By my personal reckoning, 1973 was the last year of the Muscle Car Era. Engines were advertised in SAE net horsepower, compression was down, and 5mph front bumpers had showed up. It was the last year for the first generation of Mustangs, the Street Hemi had left the scene after '71, and the big block 'Vette only had one more year to run.
For 1974 the Bonneville nameplate remained the middle tier of full-size Pontiacs, nestled between the basic Catalina and the premium Grand Ville. It could be had as a hardtop coupe or a hardtop or pillared four-door. While the Grand Ville emphasized plushness, the Bonneville carried the sporty flag for full-size Ponchos, with the ad copy emphasizing its "wide-track" heritage.
The base motor in the Bonnie was a two-barrel version of Pontiac's small-journal 400, rated at 170 SAE net horsepower.Optionally, the buyer could spring for a 200 horsepower four-barrel 400, or the large-journal 455 V-8 making 215 ponies. Spring for the optional dual exhaust package and the numbers jumped to 185, 230, and 250, respectively. An array of rear axle ratio choices were available between 2.73:1 and 3.23:1. You could get any transmission you wanted so long as it was a 3-speed Turbo-Hydramatic 400.
The stance, tires, array of gauges, and the big Sun tach strapped to the steering column of this nice, straight Buccaneer Red example would seem to indicate that the owner is down to party.
It was photographed in June of 2023 using a Nikon D7100 and a 16-80mm f/2.8-4E VR zoom lens.
Luxobarge with an attitude!
ReplyDeleteThat thing is ate up with 'tude.
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