The Pontiac Bonneville Special is a purpose-built concept car unveiled at the General Motors Motorama in 1954, the first 2-seater sports car Pontiac ever produced. Designed by renowned designer Harley J. Earl and hand built by Homer C. LaGassey Jr. and Paul Gilland, the "Special" is an experimental car, a two door, grand touring sport coupé that incorporated innovative breakthrough styling like an all-plexi canopy with gull-wing panels on a sleek fiberglass body. The name "Bonneville" was inspired by a trip by Earl to Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah while observing speed trials there. It was in fact the first car at GM to have been named after it, and would become Pontiac's top end performance platform for 47 years.
Two "Special" prototypes, one painted metallic bronze and one emerald green, were built with the intention of unveiling them simultaneously at the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf in New York and the Pan Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles in 1954.
Read more about Pontiac Bonneville Special: Power Plant, 2008
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