Advertising:
1979 Safari Wagon, Beautiful Unrestored Survivor, Tow Your Gto Or Trans Am! Az. on 2040-cars
Year:1979
Mileage:20325
Location:
Payson, Arizona, United States
|
Swell
On Mar-14-14 at 20:50:36 PDT, seller added the following information: This classic 1979 Pontiac Catalina Safari Station Wagon is an original, unrestored, survivor in amazing condition. It came from the estate of a retired small town school teacher who always took great pride in her wagon and it shows. The car was always garaged, carefully maintained, and just babied its whole life. I really like wagons and bought the car with the intention of keeping it forever but circumstances have come up which force me to sell my Safari wagon. The Pontiac still wears its original paint (code 77 "Carmine" red) which gives the car a very classy appearance. You should note that the correct color can be seen in the photos that were taken in the sunlight. After about 5 minutes, the clouds moved in and the photos make the car look almost maroon! The wagon has the optional "Bonneville" deluxe interior in "Camel Tan" just like the car in the dealer brochure. Again, the photos show a range of colors for the interior depending on the lighting and whether the flash went off but the correct color is like the rear seat photo or the brochure picture. With the walnut accents on the dash and door panels, the interior is beautiful and with the Carmine exterior, this is a very striking wagon and I get compliments on it whenever I take it out. This Safari wagon is well equipped with the optional 350 4bbl engine, air conditioning, tilt wheel, deluxe interior and wheel covers, cruise control, AM/FM stereo radio, power steering and brakes, power door locks, third seat, luggage rack with air deflector, controlled cycle wipers and so on. As mentioned earlier, the Pontiac came out of the estate of a retired school teacher. The odometer shows 20,325 miles and at first you might expect that, given it is a 35 year old car, it must be 120,325 miles. But she sure does not look or run that way. The interior and brake and gas pedals show no wear as can be seen in the photos. If you look down the oil fill hole in the valve cover, there is NO deposits of any kind...it looks shiny new. The front end is tight and the transmission shifts as it should. The engine is quiet, strong, and uses no oil. The wagon still has its original Guide headlights, Lof glass, Goodyear spare tire, and plug wires. Finally, the title is a box "A", actual mileage title. I have been in the car hobby all my life (I am now 61) and I feel, as does my mechanic, that the mileage is correct but without being able to talk with the original owner, it is just our opinion. The Pontiac has always been maintained and has received a recent tune up, new belts and hoses, water pump and thermostat, and so on. I just came back from an 800 plus mile trip and the car performed flawlessly. I would not be afraid to drive it anywhere. The Safari is in great shape but there are a few flaws. Mechanically, all the major accessories work fine. The air conditioning blows ice cold and the heater/defroster work as they should. The wipers, lights, turn signals, radio, etc all work correctly. The cruise control is not currently working. My understanding is that the box was bypassed because one of the cables broke but it will work if it is hooked back up again. I never use cruise so I never fixed it. Cosmetically, the wagon is exceptionally nice but being an unrestored car, there are some flaws as you would expect. The original lacquer paint still shines nice and looks good but there is the normal checking on the top surfaces as occurs with old lacquer paint. There is also the typical bird and sap stains in the paint as well. There are some miscellaneous dings, chips, and scratches with the worst being on the passenger rear quarter behind the rear wheel. There is a scratch about 10 inches long that has been touched in and a crease about 6 inches long down low. Most of the dings are "soft" and could be removed by a paintless dent person. I just never found the time to do so. Finally, the original owner had a CB radio antenna mounted on the top of the drivers side front fender and that 3/8" hole has been plugged with a painted plastic plug. Since I have always been a believer in the saying "a car is only original once", I have avoided doing any paint work. Besides, as you can see from the photos, the flaws are minor and the car looks great! There is no