The Pontiac Bonneville Special is a Pontiac concept car unveiled at the General Motors Motorama in 1954, the first 2-seat sports car prototype the division had ever produced. Conceived by renowned designer Harley J. Earl and hand built by Homer C. LaGassey Jr. and Paul Gilland, the “Special” is a grand touring sport coupé that incorporated innovative styling like a Plexiglas canopy with gull-wing windows on a sleek fiberglass body.
The name “Bonneville” was meant to convey high performance, inspired by a trip Earl had taken to Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah to observe speed trials there. It was the first GM vehicle to carry the name, subsequently given to the Division’s full-size performance car, the Bonneville, which carried it for 47 years.
Pontiac’s Motorama star for 1954 was its first sports dream car, the Bonneville Special. Using a name that would make the production cars in 1957 and never let go, the 100-inch wheelbase and fiberglass Bonneville has a transparent plexiglass roof with opening panels over the seat to aid access. It looks every bit the competition car it was designed to be; however, Pontiac was a year away from having its new V-8 and the 48-inch high machine had to make do with a flathead straight eight and Hydramatic transmission, somewhat limiting potential performance. Hood lines flow back from the open grill to two small scoops, via the traditional Pontiac silver streaks.
The car is fitted with a 230-horsepower, 268 cubic-inch Pontiac inline-8 cylinder, which Earl felt suited the Pontiac brand better than the orginal Corvette’s 150-horsepower, 235 cubic-inch inline-6.
Only two of these cars were built so they could be displayed simultaneously at the Los Angeles and Detroit auto shows. The bronze car would debut in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf in New York and the Green one in the Pan Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles. The Green one would later tour major dealerships around the country. The cars were showbiz and beyond production but realistic enough for the public to identify with them and make them contenders for best remembered Motorama cars.
There are contradictory versions of how the Pontiac Bonneville Special name originated. Some say Earl dreamed it up after watching racers at the Bonneville Speed Flats, but a different, corroborated version states Earl wanted to recognize Eddie Miller, who raced on the flats with a Pontiac-powered Lakester.
Whoever spent the money on this gorgeous Motorama concept knew what they were paying for, as this Pontiac reins as a true collector piece.
