A good modern sleeper (for cheap) would be a first gen Hyundai Genesis with the 4.6 V8. 375 hp, 330 ft-lb torque (with 91 Octane) and 0-60 in 5.7 seconds.
Thank you for doing a video on the 92 Bonneville redesign. These were absolutely gorgeous and inventive cars, and I will die on this hill. I've had seven 92-99 Bonnevilles over the years. The community of enthusiasts for this car is small, but we are very dedicated. It's really great and also bizarre to see these cars finally get some recognition, after years of being overlooked. Thanks again for this great showcase, from me and my 1992 Bonneville! Would love to one day see an interview with the interior designer.
My dad had two bonnevilles, an 88/90 in grey and I believe a 93/95 in green. I'm looking for one right now online but despite listing being at a minimum, I'll find one and make that one of my project cars. We out here!! ✊🏾
I've owned three of these, an 1989 SSE, 1995 SSEI, & 1998 SSEI, I loved these cars but the 98 was my favorite because of the more comfortable seats & the extra horsepower. I'd buy another if I could find one.
I had a '94 SSEi, the car was comfortable and quick. It was a lease return when I bought it. I kept it several years and replaced it with a '98 Lexus LS400.
I worked at a couple of Pontiac dealership when these cars were out. I drove a few of them and I really liked them. Good-looking, comfortable, sporty, and dependable. I couldn't ask for more.
I’ve read that these bonnevilles were a dream to drive, but we’re very unreliable with frequent electrical issues across the board. Did you experience this?
@@Forge17 I worked at 2 Pontiac dealerships and the Bonnevilles didn't come in for too many repairs. The N-Body cars (looking at YOU Grand Am), were a different story.
Same. I worked at a small town Louisiana Pontiac, GMC, Oldsmobile dealer and people loved these cars. We constantly ran the 1 penny over invoice specials and would make a killing on the backend adding service plans and other fluff items.
I would like to think of myself as someone who’s up to speed on 90s GM vehicles, I have an 03 Monte Carlo SS but wow those bonnevilles had a lot of feature that I had no idea about. It seems like that car was almost ahead of it’s time. The seats are crazy and I can’t believe it has a heads up display. Maybe not the first to have some of these things but definitely paved the way for features GM still currently uses
My wife and I borrowed my mother in law’s new 1988 Bonneville (base model) to drive to Kansas City to look for a house due to a job change. I thought I was driving a 4 door sports car, it handled so nicely. Mind you, this was the base model with base suspension. And we got 31 mpg on that trip as well! I didn’t think it was a nice looking car, but when I was sitting on the inside, I didn’t care what it looked like on the outside.
I currently own a 1995 Bonneville sse red like your last picture. I love the car it looks great and it has a more comfortable ride then my wife's 2008 Buick lacrosse. Mine doesn't have the super charger but when I bought the car a little over a year ago it only had 77 thousand kilometers on the odometer and I bought it from the original owner. Tha ks for featuring it.
I had a 2008 Buick Lacrosse with the somewhat rare 3.6 engine. It was quite the wheel spinner if you punched it hard from a stand still. The 3.8 was significantly more reliable however.
My first new car was a 93 SE, it was a nice looking car and the regular 3.8 V6. I replaced it with a new 96 SE with the optional 240 horse supercharged engine. It was quite quick for a big front driver. In 99 I bought an SSEi again with the supercharged engine. Common strong points: roomy and comfortable with great seats and large trunk. Ride was pretty nice, amazing fuel economy even with the supercharged engine. Apart from my comment below about transmissions they were very reliable too. Very attractive looker too. Common weak spots: lousy performing brakes that also warped quickly. Torque steer was annoying on base cars and even worse on the supercharged cars. Transmissions were failure prone with the supercharged engine. Interior looks good in the slightly blurry brochure photos but it was typical 90’s GM Tupperware quality in real life. Another GM wide weak link was how quickly the ride quality would degrade, after 40-50k miles it drove like a Toyota with 150k miles. Interestingly my 93 SE was the best handler of the three as Pontiac kept reducing spring rates over the run to address hard ride complaints. Another interesting tidbit was that my 96 car was much faster than my 99. Having read up on those engines recently I’ve discovered why. The 96 supercharged engine was newly improved that year and was underrated at 240 horse. By the end of the model year it was obvious that the engine was burning out transmissions so they quietly lowered the boost for 97 but didn’t change the rated power or torque numbers. Further confirmation of this was when my friend bought a new 97 Grand Prix GTP with the supposedly same 240 horse engine as my 96 bonneville but despite it being in a smaller lighter car (identical axle ratio and transmission) I’d walk him easily in my 96 Bonnie. My 93 had R12 AC which was polar vortex in cooling ability, the subsequent years switched coolant and while sufficient they were a big step down. My 99 was the best looker of the bunch in black with tan leather and sharp factory chrome mags but as mentioned the engine didn’t have the grunt of the 96. Also it had adjustable shock valving and it was lousy in both soft (sloppy) and firm (flinty). Overall excellent comfortable sporty looking car only let down by the typical GM bean counter front drive chassis.
I absolutely loved my ‘98 Bonneville (sadly only a loaded SE). One of my first cars, I drove it daily through high school, college and beyond. Other cars were purchased but I kept that Bonneville around. A great road trip vehicle, one of the most comfortable I’ve owned.
