The Bonneville name first appeared in 1954 on a pair of bubble-topped GM Motorama concept cars called the Bonneville Special, sharing an appearance with the Chevrolet Corvette.

It entered the production lineup as a high-performance, fuel-injected luxury convertible version of the Star Chief in 1957, and was loaded with every available option as standard equipment with the exception of air conditioning and a continental kit.
This put the Bonneville in a Cadillac-like price range of $5,782.00 - more than double the base price of the Chieftain on which it was built, with the result being a fully equipped Bonneville could cost more than a larger, entry-level Cadillac.
Only 630 units were produced that first year, making it one of the most collectible Pontiacs of all time.
The following year it became a separate model, and it would endure until 2005 as the division's top-of-the-line model.
The name was taken from the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, the site of much early auto racing and most of the world's land speed record runs, which was named in turn after U.S. Army officer Benjamin Bonneville.
The Bonneville name first appeared in 1954 on a pair of bubble-topped GM Motorama concept cars called the Bonneville Special, sharing an appearance with the Chevrolet Corvette.
It entered the production lineup as a high-performance, fuel-injected luxury convertible version of the Star Chief in 1957, and was loaded with every available option as standard equipment with the exception of air conditioning and a continental kit. This put the Bonneville in a Cadillac-like price range of $5,782.00 - more than double the base price of the Chieftain on which it was built, with the result being a fully equipped Bonneville could cost more than a larger, entry-level Cadillac. Only 630 units were produced that first year, making it one of the most collectible Pontiacs of all time. The following year it became a separate model, and it would endure until 2005 as the division's top-of-the-line model. The name was taken from the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, the site of much early auto racing and most of the world's land speed record runs, which was named in turn after U.S. Army officer Benjamin Bonneville.
Pontiac Bonneville