1979 Pontiac Catalina Safari

1979 Pontiac Catalina Safari in Smokey and the Bandit II, Movie, 1980

Class: Cars, Wagon — Model origin:

Background vehicle

Author	Message
MrCadillac ◊ 2005-12-10 00:55	1963 Bonneville Safari ???
sixcyl ◊ 2005-12-10 10:33	Doesn't it seems later model than 1963?
pilou ◊ 2005-12-10 10:38	It is a Pontiac Bonneville Safari wagon , but much more recent , as far as details are visible ,probably a 1977.
andre1969 ◊ 2006-06-13 15:06	That's actually a 1979 Catalina Safari. Bonnevilles back then tended to have more of a vertical grille design, while '77-79 Catalinas had more of a horizontal design.
qwerty_86 ◊ 2006-06-14 06:28	Doesn't "Safari" indicate that it should have wood panelling?
andre1969 ◊ 2006-06-16 20:02	Nah, "Safari" was just another word Pontiac tacked onto the name with their wagon versions. So if you had a LeMans, Catalina, or Bonneville, the wagon versions were LeMans Safari, Catalina Safari, or Bonneville Safari. When they quit making the sedan version of the Parisienne after 1986, the wagon versions stuck around a few more years and was called, simply, "Safari". Buick and Chevy did a similar thing, tacking on the word "Estate". I remember my grandparents having an '82 Malibu wagon, and on the rear quarter it had "Malibu Classic Estate"...that was a lot of cursive writing! That woodgrain panelling stuff was just a separate option, but I don't think it ever designated a separate model.