This was one of my favorite cars as a kid on the 90s Was like a sporty LeSabre I always thought. Even though it was a Pontiac Bonneville and not a Buick LeSabre. I really love these so much! More now than ever!
Owned one for 3 years, sold it when the back door locks were constantly needing to be serviced due to living on a gravel road. The trunk had a tool kit, white gloves included and an air compressor to reach all 4 tires. Very nice car, probably not desirable with high mileage, so many things to go wrong.
I had a ‘95 SSEi as a company vehicle. It was what I would call British Racing Green in color with gold graphics that was a very popular color across the entire Bonneville lineup. It was fairly well built and for the time was a strong performer. One of the things I most remember about the interior was driving at night and the overwhelming amount of buttons and switches that were all lighted by Pontiac’s orange glow backlights. It was like a sea of Halloween decorations. Adam is correct about the seating. If you couldn’t find a comfortable position with those seats, then the problem was your own body, not the seat! 😉
My parents had a Bonneville just one like these I wanted it but they ended up drinking it cuz they didn't drive it until this day I still say another Bonnie but they're probably impossible to find now
I'm a big fan of those 90s Bonnevilles. I remember seeing them all over the place. They had great performance and the exterior had a really nice design. The dash layout starting in 1993 was so elegant, other than the clumsy compass.
Always loved these cars from the day the first SSE was introduced in ‘88. Sadly I never owned one but ‘circumstances’ in 1995 put me in GM’s Oldsmobile variant … the 88 LSS. Loved that car but winced every time I saw an SSEI on the road. Still do and watching this video inspires me to launch a search so I can finally make good on my dream to own one. Thanks Adam.
Neat video on a car that many people have forgotten about. I had a '95 SE in medium blue and drove it for about 6-7 years. Great looking car for the time. The seats were the most comfortable I'd ever had. Another plus was the car routinely hit 30 mpg on a long, highway trip!
These really were affluent in appearance. Looks that were pleasantly superior to anything in its class.(especially when you consider they were hitting dealerships already in July of '91)
I love these videos, Adam. You cover all of the cool details people often gloss over. My first car was my dad's old '95 SSEi, and it was a lot of fun. I drove it well into adulthood and put 237K miles on it. It had some cool details you didn't often see in cars (e.g. the seat belt light and chime would stop once you got the seatbelt about a foot out versus having to wait till it was buckled; you could touch the windshield washer and let go, and it would spray a designated amount of time in addition to wiping versus having to hold wash down to keep it spraying like most GM cars of the era; etc.) in addition to the more noteworthy ones you covered. Really enjoy your interviews too. Thanks for the great content! Mitch Quade - Madison, WI
My parents had a very early model '87 Bonneville SE... solid metallic red with grey cloth. What a great car and much better looking to my eyes, then the replacement. In fact, I remember my dad being invited to look at a new SSEi, and he came back laughing at how "busy" the exterior was. My dad was a life insurance guy, so I wasn't shocked, but when I laid eyes on it myself, it was a lot to take in for sure and agreed with him. He went on to buy a new Acura Legend. But, with the passing of time, I really miss all of these cars now.
Still have my ‘92 ssei drive it back and forth to work. Everything still works and still looks pretty good. People can’t believe the car is over 30 years old. Reliable and comfortable.
I miss Pontiac so much. I loved my Grand Prixs and kept them longer than any cars I've had. The GTP I had had the series 2 supercharged engine and it was torquey reliable and fuel efficient. I sold it at 148,000 with the notorious cooling system elbows and a couple of serpentine belt pulleys being the only non-maintenance issues I ever had.
I owned several Bonnies and Rivieras of the era.. the series 1.5 3800 was too sweet.. and utterly bulletproof. One of my favorite engines of all time! I ran 125 shot dry NOS on one for 2 year solid! Blew up 9 transaxles but she was fun!
I remember when these came out. Loved these. Those “aircraft landing lights” in front bumper where so striking for a sedan. There was simply nothing else like it.
Excellent Adam. Thank you. I cannot add anything to what you said. I have been a fan of the Bonneville for decades. I liked this generation. The facelift in 1996 was good looking. It told the upcoming 2000 Bonneville. I liked the 2000-2005 Pontiac Bonneville as well. I recall the seats. If you buy one of these, the SSE/ SSEi or SLE trim was the way to go. I was told the floor shifter and console from the 1987-1991 Bonneville was used in the 1993-1996 Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight LSS. There was a lot of parts sharing going on. I know the Bonneville GXP with the Northstar V8 replaced the SSE trim. I had to watch the video twice because of the many things you said. This car should have had a remote fuel filler door. It did not. I recall back in the day when Bonneville SSE came out they called the climate control "rather Cadillac looking". The funny thing about the 1987-1991 Bonneville it was the longest front wheel drive GM sedan until they upsized Deville and Fleetwood in 1989. I should say when they created Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special in 1988 model year. Then Oldsmobile got the Touring Sedan which rivaled the Bonneville SSE. It had multi adjustable seats too. Buick had Park Avenue Ultra. Another fact. The Pontiac Bonneville never offered digital gauges. Other GM full sized cars did ( not counting Buick Roadmaster) . The 2000-2005 Pontiac Bonneville used the Oldsmobile Aurora seats after Oldsmobile Aurora was phased out. Thank you for always backing up what you share with photos and videos. You should have shared a Pontiac commercial for the Bonneville as well. Driving Bonneville! Thank you again Adam.
