Post by ferrari512s on Apr 15, 2014 19:01:45 GMT -5
Pontiac Bonneville Special
The Pontiac Bonneville Special is a purpose-built concept car unveiled at the General Motors Motorama in 1954, the first 2-seater sports car Pontiac ever produced.
Designed by renowned designer Harley J. Earl and hand built by Homer C. LaGassey Jr. and Paul Gilland, the "Special" is an experimental car, a two door, grand touring sport coupé that incorporated innovative breakthrough styling like an all-plexi canopy with gull-wing panels on a sleek fiberglass body.
The name "Bonneville" was inspired by a trip by Earl to Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah while observing speed trials there.
It was in fact the first car at GM to have been named after it, and would become Pontiac's top end performance platform for 47 years.
Two "Special" prototypes, one painted metallic bronze and one emerald green, were built with the intention of unveiling them simultaneously at the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf in New York and the Pan Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles in 1954.
Design - Exterior
The design of the "Special" drew its visual impetus from America’s fascination with aeronautic and rocket design in the 1950s, employing a wind-tunnel inspired profile and high-tech bright work throughout the body, hood and grill.
Glass covered recessed headlights, two rows of louvers on the fenders and twin "Silver-Streaks" on the hood that lead to functional air scoops were among its most distinguishing features.
The rear end styling was its most over-the-top visual cue.
Featured between two rather bold fender fins were ultramodern twin exhaust chrome-ports, similar to today’s Porsches, and a custom spare tire enclosure with space-age wheel disc that gave the car a jet-powered appearance.
Interior
Interior styling in the "Special" was state of the art for its time, and indeed would pass muster against today's computer-designed automobiles.
The dashboard was a sleek, wing like design that incorporated a clean horizontal layout of working instruments that gave the interior a futuristic cockpit look.
Even underneath the dash, the gauges were sealed in by a contoured metal facia with brushed finish, assuring by Earl that no detail would go unnoticed. Between unique, parabolic shaped, leather bucket seats lay a matching metal, center console with functionally modest gear shift handle, twin vent-control levers, and ignition key slot.
Centered over the three spoke, Corvette-style steering wheel was a single, large speedometer that read a top speed of 120 mph (193 km/h).
Passengers gained entry through conventional lower doors and gull-wing panels incorporated into the monocoque-style canopy that swung upward.
Dashboard Gauges (l-r) Specifications
Speedometer 0-120 mph
Ampmeter (-)30-0-30(+)
Fuel Gauge E-F
Manifold Temp 60-240 °F.
Oil Pressure 0-80 psi
Fuel Pressure 0-20 psi
Oil Temp 60-240 °F.
Design legacy
Design carry-overs of the Bonneville Special quickly made it into production models the next year, and in the years that followed.
Most obvious were the pairs of silver-streaks, which appeared again on the 1955 and '56 Chieftains and Star Chiefs, not to mention Pontiac's concept car for 1956, the Club de Mer.
The twin scoops, designed to channel cool air into the driver's compartment - also on the Club de Mer - resurfaced again on both the 1967 Firebird and 1968 GTO.
The louvers, emblazoned horizontally on the fenders, behind the front wheel wells, appeared again as vertical slits on the 1957 Star Chief Bonneville and 1965 2+2.
The bold tail fins were replicated faithfully on the 1955 and '56 Pontiac.
The 1958 Bonneville had an instrument panel that matched the sleek stainless steel style of the "Special", while the finned wheel covers became a design cue for Pontiac's famous 8-lug, aluminium rims that were introduced in 1960. And finally, the colour was seen again on Pontiac's modern two-seater, the Solstice, which was also painted metallic bronze.
Power plant
Under the hood lay the "Special"-8, a bored out, high output 268 in³ engine that was painted bright red and detailed in chrome.
This was a unique configuration for the "eight", installed in the only two Specials ever made.
Called the Silver Streak[4] in de-tuned production cars, it was Pontiac's most powerful engine to date in the early 1950s.
Similar in appearance only, this was a high compression variant that was modified with a long-duration cam and aspirated naturally through four Carter YH side-draft, single barrel carburetors.
These are the same used in the 1953 Corvette, under open-mesh breathers.
Total output was the highest ever for the "eight", rated at 230 bhp (172 kW), though some estimated it at nearly 300 bhp (220 kW).
Like the "Special", only two of these remarkable variants were ever made. Gearing was controlled through a 4-speed Hydramatic automatic transmission.
Note: Pontiac’s new V8 was being considered for use in the "Special" but was instead held back by GM marketing.
They directed that the straight-8 be used, to keep the "vee" a secret from consumers for one more year until its debut the following year.
1954 Pontiac Bonneville Special Motorama news, pictures, specifications, and information
It's said that Harley Earl, director of GM styling, got the idea for a GM concept car while watching world speed records being set at the Salt Flats in Utah.
It would be a sports racer called a Bonneville Special. That was when 1954 models were being readied for production and no GM car had ever carried the Bonneville name.
Perhaps Harley Earl gave the assignment to Pontiac as the birth of its upcoming performance image.
Under the direction of Earl, Hommer LaGassey and Paul Gilland were directed to build two Bonneville Specials.
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.
The outrageous, Corvette-derived, two-seat, fiberglass bubble-top Pontiac Bonneville Special 'Dream Car' roadster was powered by a 268 cubic-inch flathead straight eight, enhanced to produce 230 horsepower.
It had a bank of four side-draft two-barrel carburetors and coupled to a two-speed Hydramatic transmission.
The front fenders had 'Bonneville Special' lettering over twin finned-aluminum faux oil coolers.
The rear fenders were rounded and arched over the wheels before extending behind them with a round, chrome-rimmed tail-lamp molded in each of their vertical trailing edges.
Among its many unique features was the 'Continental Kit' spare tire housing integrated into the rear deck. Its clear plastic gullwing hatches swung up from its roof's center section, allowing for entry and exit.
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.
Defining the rear is a vertically mounted spare time and wheel with an exposed center. Red bucket seats and full instrumentation, spread across the dash, marked the interior.
Harley J. Earl's trip to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, was said to be the inspiration for the name, the Bonneville was lucky to survive.
Most Dream Cars were deliberately cut up to avoid any possible litigation. What a shame indeed.
Pontiac Bonneville Special Revised for 2014
If this car was still in production today what would it look like? See concept design below...
Sources
www.conceptcarz.com/view/photo/580025,11138/1954-Pontiac-Bonneville-Special-Motorama_Photo.aspx
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiac_Bonneville_Special
www.highperformancepontiac.com/editorial/1404_1954_pontiac_bonneville_solstice_what_if/