05 GXP

[jradke61]

[nos4blood70]

Looks nice, but it's missing its original wheels!

[DCJREDLINE]

And those scoops, ewww (IMO)

[skregal]

I actually like swoopies just because they are more original looking
than the GXP wheels which look like about 5 other car wheels and have
many aftermarket copies.

I agree that the hood scoops in my opinion are more suited for a
smaller sports car, but they don't look completely foreign to this car,
just not my cup of tea.

[CMNTMXR57]

Bonneville GXP wheels are automotive rolling stock sex.

Bonneville GXP wheels > 98.3% of wheels on GMNA vehicles.


I just made up the 98.3%. It may actually be 98.4%.

[Juggernaught]

Yeah, the "flangeless" design of the GXP wheels when they came out in '04, were supposed to be the first of their kind. Innovative! I also really like the way they look too.

[jradke61]

I have the wheels. They have the summer tires on them. These came with the car as well and are 18". They came with All Season tires mounted on them. It's winter here in Iowa so I put them on.
Personally these look way better than the stock wheels that are on every other Bonneville but the stock ones will go back on come spring with the G-force Sport Comp 2 tires that are on them unless I buy new 18" summer tires for these which I probably won't do.
They were scuffed up here and there and I repainted them while they're off and they look like they did on day 1.
As for the hood scoops, they were designed for this car and someone gave them to me. I like them so I painted them with factory paint and 3 coats of clear and put them on. Actually I wasn't sure at first. So I painted them and for the next 3 weeks set them on the car periodically til I decided they looked good and installed them. Most people think they're factory actually and they get far more positive comments than negative. In fact this place is the first I've heard any negative. But that's OK if you don't like them. Not likely to change my opinion tho. They really do look factory and I like what they do for the car.
I wonder what the average age of the members here is?

[Juggernaught]

I'm 55, with my first car being a white '67 Bonneville 4-door hardtop. I've owned three '67 Bonnevilles and two 2005 Bonnevilles. I miss Pontiac and the Bonneville. I still have hope that some day, some way, GM will bring back Pontiac.

[jradke61]

I'm 55, with my first car being a white '67 Bonneville 4-door hardtop. I've owned three '67 Bonnevilles and two 2005 Bonnevilles. I miss Pontiac and the Bonneville. I still have hope that some day, some way, GM will bring back Pontiac.

I had a 67 as well. If memory serves me it had a 400 in it and was a sleeper of sorts. I agree, Pontiacs were a favorite of mine as well and there were several models that would've survived eternity had they kept producing them.
Besides the Bonneville, we had the Firebird(the Real Firebird) and my favorite, the GTO(Again, the REAL ones). Owned a '65 with the 389, 3 deuces, 4 speed, and 4:11 rear end. Scary ass car. Blew a couple 389s up in it and a 400. Then their was the sister of the GTO, the Le Mans. Related to the Bonneville was the Catalina. All these cars hauled ass too but weren't all sports cars. Some were family cars.
Another relative of the GTO, the Tempest. Then there was the Ventura. Oh and almost forgot the Trans Am.
These are just the popular cars from the 60s and 70s. All of which I would buy today. That's quite a list of muscle there too. Nostalgia at it's finest.
I don't see too many cars here on this forum that could hold a candle to most of these cars.

Oh and hood scoops were popular back then and they weren't necessarily just on small cars either. These cars were not only built under the hood but had the beefy bodies to support it yet still put out some phenomenal numbers.
I feel sorry for many of you here that will never know what it felt like to turn the key on even one of these real cars.
And when I hear comments like some I've heard here I can't help but scratch my head as I think son, those mags I have on this car look way better than those goofy ass wheels you're referring too. The wheels... and the hood scoops...I got the look, and the feel really, when I'm behind the wheel, that I wanted. Sorry you can't see it but you're not changing my mind.

[CMNTMXR57]

Pontiac isn't coming back any time soon guys. Time to build that bridge and get over it.

GM makes lots of other great cars too. Ones that don't wear an arrowhead.

[jradke61]

Pontiac isn't coming back any time soon guys. Time to build that bridge and get over it.

GM makes lots of other great cars too. Ones that don't wear an arrowhead.

Get over what?
As for great cars, you're delusional. There's no such thing today. GM or otherwise. But we learn to compromise with the ones that are less junk than the rest and yes, that would be GM of course.
Justice to clarify tho, Pontiac wasn't the only GM that made a great car back then. They just happen to be the only maker that called it quits altogether is all. And probably for good reason. Like CAT getting out of the class 8 truck business when the EPA forced them to produce junk and warranty work was killing them.
Better to throw-in the towel than be forced to Comply to producing junk just because the government says you have to.

[crash93ssei]

It's a nice car but in no way were those scoops designed for a Bonneville. They are generic stick on hood scoops that I've seen on everything from a Honda Civic to a Ford Excursion, that's why most car enthusiasts just don't like them. As for being delusional as to there being great cars right now, I feel it's delusional to think there isn't. Cars today will run faster, turn better, handle sharper, be more comfortable, safer, and all while providing better fuel economy. Don't get me wrong, I love old school but stock for stock they just can't do what the new vehicles can do.