I owned a 1994 Bonneville and then read how the platform was carried over from the previous generation. After that, I immediately started recognizing shapes and dimensions from my dad's 1989 Buick Electra. Keeping with that theme, I also owned a 1995 Pontiac Grand Prix and test drove a 2000 Grand Prix as a possible replacement. As soon as I got it on the street, it became clear to me it was the exact same car.
The 3800 V6 is a legendary engine, they run forever and make decent power, especially with the supercharger. I love seeing these cars that were everywhere during my childhood in pristine condition nowadays.
Those tail lights aren't "smoked".... they're striped. This is a great trick to kind of simulate tinted lenses, but because the striped aren't transparent... they won't fade like tints tend to do, and they give that "tinted" feel because they mute the loud red/amber lenses. It was a cool look that only Pontiac figured out.
I guess they lost the tec to build a car like it today. 30mpg was the norm. I had a 93 APV mini van with a 3800 that routinely got 32. I've heard, they forgot how they got to the moon too...imagine that.
The Bonnevilles of the nineties are a world different from my grandfathers Bonnevilles of the sixties & seventies!!! I think he'd approve & be happy to drive one!! 👍🙂
I worked at a high end body shop back in the early 90’s. Loved the SSE and SSEis when one would come in every once in a while. Dad bought and SE a while back. I remember seeing the Pontiac Salen brand new and they had a bumper sticker saying powerless. Lol!
I always appreciated the thoroughness of design and packaging of these cars, and that red one you featured at the end of the video is very good looking.
Bothe the Bonneville SSE and SSEi were incredible full size sports touring sedans with refinement not found in their price range matching their category. Great cars.
In '97, I had a '96 Z28. I was in HS, on a lunch break, with a packed 4th gen Camaro, and I wound up at a light next to one of these. Yuppie dude behind the wheel, pretty typical scene. He wants to go, we go. I get him pretty good, and at the next light he's yelling and screaming. Good memories.
The finest and highest end used car in my youth I always admired and slowly passed by while I was chasing sheer look rwd cars and extraordinarily well configured GMT400s. Tho I do recall many a exquisite SSEi and other C/H cars of the early mid 90s.
I actually had a dark emerald green 1992 SSEi with the tan interior and all the buttons on the inside with all the amazing interior lighting at night. It was an amazing car and handled crazy well and could get 33 mpg on the open road.. Mine had every possible option including the HUD. I traded it for a Crown Victoria for better reliability after having lots of problems... Great Video!!! I can say the Bonneville handled 20x better than the Crown Vic, but the Crown Vic never had an issue for years and years...
My parents had a 88 Bonneville that I learned to do reverse 180's in, and later I owned a 94 Bonneville se, I had the engine rebuilt with a roller cam and rocker arms, that car could do some wicked burn outs.😁😁😁
Had a 93 ssei. Loved the car. Gave it a medium performance chip and a 5% underdrive on the blower. It was a monster. I had a guy walk up yo me in a parking lot where I worked at the time and ask what I had done with this car. Long story short I told him I really didn't know we were racing.
I miss my 87 Bonneville. My 99 wasn't such a great car, was relieved to get rid of it when I did. Intake gaskets, oil pump, fuel pump, transmission solenoid, lots of other failures before 70k. That said, it was sharp, peppy and generally comfortable. I wish GM still made full sized cars like that.
Them Delco radios were top notch !!!!! Even their base radios sounded great. My mom had a Grand Am and the rear 6x9’s hit so hard. I don’t think I’ve found any modern vehicle that could hold a candle, even with premium sound systems. I think the older GM’s were more reliable than any new GM product. I remember when the trucks ran forever
I had 92 SE. Bought it new and drove it for over 100K miles. Sold it in 2000 to buy a Grand Prix. The family that I sold it to is still driving it today, despite its Michigan Cancer (rust).
We bought a 95 LeSabre brand new. Car was good, once we had the windows tinted, the car looked fantastic. Now have a 2005 GXP with the block threads repaired. Surprisingly fast, and high revving.
I used to have a 1990 SSE and I realized that the onboard compass worked better than my iPhone6S. The compass on my iPhone was completely out of align, yet the SSE compass worked flawlessly. I later drove it in circles to recalibrate it and it didn't change much.
I had a beautiful blue one "SSEI" and the seats were the best seats I have ever had in any automobile I've ever owned and I've been driving cars since 1981❤! I thought for a bigger car it handled pretty well too! It takes super unleaded is the only drawback but if you can afford the gas this is an American BMW all day long! Adams wrong about the compass mine was extremely accurate and it did give you the feeling you're in a fighter jet the way it would move around on the dash while you're driving I thought it was super cool!❤
I had a 88 Bonneville LE(my first car), wrecked it like an idiot. It was as plain as could be, manual windows, seats and everything else but it ran great. Next car i bought was 88 bonneville se, it had power bucket seats, moonroof all the power options. Later on i bought a 99 bonneville se, never got the ssei like i wanted lol. I still have a set of 18" gxp wheels off a 08 bonneville just sitting around, i ran them on my 98 Aurora for a while, looked pretty good imo. Enjoyed the video!
My wife and I had a used 94 Bonneville, just the regular car, and though it hadn't been taken care of, it was a good car. When we inherited a low mileage 01 Impala, we sold the Bonneville and soon regretted it. The Impala started falling apart with regular use, whereas the Bonnie was like a truck, somewhat crude but durable.
