You don’t have to know anything about a ’58 Bonneville Convertible to appreciate it. It is a car that could only have come from America; it was 211 inches and 4,040 pounds of steel and chrome, and it had all of the hot engine options you could ever want. In its first year of having its own line of cars, Bonneville was among the hottest cars in the red-hot GM lineup, and a Tri-Power Bonneville Convertible paced the 1958 Indianapolis 500. It was an expensive and exclusive car, though—both price and production were comparable to Corvette—and only 3,096 convertibles sold that first year.

Beyond the styling, Pontiac was a high-performance engine company with its own unique offerings. The 370-cubic inch V-8 was overbuilt, dependable and supremely powerful, especially with the Tri-Power/Hydra-Matic transmission combination, which yielded 300 horsepower, thanks to 10.5:1 compression and a high-lift cam, such as with this particular car. This Bonneville has power steering and brakes to assist the ease of operation.

This outstanding example has received a complete body, frame-off restoration, with all of the work documented and these records will come with the Pontiac; it has been driven only 1,158 miles since the completion of this work. Among the many outstanding and desirable features found on the car, perhaps none is more preferred than the factory shell-back bucket seats, reported to be a quite rare find on this model.

The Persian Black paint is beautiful and the convertible top is power-operated and covered by a black boot when retracted. Among the distinctive styling elements are dual headlights, honeycomb grille, distinctive brightwork, Continental kit and dual mirrors. Additional equipment includes a deluxe steering wheel, special upholstery, radio with rear speaker, factory wheel covers and whitewall tires. This steel-muscled road machine set a pattern of dynamic luxury for those who like their motoring rare and exciting.