought it home.  Being 19, I didnt want a "boat". It only took one test drive to change my mind.  Someday I will get around to the restoration.  The car I got from cali is clean. No rust. Will make a great donor.

[Gryphon Rider]

  350, 400, 455 ?

SpidyJ. It has the original 455 HO. Stock it made 370 HP but I have built it. It's has been bored 30 over with forged flat tops. The bottom end is balanced and blue printed. It has the stock heads with a gasket match port job. Cam is a comp 268 duration with 460 lift. Stock intake and quadrajet. Stock distributer with a Petronix 3 electronic ignition. It exhausts through 2.5 inch pipe and Flowmaster mufflers.

Boy, ask a simple question, and get a tidal wave of information... Yeesh! 

[SpidyJ]

Being born in 1954 I saw all the original muscle cars growing up.

My 2nd grade teacher had a 63 split window FGS.....the janitor had an Impala SS.....on and on.

My friends father had a black Grand Prix with the cool console..mid sixties, can't remember the year.

My Dad had a '63 Checker Superba SW.....I was so freakin embarrassed.....but he was able to drive it home after getting t-boned by an 18 wheeler......try that nowadays.



 

[Rams]

I had a love affair with some Pontiacs for quite a while.

Some folks will snicker at it and roll their eyes.   That's OK, they haven't ridden in my "Little Lady".

For many years, I was into Pontiac Fieros.   Interestingly, when the car first came out in 84, I didn't like them either but, when my son became of driving age, I did some research and discovered it was one of the safest cars produced during that time frame and was within my financial capability.   So, I bought him one and we fixed it up.

That got me started on a long journey of acquiring, restoring and re-inventing what GM/Pontiac had produced (mostly from off the shelf parts engineered for other cars).   Mine were all 88 Formulas.

My son's was always stock but, I went through 19 different Fieros with many different variations of engines/drive trains and other up grades.   I still have one.   

It came out with a 2.8L V6.   It now has a 3800 Supercharged V6 donated from a Buick Rivera.
I can honestly state, I'm not sure which is quicker between my Valkyrie and the Fiero from a standing start (though I suspect the Valkyrie is slightly quicker).   It's a mid-engine and handles better than just about anything not produced strictly for racing.   

Quick, responsive and handles.   Love that "Little Lady", she's fun to drive.   Used to auto cross several of her sisters I had in the corral but no longer.    Learned that pushing things to their limits gets expensive.   Never had her up to top speed, I get nervous when the speedometer exceeds the numbers on the dial and go through 0 again.

And no, I don't let others take her out although, I have given a few joy rides.   

[Gryphon Rider]

Used to auto cross several of her sisters I had in the corral but no longer.    Learned that pushing things to their limits gets expensive.

Is auto cross like motocross, except with cars?

[Rams]

Used to auto cross several of her sisters I had in the corral but no longer.    Learned that pushing things to their limits gets expensive.

Is auto cross like motocross, except with cars?

Kind of, just without the jumps.
Imagine a very large parking lot like a football stadium.   They set up a track that criss-crosses back over itself like a snake using cones and chalk on the pavement.   It's a timed race with only two cars on the track at a time due to the overlapping features of the layed out track.   The first car starts and runs the track, the second car starts once the first car has passed beyond where the two cars could meet.    You are racing the clock on a twisty curvy track with no banking going as fast as you can.   These tracks make the Tail of the Dragon look tame but very few of the dangers of crashing into trees or going off a cliff.   Very demanding on driver skills and car capability.   But more of a driver's test than a lot of other racing that I've participated in.   Auto crossing is normally an SCCA event.    Won't see any drag type cars there.   They have to handle and most don't.

[rocketray]

I have a '68 Ram Air Firebird 400  4 speed that is now a 471 with the entire edelbrock package with aluminum heads...and 150 hp nitrous for a total of 750 hp...and it sits needing the disc brakes installed..for 2 years now......just too many things to do to be able to get to it but there some inspiration!!

[98 T]

Hey Mark,

Looks like fun on 4 wheels!!    My  14 year old son was just asking me what it was like when I was  a kid  and what it was like to stand on a typical street corner in a town and hear one V8 after another drive by...even little old ladies in Ramblers, Novas, and  Ford LTD....

I think I sort of forgot what it sounds like!!   ???

It's been a while....  

Loth