That was the first 4 door I liked.I bought a used 92 SE it was green metallic. They were expensive cars when new. I never see them on the road anymore.
Had a 1995 Bonneville SLE... an SE option package that included the SSE suspension, bigger tires, and the leather interior. It had the first year 3800 series II and was a pretty good performer. The early 3800 series II had one serious flaw... the plastic intake manifold had a coolant passage that was prone to cracking... that led to coolant flowing straight into the intake and could destroy the engine if it happened during open road cruising. Fortunately mine failed at low speeds and the engine survived. It did not age gracefully. Most of the engine's sensors failed and eventually a new ECM was needed to get the engine running correctly. The second owner, a coworker and GM trained technician, had to rebuild most of the A/C system and the transmission.
love your channel..i had 3 bonni,s a..1988,1989 and a1993 . 93 being my fav. none supercharged.. all 3800..I loved the 93 it had everything i wanted ..the final gear had it just right 25 mpg yet sporty . i drove it to Florida from cincy 2x I sold it with 180k.. .my 2000buick lesabre got 30 mpg but no guts like the Bonni
I really liked this video, it brought back a lot of great memories of a car that really felt so "special" back in the early 90's. I'd also like to point out that the supercharged 3800 was available as an option on the SSE as well. I'm not sure about '92, but for '93 it most certainly was. You didn't have to get the SSEi trim to get the engine.
I loved those seats and the supercharged 3800 was one of the better high performance engines that GM has built. The downside of these is that with that engine they just chewed up transmissions right and left. If only Pontiac had put this engine and a good manual transmission in the Fiero. Make the Fiero like the Ferrari 288 GTO where the engine and transmission was mounted longitude ways instead of like a FWD vehicle. Of course GM would never have done it.
Had they developed this engine a little earlier, they could have put it into the 1986 Buick Grand Sport and made it a worthy companion to the Grand National.
You need one of these in your collection Adam..! Always loved these and the ones previous with their three-spoke design aluminum wheels. They had a very distinctive sound. My favorite was the black exterior with the black wheels and tan interior.
Back in the late 90s parents had the exact maroon SSE you featured in the beginning inset pic. The interior seemed rich with tan leather although the seats were heavily bolstered it was more for a 300 lb man. The car handled amazing and was pretty quick with the 3800.
I had the 92’ SSEI supercharged in white Color on grey interior. It would go 170 kms per hour pinned , then the computer would kick back the power lol 😂 great riding sedan with tons of options and sunroof . Great car back in the day 👍
I always wanted one of these as a teenager, I have a long deep seated love of sleepers.
A good modern sleeper (for cheap) would be a first gen Hyundai Genesis with the 4.6 V8. 375 hp, 330 ft-lb torque (with 91 Octane) and 0-60 in 5.7 seconds.
As a kid of both the 1980's and the 90's it was so cool to watch the transformation of styling.
Now we have windstream amebas with wheels.
They made 4 door sedans great again!
Agreed! Todays cars are all just variations of the same sausage link. And about as exciting as the prospect of buying an "EV." No, thanks.
@@roccosophie6498 'sausage link' 🤣🤣🤣
@@nycstarport8542 😁
One of my favourite Pontiac Bonneville generation. Was a revelation when it was released.
Thank you for doing a video on the 92 Bonneville redesign. These were absolutely gorgeous and inventive cars, and I will die on this hill. I've had seven 92-99 Bonnevilles over the years. The community of enthusiasts for this car is small, but we are very dedicated. It's really great and also bizarre to see these cars finally get some recognition, after years of being overlooked. Thanks again for this great showcase, from me and my 1992 Bonneville! Would love to one day see an interview with the interior designer.
Are you on drugs??? That is one of most ugly pieces of shit ever created and a far cry from the beautiful cars the US made in the 50s, 60s and 70s...
My dad had two bonnevilles, an 88/90 in grey and I believe a 93/95 in green. I'm looking for one right now online but despite listing being at a minimum, I'll find one and make that one of my project cars. We out here!! ✊🏾
I've owned three of these, an 1989 SSE, 1995 SSEI, & 1998 SSEI, I loved these cars but the 98 was my favorite because of the more comfortable seats & the extra horsepower. I'd buy another if I could find one.
I had two 1991 SSE's. They were just great road cars, fun to drive, and had those big comfy wide seats.
I had a '94 SSEi, the car was comfortable and quick. It was a lease return when I bought it. I kept it several years and replaced it with a '98 Lexus LS400.
I had one of these and I loved it! The styling was so cutting edge for the day. I would love to have one today!
Loved these cars. My uncle had a 94 or so hunter green SSEi. Beautiful car that would RUN!
These videos always lead me to check the classifieds after watching. Remember renting these Bonnevilles from Hertz on business trips back in the day
Same here. Great memories
The earlier understated styling was very nice indeed. Wonderful 3800 engine, comfortable and roomy cabin, big trunk, pretty good handling. Great cars.
3.8 engine is legit one of the best motors ever made
@@joshkeeling82from ford as well
@@joshkeeling82you can see my 3.8 mustang and Bonneville in my pic lol
I worked at a couple of Pontiac dealership when these cars were out. I drove a few of them and I really liked them. Good-looking, comfortable, sporty, and dependable. I couldn't ask for more.
I’ve read that these bonnevilles were a dream to drive, but we’re very unreliable with frequent electrical issues across the board. Did you experience this?
