Junkyard Find: 1981 Pontiac Bonneville Brougham

Here's a Junkyard Find that really takes me back. My dad bought a Bonneville new in 1979, and it seemed like a very nice car when I was 13 years old. A few years later, I borrowed the Bonneville to take my date to the high-school prom (in spite of this being the early 1980s, I did not wear a robin's-egg-blue tuxedo, though now I wish I had), and I felt classier than Frank Sinatra in a brand-new '61 Imperial. A few years after that, I was given the now-quite-worn-out Bonneville to make the drive between the San Francisco Bay Area and my new home in Southern California… and it crapped out every 100 yards while trying to climb the Grapevine. So, mixed feelings when I saw this very similar '81 Bonneville Brougham in a Denver self-service yard. I'm not sure what luxury touches the Brougham option package got Bonneville buyers in 1981. Maybe just the Brougham emblems. Perhaps the diamond-tucked velour upholstery was a Brougham-only option for '81. Make sure your prom date doesn't ralph up her Boone's Farm on these impossible-to-clean seats! I recall the Bonneville being a very smooth-riding, comfortable car. Quite underpowered with its 301-cubic-inch V8, and the electrical stuff started failing right away, but pretty decent by the low standards of the Middle Malaise Era. from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com

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