rust on the wagon, including in the spare tire well. The undercarriage looks very nice with only minor surface oxidation in areas (see photo). The Safari gets compliments all the time and will be appreciated by those who like an unrestored car. I have always liked Pontiacs and have owned several GTO's, Trans Ams, and Firebirds over the years. I originally thought of putting a set of Rally II wheels on the wagon (they were an available option) to give it a more "muscular" look but being a purist, I decided to leave the car as it came from the factory. Besides, the deluxe wheelcovers on the car are in very nice condition and they are attractive as well! The Safari wagon is much rarer than the Ford wagons and it seems like you see fewer of them than you do the Chevy, Buick, and Olds wagons as well. The early station wagons have become very collectable in recent years and unrestored examples in this condition are a good investment for not a lot of money. Wagons tend to bring back happy family memories of picnics and summer vacations to many people who remember the days before cookie cutter minivans and SUV's. This Safari seems to bring smiles to all who see it and I hope the new owner carries on the pride of ownership that this car has enjoyed it's whole life. It deserves to be preserved. The Pontiac is located in Payson, Arizona, (85541) which is about 75 miles northeast of metro Phoenix. I will assist in any way I can in getting the car delivered to you. Please note that although I currently do not have the car advertised locally, I do reserve the right to end the auction early if bidding seems sluggish so please do not wait until the last minute to bid to avoid the disappointment of finding the auction closed. It should also be noted that, although I have done my best to accurately describe the car, it is, of course, sold as is without any warranty. Please feel free to email or call me (928-468-7060) with any questions you may have. I can usually be reached most afternoons and evenings. Thanks for looking! |
Pontiac Catalina for Sale
1962 pontiac convertable
1967 catalina 4drsdn project/parts car
1953 pontiac chieftain base 4.4l
1964 pontiac catalina base 6.4l
1971 pontiac catalina police enforcer the real deal
1966 pontiac catalina 2 door hard-top barn findAuto Services in Arizona
Yates Buick GMC ★★★★★
Auto Repair & Service, New Car Dealers, Used Car Dealers
Address: 13845 W Test Dr, Sun-City
Phone: (623) 932-1818
X-Pert Automotive ★★★★★
Auto Repair & Service
Address: 16181 N Oracle Rd, Catalina
Phone: (520) 818-1780
Windshield Replacement & Auto Glass Repair Gilbert ★★★★★
Auto Repair & Service, Windshield Repair, Glass-Broken
Address: 1249 E Boston Street, Gilbert
Phone: (480) 745-2406
Tunex Mesa ★★★★★
Auto Repair & Service, Automotive Tune Up Service, Financing Services
Address: 2855 S Alma School Rd, Guadalupe
Phone: (480) 897-1010
Sun City Auto Service ★★★★★
Auto Repair & Service, Automobile Parts & Supplies, Auto Oil & Lube
Address: 10014 W Santa Fe Dr, Luke-Afb
Phone: (602) 253-2553
Sierra Toyota ★★★★★
Auto Repair & Service, New Car Dealers, Used Car Dealers
Address: 2596 E Fry Blvd, Huachuca-City
Phone: (520) 458-8880
Auto blog
GM recalling 778,000 Cobalts and G5s, six deaths reported
Thu, 13 Feb 2014General Motors has announced that it will be recalling 778,562 compact cars after six people were killed in accidents, partially due to the airbags' failure to deploy. An issue with the ignition switch is causing the airbag issues, as well as causing the engine and other components to shut off without warning. The recall covers the 2005 to 2007 model year Chevrolet Cobalt and 2007 Pontiac G5. (Note that the Cobalt pictured above is a 2009 model.)
According to a report from Automotive News, a number of factors can cause the ignition to switch out of the run position, including weights on the key ring, rough or bumpy roads or other "jarring" events. Any of these situations could lead to some vehicle components not functioning properly.
There have been five fatal front-impact crashes that took the lives of six people, although as a GM spokesman noted, all five of the crashes happened off road and at high speed. In each of these cases, though, the lack of airbags wasn't the only lethal factor - alcohol and failure to wear a seat belt also played a role. Outside of the fatal accidents, there have been 17 other crashes where airbags didn't deploy. It's unclear if any of these crashes were caused by the engine shutting off.