@@Forge17 I worked at 2 Pontiac dealerships and the Bonnevilles didn't come in for too many repairs. The N-Body cars (looking at YOU Grand Am), were a different story.
@@rogerhinman5427 ah good to know, I wouldn’t mind owning one of these Bonnevilles. Shame on those Grand am’s though
Same. I worked at a small town Louisiana Pontiac, GMC, Oldsmobile dealer and people loved these cars. We constantly ran the 1 penny over invoice specials and would make a killing on the backend adding service plans and other fluff items.
I would like to think of myself as someone who’s up to speed on 90s GM vehicles, I have an 03 Monte Carlo SS but wow those bonnevilles had a lot of feature that I had no idea about. It seems like that car was almost ahead of it’s time. The seats are crazy and I can’t believe it has a heads up display. Maybe not the first to have some of these things but definitely paved the way for features GM still currently uses
I had a 1997 Grand Prix with the supercharged 3800. Awesome engine! Impressive power when passing on the highway.
Same! White with tan leather interior. I loved that car. 28mpg highway too.
The Head Up display was great, should have been in EVERY car as a safety feature.
My wife and I borrowed my mother in law’s new 1988 Bonneville (base model) to drive to Kansas City to look for a house due to a job change. I thought I was driving a 4 door sports car, it handled so nicely. Mind you, this was the base model with base suspension. And we got 31 mpg on that trip as well! I didn’t think it was a nice looking car, but when I was sitting on the inside, I didn’t care what it looked like on the outside.
I LOVED 1990’s Pontiac styling back then. I still do.
I currently own a 1995 Bonneville sse red like your last picture. I love the car it looks great and it has a more comfortable ride then my wife's 2008 Buick lacrosse. Mine doesn't have the super charger but when I bought the car a little over a year ago it only had 77 thousand kilometers on the odometer and I bought it from the original owner. Tha ks for featuring it.
I had a 2008 Buick Lacrosse with the somewhat rare 3.6 engine. It was quite the wheel spinner if you punched it hard from a stand still. The 3.8 was significantly more reliable however.
My first new car was a 93 SE, it was a nice looking car and the regular 3.8 V6. I replaced it with a new 96 SE with the optional 240 horse supercharged engine. It was quite quick for a big front driver. In 99 I bought an SSEi again with the supercharged engine.
Common strong points: roomy and comfortable with great seats and large trunk. Ride was pretty nice, amazing fuel economy even with the supercharged engine. Apart from my comment below about transmissions they were very reliable too.
Very attractive looker too.
Common weak spots: lousy performing brakes that also warped quickly. Torque steer was annoying on base cars and even worse on the supercharged cars. Transmissions were failure prone with the supercharged engine. Interior looks good in the slightly blurry brochure photos but it was typical 90’s GM Tupperware quality in real life. Another GM wide weak link was how quickly the ride quality would degrade, after 40-50k miles it drove like a Toyota with 150k miles.
Interestingly my 93 SE was the best handler of the three as Pontiac kept reducing spring rates over the run to address hard ride complaints.
Another interesting tidbit was that my 96 car was much faster than my 99. Having read up on those engines recently I’ve discovered why. The 96 supercharged engine was newly improved that year and was underrated at 240 horse. By the end of the model year it was obvious that the engine was burning out transmissions so they quietly lowered the boost for 97 but didn’t change the rated power or torque numbers. Further confirmation of this was when my friend bought a new 97 Grand Prix GTP with the supposedly same 240 horse engine as my 96 bonneville but despite it being in a smaller lighter car (identical axle ratio and transmission) I’d walk him easily in my 96 Bonnie.
My 93 had R12 AC which was polar vortex in cooling ability, the subsequent years switched coolant and while sufficient they were a big step down.
My 99 was the best looker of the bunch in black with tan leather and sharp factory chrome mags but as mentioned the engine didn’t have the grunt of the 96. Also it had adjustable shock valving and it was lousy in both soft (sloppy) and firm (flinty).
Overall excellent comfortable sporty looking car only let down by the typical GM bean counter front drive chassis.
I remember when these cars came out and I was like "Woah! I can't believe I like a 4 door!"
They're still one of my all time favorites!
I absolutely loved my ‘98 Bonneville (sadly only a loaded SE). One of my first cars, I drove it daily through high school, college and beyond. Other cars were purchased but I kept that Bonneville around. A great road trip vehicle, one of the most comfortable I’ve owned.
Always loved the Bonnevilles. I had an ‘87, ‘91, and a loaded 1997 SSE which was beautiful, comfortable, and fun!
This was one of my favorite cars as a kid on the 90s
Was like a sporty LeSabre I always thought. Even though it was a Pontiac Bonneville and not a Buick LeSabre. I really love these so much! More now than ever!
Owned one for 3 years, sold it when the back door locks were constantly needing to be serviced due to living on a gravel road. The trunk had a tool kit, white gloves included and an air compressor to reach all 4 tires. Very nice car, probably not desirable with high mileage, so many things to go wrong.
Loved these cars as a teenager. Still have an affinity as a 42 year old. I'd totally daily one of these.
