2005 is last year for Bonneville!

[kpn]

This year marks the last year for GM to make the Bonneville. Sales have only hit around 30,000 this past year, down from over 100,000 in the early 90's. GM will quietly end production at the end of this model year.

Keith

[peeved_jeeves]

Yep, that figures...

[84fiero123]

to bad the last of the big boats, had one when i was a kid 65 i think now that was a dam ark. even had 8 lug nuts on each wheel, reverb in the radio. great party car.

[FierceGT]

well what did you expect.....GM tried to make it more like the Gran Prix and still charged more for it. Which one would you buy? It's no coincidence they sold more bonnevilles in the early 90's than now....they were more unique. With sales of their most luxurious cars dwindling and the near identical gran prix booming....why not cut it? GM seems to only care about 2 things.....one is the Corvette, the other is Cadillac....anything that stands in the way is removed.

[tekwyzrd]

I think GM uses low demand as an excuse to end production and sometimes restyles vehicles to intentionally decrease demand. If production numbers were a true reason for discontinuation of vehicles, the SSR would never have been produced. When it was put into production projections were for 20,000 vehicles per year.
Too many of GM's new vehicles are clones of other manufacturers designs. The Buick LaCross looks like a Hyundai Sonata. The new Corvette's front end looks like a Viper. The HHR clone of the PT Cruiser. Look at a new GM model and chances are you'll find Hyundai, Toyota, or Chrysler are producing something almost identical to it.
The Bonneville didn't fit into the clone and produce attitude that seems to have taken over at GM.
Besides, the Grand Prix, GTO, and G6 are almost identical.

[Jrs3800]

It'll be a shame to see the old bonneviles end production...

I think in the late 80's 87-89 then in the early to mid 90's the bonnevilles were a large sporty type family sedan that just looked like you didn't have to have a family... Some had the F41 Handling suspension, and all kinds of options could be had with them.. And the Bonneville from 87-99 just stood out from the crowd... Now days they look like everything else, and cost too much...

In 91 If memory serves they made 50,000 bonneville's... Most of them were LE's as they were to end production in the summer of 91 and start on the 92 models... There were only 5000+ 91 SE's made, and fewer SSE's.. The rest were LE's..

I have seen many of these 90-91 LE's here in te central florida area.. Its amazing how many are still left.. People just refuse to let them go.. Thats ok tho as I refuse to let mine go too..

As for my 95 SE, GM made 80,000+ almost 90,000 in reality, bonneville that year... From what I was told when I bought the car the original price was $22,000.. Bucket seats, center console, power ports, alloys, illuminated entry, power mirrors, rear defrost and the like... Hmmm, a 3600 Lb car with 205 HP that was rated for 29 mpg on the road... Could hold 5 or 6 easily depending on the configuration, rode good even with the soft suspension, Buicks were just too soft for me...

Its easy to see why GM sold so many from 87-95 or 96...

My cousin still has her 95 bonneville as well.... My uncle still has his 88LE.. My aunt has had a 95, 98 and still has her 2001... She wishes to this day that she would have kept the 98, says its ride quality and handling was better... Her SE is pretty well loaded, and I think it was 28,000 or so... Its no wonder people are buying Grand Ams and Grand Prix's... The bonnevilles just cost too much... Its not a Caddiliac for petes sake..

I Like the GXP bonneville, But I'd rather have an SSEi any day...

And for Olds... Its just a shame... I liked olds far more than I have ever liked buick... I was partial to the other H body from Olds the LSS in NA'd and SC'd format... Loved the interior..

Oh well I guess thats the end of my tired ramble fest...

[markwb]

Nice little write up on the Bonnevilles, Jrs 3800. I sort of wish I had held on to my 97 SE (with the SLE option group), that was a great car, miss dearly.