Junkyard Gem: 1968 Pontiac Catalina sedan
Wed, Aug 14 2019During the late 1960s, General Motors ruled the American car landscape, growing so dominant that the federal government considered antitrust action to break up the company. The General offered sporty Corvettes and muscular GTOs and rugged pickups and opulent Fleetwoods, sure, but the fat part of the sales numbers came from the bread-and-butter full-sized sedans and coupes, which boasted superior engineering and modern-looking styling; in 1967 alone, the Chevrolet Division moved 972,600 full-sized cars, and that's not even counting the 155,100 full-sized Chevy station wagons that year. Pontiac, Buick and Oldsmobile sold the same big cars with division-specific engines and bodywork, and they flew off the showroom floors. For 1968, the entry-level full-sized car from Pontiac was the Catalina, and I've found an example of the most affordable version of the most affordable big Pontiac for 1968, discarded in a northeastern Colorado wrecking yard about 50 miles south of Cheyenne, Wyoming. A '68 GM full-sized coupe, convertible, or even a four-door hardtop might be worth the cost and effort of a restoration, but a no-options base-trim-level post sedan with rust and plenty of body filler just won't get many takers these days. Like so many vehicles that sit outside for decades on the High Plains, this one is full of rodent nests. I wouldn't want to work on the interior of this car without a respirator and a lot of work with a shop-vac, because hantavirus is a significant danger in these parts. Alfred Sloan's plan to offer a stepladder of prestige for GM buyers, in which your first new car was a Chevrolet and you moved up through Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Buick until you became sufficiently prosperous for Cadillac ownership, worked brilliantly for decades. In 1968, the Catalina was a notch above its Impala sibling on the Snob-O-Meter, with the sedan starting at $3,004 (about $22,600 in 2019 dollars). In fact, the V8-equipped 1968 Chevrolet Impala sedan listed at $3,033, and the Oldsmobile Delmont 88 went for $3,146, so the lines were beginning to blur between the relative positions of the lower-end GM divisions by this time. The base engine in the 1968 Catalina was a 400-cubic-inch (6.5 liter) V8 rated at 265 horsepower and enough torque to tow an aircraft carrier.
Junkyard Gem: 1992 Pontiac Firebird
Mon, Dec 18 2023Last spring, this series featured a 1992 Chevrolet Camaro RS in a Northern California junkyard, an example of the final model year for the highly successful third-generation GM F-Body. On a later visit to that yard, I spotted the Pontiac sibling to that car, a Firebird that was born the same year at the same Southern California factory. When the Chevrolet Division introduced the first Camaro as a 1967 model, the Pontiac Division got its own version of the F-Body called the Firebird. While the two cars were built on the same chassis and looked very similar, the first-generation Camaros got Chevrolet engines while their Firebird colleagues got Pontiac engines (including the innovative SOHC straight-six). The 1970-1981 second-generation Firebirds still had some Pontiac-only engines, but Chevrolet and Oldsmobile power crept under some hoods during that period. The third-generation Firebirds first appeared as 1982 models, and they drew from near-identical stockpiles of GM running gear (including the distinctly agricultural Iron Duke four-banger, which could be considered a Pontiac-derived engine). When the Camaro got the axe after 2002, the Firebird's neck was put on the same chopping block. When the Camaro returned for 2010, the Pontiac brand was sputtering to an agonized halt during its final year and there was no chance of the Firebird's return. This car is a fairly ordinary coupe, though it does have the mid-grade 205-horsepower 5.0-liter Chevrolet small-block V8 instead of the base 140-horse 3.1-liter V6. A 5.7-liter small-block was available as well. A five-speed manual transmission was base equipment, but few Americans wanted a three-pedal setup by the early 1990s. This car has the optional four-speed automatic. The MSRP with 5.0 engine, automatic transmission and air conditioning (which this car has) started at $14,304. That's about $31,868 in 2023 dollars. It was built at Van Nuys Assembly in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles County. By the dawn of the 1990s, the Camaros and Firebirds made at Van Nuys Assembly had become known as the worst-built GM cars made in North America, and the plant was shut down forever soon after this car was built. Today, a shopping mall lives where the factory once stood. This car managed to drive more than 150,000 miles during its life, so it beat the odds. The thrid-gen F-Body was pretty antiquated by the early 1990s, but the fourth-gen cars handled better and looked up-to-date for the era.