I had a ‘95 SSEi as a company vehicle. It was what I would call British Racing Green in color with gold graphics that was a very popular color across the entire Bonneville lineup. It was fairly well built and for the time was a strong performer. One of the things I most remember about the interior was driving at night and the overwhelming amount of buttons and switches that were all lighted by Pontiac’s orange glow backlights. It was like a sea of Halloween decorations. Adam is correct about the seating. If you couldn’t find a comfortable position with those seats, then the problem was your own body, not the seat! 😉
My parents had a Bonneville just one like these I wanted it but they ended up drinking it cuz they didn't drive it until this day I still say another Bonnie but they're probably impossible to find now
I'm a big fan of those 90s Bonnevilles. I remember seeing them all over the place. They had great performance and the exterior had a really nice design. The dash layout starting in 1993 was so elegant, other than the clumsy compass.
Always loved these cars from the day the first SSE was introduced in ‘88. Sadly I never owned one but ‘circumstances’ in 1995 put me in GM’s Oldsmobile variant … the 88 LSS. Loved that car but winced every time I saw an SSEI on the road. Still do and watching this video inspires me to launch a search so I can finally make good on my dream to own one. Thanks Adam.
I had an ssei, still one of the all time best cars I've ever owned or driven. It did everything so well, you just had to love it.
At a time when it was difficult to find exciting cars, these Bonnevilles were very special and stood out in an otherwise boring crowd.
Early 90s was generally good quality stuff. Was rocking a 93 Crown Victoria. Beyond great car that one.
Neat video on a car that many people have forgotten about. I had a '95 SE in medium blue and drove it for about 6-7 years. Great looking car for the time. The seats were the most comfortable I'd ever had. Another plus was the car routinely hit 30 mpg on a long, highway trip!
Because they were so forgettable.
These really were affluent in appearance. Looks that were pleasantly superior to anything in its class.(especially when you consider they were hitting dealerships already in July of '91)
My mother had a 92 Bonneville. One of the coolest cars she ever owned.
I love these videos, Adam. You cover all of the cool details people often gloss over. My first car was my dad's old '95 SSEi, and it was a lot of fun. I drove it well into adulthood and put 237K miles on it. It had some cool details you didn't often see in cars (e.g. the seat belt light and chime would stop once you got the seatbelt about a foot out versus having to wait till it was buckled; you could touch the windshield washer and let go, and it would spray a designated amount of time in addition to wiping versus having to hold wash down to keep it spraying like most GM cars of the era; etc.) in addition to the more noteworthy ones you covered.
Really enjoy your interviews too. Thanks for the great content!
Mitch Quade - Madison, WI
My parents had a very early model '87 Bonneville SE... solid metallic red with grey cloth. What a great car and much better looking to my eyes, then the replacement. In fact, I remember my dad being invited to look at a new SSEi, and he came back laughing at how "busy" the exterior was. My dad was a life insurance guy, so I wasn't shocked, but when I laid eyes on it myself, it was a lot to take in for sure and agreed with him. He went on to buy a new Acura Legend. But, with the passing of time, I really miss all of these cars now.
Still have my ‘92 ssei drive it back and forth to work. Everything still works and still looks pretty good. People can’t believe the car is over 30 years old. Reliable and comfortable.
I miss Pontiac so much. I loved my Grand Prixs and kept them longer than any cars I've had. The GTP I had had the series 2 supercharged engine and it was torquey reliable and fuel efficient. I sold it at 148,000 with the notorious cooling system elbows and a couple of serpentine belt pulleys being the only non-maintenance issues I ever had.
I owned several Bonnies and Rivieras of the era.. the series 1.5 3800 was too sweet.. and utterly bulletproof. One of my favorite engines of all time! I ran 125 shot dry NOS on one for 2 year solid! Blew up 9 transaxles but she was fun!
I remember when these came out. Loved these. Those “aircraft landing lights” in front bumper where so striking for a sedan. There was simply nothing else like it.
Excellent Adam. Thank you. I cannot add anything to what you said. I have been a fan of the Bonneville for decades. I liked this generation. The facelift in 1996 was good looking. It told the upcoming 2000 Bonneville. I liked the 2000-2005 Pontiac Bonneville as well. I recall the seats. If you buy one of these, the SSE/ SSEi or SLE trim was the way to go. I was told the floor shifter and console from the 1987-1991 Bonneville was used in the 1993-1996 Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight LSS. There was a lot of parts sharing going on. I know the Bonneville GXP with the Northstar V8 replaced the SSE trim. I had to watch the video twice because of the many things you said. This car should have had a remote fuel filler door. It did not. I recall back in the day when Bonneville SSE came out they called the climate control "rather Cadillac looking". The funny thing about the 1987-1991 Bonneville it was the longest front wheel drive GM sedan until they upsized Deville and Fleetwood in 1989. I should say when they created Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special in 1988 model year. Then Oldsmobile got the Touring Sedan which rivaled the Bonneville SSE. It had multi adjustable seats too. Buick had Park Avenue Ultra. Another fact. The Pontiac Bonneville never offered digital gauges. Other GM full sized cars did ( not counting Buick Roadmaster) . The 2000-2005 Pontiac Bonneville used the Oldsmobile Aurora seats after Oldsmobile Aurora was phased out. Thank you for always backing up what you share with photos and videos. You should have shared a Pontiac commercial for the Bonneville as well. Driving Bonneville! Thank you again Adam.
Too bad the 2000-2005 had so many quality issues. I also found the 2000-2005 cars to have the driver's seat too far forward.
@@buckykattnj I hear that a lot about the 2000-2005 Pontiac Bonneville. I wonder why...
