[03marauderman]

Kind of a long story behind the history of this car...This car was acquired from an estate in Long Island NY, as a one owner garage kept car back around 1987. It was taken to a car show & offered For Sale...The gentleman who bought it did not really have a place to keep it, so he rented a garage for about 2 years...Then it went to another garage where it didn't entirely fit & the rear stuck out about 2-3 feet. Then it was moved, to be parked on a street in Queens NY, there it suffered some dings & dents...Finally it was moved to a tiny back yard & sat there at first covered with a car cover, & later with no cover for the next 20 or so years....The car was never for sale....I learned of it through a friend & expressed interest...about a year later the owner finally decided to let it go....I purchased it in 2011, its been in my garage ever since.. My love for 61 Bonneville's started when I was 11 yrs old when my father bought a new Bristol Blue 2dr. HT. This Mayan Gold car is basically original. It had some body work to the R/R quar at some time probably when it was rather new...(nitro stan evidence). The only thing I can see that was replaced was the radiator & the hoses, belts & maintenance items of course. The frame is solid, as with the passenger comp. floor pans. The trunk floor & inner rear body panel is history..as with the quarters & rockers...It would be a good candidate for a rear clip...In case some one just happens to have one....Despite it being so rusted, its basically unmolested with original paint...It never got plastered up like so many cars did...I have since accumulated parts & soon will start tinkering.....

[Stuart]

Interesting car, too bad it was exposed to the elements for so long. Mayan Gold is unusual, I don't think I've actually seen one painted that color.

[03marauderman]

I have to consider myself fortunate, as many people tried to buy that car over the years...Despite the damage that was being done by the elements, I can understand why its hard to let go...Another good thing is the engine is not locked up. I was able to turn it over with a breaker bar on the crank shaft. The interior is decent as it was completely filled with boxes thus the sun could not get through to the vinyl

[Stuart]

My car has the fawn interior as well, although my seats are cloth instead of vinyl.

[2manyT/A'S]

I much prefer working on cars that amateurs haven't messed with....

How about engine pics?

[real61ss]

Originally Posted by Stuart

My car has the fawn interior as well, although my seats are cloth instead of vinyl.

Stuart,
I don't think I have ever seen a 61 Bonneville with cloth interior. Is that original?

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by real61ss

Stuart,
I don't think I have ever seen a 61 Bonneville with cloth interior. Is that original?

Yup, they're still original. This isn't the best picture but it's the first one I could find:



I also used to have a '61 Bonneville four door hardtop that had cloth seats, that car had a red interior that was really nice.

[real61ss]

Learn something everyday! Thanks for sharing the photo. Looks great

[Steve Barcak]

Originally Posted by Stuart

Yup, they're still original. This isn't the best picture but it's the first one I could find:



I also used to have a '61 Bonneville four door hardtop that had cloth seats, that car had a red interior that was really nice.

If I remember correctly, the hts had cloth standard. The convs had their own with no cloth ( same differences with the Catalinas ) and the Safaris also had their own upholstery. They were different for durability reasons as the Safaris and drop tops would need to be more durable.
Not sure if it is the photo or not but, the dash color appears to have been changed.
In my collection, have a '61 Bonneville vista. It is one of the few 4drs I have been saving to go into my Pontiac Heaven museum. It is very dry and is Mayan gold with the same color int as shown in this thread. It has a/c, headlamp dimming and magic cruise.

[KiwiStarChief]

Great score! I really like that '61 Poncho shape with the bubbletop roof.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by Steve Barcak

If I remember correctly, the hts had cloth standard. The convs had their own with no cloth ( same differences with the Catalinas ) and the Safaris also had their own upholstery. They were different for durability reasons as the Safaris and drop tops would need to be more durable.

Bonneville were cloth with vinyl inserts standard, with vinyl (Morrokide) optional (although I don't know if there was actually a price difference.)
Bonneville convertibles had leather upholstery with vinyl inserts, Catalina convertibles were all vinyl.
Venturas were all vinyl.
Catalinas were cloth with vinyl inserts. There were a couple slightly different cloth patterns, I think it depended on which assembly plant built the car.
Safaris were all vinyl in their own style, more utilitarian with less decorative molded patterns.
The dash in my car is the original fawn color with a mahogany pad, the flash of the camera may have affected how it looks.