[jradke61]

I never said they were designed specifically for the Bonneville but the Bonneville included and really I could care less what car enthusiasts like or dislike. They look good on this car. It gets a LOT of comments. All good. Except you guys. I've never been one for the fuzzy dice crap. Never will be. And I'm sorry you guys don't like my car's appearance with the scoops but I can live that! lol
As for the cars of today, you're kidding right!? Imagine what they COULD be. They're designed to run on *shoot* fuel. Do you really believe all this pollution crap makes for a great motor? No, it's designed to tolerate it and tolerate crap fuel.
Think about what we COULD have. We're compromising because we don't know any better anymore. Cars today are needlessly complicated and 10 times more expensive than they have to be.
It's a known fact if we did away with all the needless crap under the hood we would and could have cars that got 100+mpg(not exaggerating either), walked all over today's car's performance wise and cost a fraction of them. We're forced into submission by threat of prosecution! Comparatively speaking we were WAY further ahead then than we are now.
This is EXACTLY why CAT got out of class 8 trucks too. They couldn't pay the fines anymore for saying "no, we can build a far superior motor if you butt out let us do what we do best."
Why do you think my 2002 6NZ is in such great demand to this day? After the bridge motors of 03/04 motors were junk. Literally. That's why. And they still are! Why is that? We all know why.
The same scenario happened and is happening with cars that happened with class 8 trucks. Just with more subtlety and less force feeding. The Trucking industry wasn't so fortunate in that respect.
Sorry. I feel like I just told my grandkids Santa isn't real. Not my intentions when I signed up. As long as you're happy with your cars and feel they are as technologically advanced as they could and should be, who am I to pee in your oatmeal.
Personally I'd take a car from 60s or 70s over anything today.

[crash93ssei]

Don't get us wrong, just because a few of us don't care for the scoops on the hood doesn't mean you aren't welcome here so please don't feel that way, not saying you were but just want to throw that out there. Just remember that these are Bonnevilles and just about every one of us is used to getting some ridicule at some point for loving our granny mobiles

As for 100 mpg, that I doubt. Lighten up our heavy pig cars and rework the engines and I could see 50ish mpg but just don't see 100 with any sort of performance numbers to go with it, gasoline only has so much potential energy.

I'm pretty upset about the whole Santa isn't real thing, this is the first I've heard of that.

[jradke61]

It doesn't bother me in the least you guys don't like the scoops. I'm not insecure that way. But I also wasn't sold on them myself when I got them. That's why I didn't put them on right away after taking the time to paint them. I'm one that likes stock normally. Not into anything bling or that doesn't belong. Especially when it comes to my ride(s). If you saw it up close in person tho, they really look stock and I like what they do for the car. Together with the wheels they give it just a touch of old school sport that works. Maybe it's the black that makes it work too. Especially the chrome wheels and them being the only chrome on the car. It just works on this car. If it didn't they'd be gone.

As for the rest of this discussion, I'm not talking stripping down the weight for better performance or anything that simple and the 100+mpg is/was conservative as it was put to me by a technical guru I happen to know and we were talking big trucks. My first reaction was the same as yours but after listening to him and comprehending what he was saying, it's definitely reality. Or should be. I wish I could put it to you the way he did me but I can't. As it is I can't expect anyone here to understand except to say it involves the very basics of internal combustion engines.
In any case, this has gone way beyond what I intended, it's getting late, and my head hurts.

[BBamm]

I'm pretty upset about the whole Santa isn't real thing, this is the first I've heard of that.

Wait... what?!?!?! He isn't?????

[CMNTMXR57]

Pontiac isn't coming back any time soon guys. Time to build that bridge and get over it.

GM makes lots of other great cars too. Ones that don't wear an arrowhead.

Get over what?
As for great cars, you're delusional. There's no such thing today. GM or otherwise. But we learn to compromise with the ones that are less junk than the rest and yes, that would be GM of course.
Justice to clarify tho, Pontiac wasn't the only GM that made a great car back then. They just happen to be the only maker that called it quits altogether is all. And probably for good reason. Like CAT getting out of the class 8 truck business when the EPA forced them to produce junk and warranty work was killing them.
Better to throw-in the towel than be forced to Comply to producing junk just because the government says you have to.

Get over your bridge that Pontiac is GONE! It sucks! I too have had many over there years including a 1966 Catalina that was bought NEW by my family, then served as my first car when I was 16. It's still sitting in the garage... We've had SD Formula's, 455 Trans Am's, Grand Prix's, Bonneville's, etc... I've been down the same nostalgia trip too and waxed poetic about "Real Pontiac's". But now you're waxing nostalgia over a late model Pontiac that really was a wrong wheel driven, GM corporate cookie cutter platform, with an engine sourced from GM Powertrain originally designed for Cadillac's! There has NEVER been a vehicle that hasn't had compromises. Even the great ones of the day. This Bonneville has PLENTY of compromises. One of them is a size 10 engine transversely mounted in a size 5 FWD platform! That is not to take away from the positive qualities of the car either. It's a nice car. Solid. Efficient. Comfortable. Safe. I loved/hated mine but overall it was a *dang* good car. But not one that I will rehash in 20 years at a car show with a bunch of other old fogey's like myself. At any rate... The brand is gone!

As to NO "great" cars out there? I beg to differ. The Holden connection, while the spigot is on, has given us some pretty *dang* fine cars. Cars that are more inline with the great Pontiac's of the day. Big, powerful, V8's (with a manual transmission as an option on some), funneling it's power to the rear wheels as God intended. What about Corvette's? That new ZO6 is pretty much a race car with street tags! Then there is Cadillac's V-Series. You know, the performance sedans that are kicking the German's teeth in ON their turf nonetheless... I more than happy to deal with minor "compromises" to put a new CTS-V in my garage. Oh woe is me...