I owned a 1994 Bonneville and then read how the platform was carried over from the previous generation. After that, I immediately started recognizing shapes and dimensions from my dad's 1989 Buick Electra. Keeping with that theme, I also owned a 1995 Pontiac Grand Prix and test drove a 2000 Grand Prix as a possible replacement. As soon as I got it on the street, it became clear to me it was the exact same car.
My project manager back in the day had one. Looked great, had a great ride.
The 3800 V6 is a legendary engine, they run forever and make decent power, especially with the supercharger. I love seeing these cars that were everywhere during my childhood in pristine condition nowadays.
This really is a good looking car. I've come to appreciate it's styling more as it ages.
The Toyota Previa minivan also rocked the ribs, as did the gen 3 Mitsubishi Eclipse
We had a 93 Bonneville, Black and it was a great car. Very comfortable, especially on long trips
I once owned a 1999 bonneville SE it had the same gold paint and beige leather seats. That brought back some good memories what a great car.
Those tail lights aren't "smoked".... they're striped. This is a great trick to kind of simulate tinted lenses, but because the striped aren't transparent... they won't fade like tints tend to do, and they give that "tinted" feel because they mute the loud red/amber lenses. It was a cool look that only Pontiac figured out.
I think they called them Rally Lights, at least on the grand prix’s they did, but those were muriform not striped
I especially like the honeycomb design on the tail lights of the fourth gen Firebird
Exactly
Looked like an cross design overlay to me. True, they were not smoked but gave the illusion they were.
1:07 My 1989 Bonneville looksed like this body style, but with a deeper red color! I loved it very much and it had the awesome 30mpg 3800 V6 engine.
I guess they lost the tec to build a car like it today. 30mpg was the norm. I had a 93 APV mini van with a 3800 that routinely got 32.
I've heard, they forgot how they got to the moon too...imagine that.
I own a 1992 pontiac too, it has been the best car I ever owned
I have a Bonneville gxp 2004, love it. Love Bonnevilles from way back as well.
I had a 1987 LE version. Lots of good memories in that car.
Had a friend who had an '88 SSE and those 18-way adjustable seats were so comfortable!
Thank you for posting this. Great video. I was 15 when this generation came out and I was just getting into cars and I was wild about these.
The Bonnevilles of the nineties are a world different from my grandfathers Bonnevilles of the sixties & seventies!!! I think he'd approve & be happy to drive one!! 👍🙂
I worked at a high end body shop back in the early 90’s. Loved the SSE and SSEis when one would come in every once in a while. Dad bought and SE a while back. I remember seeing the Pontiac Salen brand new and they had a bumper sticker saying powerless. Lol!
Had a 92 Bonneville...3800....Great highway machine!
I always appreciated the thoroughness of design and packaging of these cars, and that red one you featured at the end of the video is very good looking.
My mother in law owned a 1993 model. Amazing car!!
Bothe the Bonneville SSE and SSEi were incredible full size sports touring sedans with refinement not found in their price range matching their category. Great cars.
My Dad had this car. It was fuckin' amazing. So smooth and fast and comfortable. I really miss that legendary GM 3800 V6
In '97, I had a '96 Z28. I was in HS, on a lunch break, with a packed 4th gen Camaro, and I wound up at a light next to one of these. Yuppie dude behind the wheel, pretty typical scene. He wants to go, we go. I get him pretty good, and at the next light he's yelling and screaming. Good memories.
The finest and highest end used car in my youth I always admired and slowly passed by while I was chasing sheer look rwd cars and extraordinarily well configured GMT400s. Tho I do recall many a exquisite SSEi and other C/H cars of the early mid 90s.
I actually had a dark emerald green 1992 SSEi with the tan interior and all the buttons on the inside with all the amazing interior lighting at night. It was an amazing car and handled crazy well and could get 33 mpg on the open road.. Mine had every possible option including the HUD. I traded it for a Crown Victoria for better reliability after having lots of problems... Great Video!!! I can say the Bonneville handled 20x better than the Crown Vic, but the Crown Vic never had an issue for years and years...
My parents had a 88 Bonneville that I learned to do reverse 180's in, and later I owned a 94 Bonneville se, I had the engine rebuilt with a roller cam and rocker arms, that car could do some wicked burn outs.😁😁😁
They really were cool cars with great engines. I wouldn't mind owning one today.
I love the SSEi,my high school dream ride
My friend had one in the early 2000. Pretty spunky. Super comfy
Had a 93 ssei. Loved the car. Gave it a medium performance chip and a 5% underdrive on the blower. It was a monster. I had a guy walk up yo me in a parking lot where I worked at the time and ask what I had done with this car. Long story short I told him I really didn't know we were racing.
Loved the Bonnie. Full sized performance
I miss my 87 Bonneville. My 99 wasn't such a great car, was relieved to get rid of it when I did. Intake gaskets, oil pump, fuel pump, transmission solenoid, lots of other failures before 70k.
That said, it was sharp, peppy and generally comfortable. I wish GM still made full sized cars like that.
Them Delco radios were top notch !!!!! Even their base radios sounded great. My mom had a Grand Am and the rear 6x9’s hit so hard. I don’t think I’ve found any modern vehicle that could hold a candle, even with premium sound systems. I think the older GM’s were more reliable than any new GM product. I remember when the trucks ran forever
These were just so Pontiac. Loved these at the time. Great video!
_Another One_ 👌
Adams like a mothers middle child ... no matter what he does he never disappoints me. 😆
We had the supercharged 3800 in the commodore of this era in rear wheel drive, only automatic transmission.
I had a 94 SE. loved that car!
Quite a change from the beautiful Pontiacs of the sixties to this appliance looking thing on wheels.
These were cool growing up all it missed was a driveshaft to the back tires!!
I had 92 SE. Bought it new and drove it for over 100K miles. Sold it in 2000 to buy a Grand Prix. The family that I sold it to is still driving it today, despite its Michigan Cancer (rust).
We bought a 95 LeSabre brand new. Car was good, once we had the windows tinted, the car looked fantastic.
Now have a 2005 GXP with the block threads repaired. Surprisingly fast, and high revving.
I used to have a 1990 SSE and I realized that the onboard compass worked better than my iPhone6S. The compass on my iPhone was completely out of align, yet the SSE compass worked flawlessly. I later drove it in circles to recalibrate it and it didn't change much.
I had 2 in my life time. 1995 & 1997. Still own the 97 and looks like new now in 2023 with only 67.000 miles on it.
I had a beautiful blue one "SSEI" and the seats were the best seats I have ever had in any automobile I've ever owned and I've been driving cars since 1981❤! I thought for a bigger car it handled pretty well too! It takes super unleaded is the only drawback but if you can afford the gas this is an American BMW all day long! Adams wrong about the compass mine was extremely accurate and it did give you the feeling you're in a fighter jet the way it would move around on the dash while you're driving I thought it was super cool!❤
My parent bought a blue 88 and then a black 92 with the tan interior and to this day I miss that car.
I had a 88 Bonneville LE(my first car), wrecked it like an idiot. It was as plain as could be, manual windows, seats and everything else but it ran great. Next car i bought was 88 bonneville se, it had power bucket seats, moonroof all the power options. Later on i bought a 99 bonneville se, never got the ssei like i wanted lol. I still have a set of 18" gxp wheels off a 08 bonneville just sitting around, i ran them on my 98 Aurora for a while, looked pretty good imo.
Enjoyed the video!
Still my favorite Gen
I am sure you get so many comments of how much Pontiac is missed and it truly is. I liked the SSEi as well as many other models
My wife and I had a used 94 Bonneville, just the regular car, and though it hadn't been taken care of, it was a good car. When we inherited a low mileage 01 Impala, we sold the Bonneville and soon regretted it. The Impala started falling apart with regular use, whereas the Bonnie was like a truck, somewhat crude but durable.
That was the first 4 door I liked.I bought a used 92 SE it was green metallic. They were expensive cars when new. I never see them on the road anymore.
Had a 1995 Bonneville SLE... an SE option package that included the SSE suspension, bigger tires, and the leather interior. It had the first year 3800 series II and was a pretty good performer. The early 3800 series II had one serious flaw... the plastic intake manifold had a coolant passage that was prone to cracking... that led to coolant flowing straight into the intake and could destroy the engine if it happened during open road cruising. Fortunately mine failed at low speeds and the engine survived. It did not age gracefully. Most of the engine's sensors failed and eventually a new ECM was needed to get the engine running correctly. The second owner, a coworker and GM trained technician, had to rebuild most of the A/C system and the transmission.
My first car absolutely loved it
We bought a black 93 SSEi. It was a lot of fun, not particularly practical for the family, but I really liked that car.
love your channel..i had 3 bonni,s a..1988,1989 and a1993 . 93 being my fav. none supercharged.. all 3800..I loved the 93 it had everything i wanted ..the final gear had it just right 25 mpg yet sporty . i drove it to Florida from cincy 2x I sold it with 180k.. .my 2000buick lesabre got 30 mpg but no guts like the Bonni
I really liked this video, it brought back a lot of great memories of a car that really felt so "special" back in the early 90's. I'd also like to point out that the supercharged 3800 was available as an option on the SSE as well. I'm not sure about '92, but for '93 it most certainly was. You didn't have to get the SSEi trim to get the engine.
I loved those seats and the supercharged 3800 was one of the better high performance engines that GM has built. The downside of these is that with that engine they just chewed up transmissions right and left. If only Pontiac had put this engine and a good manual transmission in the Fiero. Make the Fiero like the Ferrari 288 GTO where the engine and transmission was mounted longitude ways instead of like a FWD vehicle. Of course GM would never have done it.
Had they developed this engine a little earlier, they could have put it into the 1986 Buick Grand Sport and made it a worthy companion to the Grand National.
I'm weird but I like videos like this on fun facts and special models of an otherwise everyday more mundane sort of car.
You need one of these in your collection Adam..! Always loved these and the ones previous with their three-spoke design aluminum wheels. They had a very distinctive sound. My favorite was the black exterior with the black wheels and tan interior.
Back in the late 90s parents had the exact maroon SSE you featured in the beginning inset pic. The interior seemed rich with tan leather although the seats were heavily bolstered it was more for a 300 lb man. The car handled amazing and was pretty quick with the 3800.
I had the 92’ SSEI supercharged in white Color on grey interior. It would go 170 kms per hour pinned , then the computer would kick back the power lol 😂 great riding sedan with tons of options and sunroof . Great car back in the day 👍
My friends mom drove these they owned a Chevy Pontiac geo dealership for a long time. I eventually worked a that dealership i always liked these cars.
I sold these in ‘92…they were pretty nice.