1972 Pontiac Catalina Safari

Discussion in 'Station Wagon Auctions, Craigs List and Other Stat' started by jwdtenn, Jan 28, 2015.

  1. jwdtenn

    jwdtenn Well-Known Member

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  2. AK27

    AK27 Well-Known Member

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    Very nice looking Safari!
     
  3. jwdtenn

    jwdtenn Well-Known Member

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    It's a super straight looking, shiny and clean Pontiac!

    [​IMG]
     
  4. Fullsizelover

    Fullsizelover Active Member

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    That is a very nice and classy colour combination!
     
  5. elB

    elB Well-Known Member

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    Factory gauges with the seat belt light. Pretty rare right there...
     
  6. WagonKiller

    WagonKiller Well-Known Member

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    WOW!!!!!!!!! Me LIKE!
     
  7. cammerjeff

    cammerjeff Longroofs Rule!

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    I do like it, but it has some strange options, vinyl roof, delux seat belts, gauges, Pwr Tailgate, but no Pwr Windows or locks. It also probably has the base 400 2bbl as no mention is made of a 4bbl carb, And it always shocks be when I see brown carpet fade to green, it shouldn't as Ihave owned a couple of cars that had that happen.
    This car looks to have been stored with the 2nd seat raised, the 3rd seat lowered, and the cargo area in the sun. Either that or the main carpeting has been replaced. And I don't remember seeing that 70's optional White seats with that exterior/interior color combo before.
    All in all an interesting and Nice Safari. I will be interested in seeing what it sells for, if it makes the reserve of course.
     
  8. jaunty75

    jaunty75 Middling Member

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    A beautiful car, and, as always, two-tones make my heart flutter.

    This is only strange by today's standards, where we tend to think that if you're going to get one power option, might as well get them all. But back in those days, options like this were sold individually, not in packages, and people noticed how every box checked on the order form added a few more dollars to the bottom line, so they chose carefully.

    My recently-sold '73 Custom Cruiser was equipped just like this one. Power tailgate, but no power locks or windows. It did have power seats. No cruise, no tilt wheel. Standard A/C. Base AM radio. I bought it from the original owner's family, and they were a very frugal group, getting only what they needed.


    I'm also reminded of a family who were members of the Mid-Ohio Chapter of the Oldsmobile Club of America and who owned a '67 Vista Cruiser they had purchased new as a young family and had kept all these years. They loved to tell the story of how they were just starting out as young kids getting their first family car, and they agonized over every option. Their biggest regret was not springing for the remote-control driver's side mirror. It was like a $6 option back in 1967, and we might laugh today over the thought that we would spend more than 5 seconds thinking about whether or not to get this option, but back then, $6 was a lot of money, and they said they just had to draw the line somewhere.

    So, yes, we might wonder a bit today over the sometimes strange choices of options we see on cars from back then. But back then, this was real money.
     
  9. jaunty75

    jaunty75 Middling Member

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    I looked it up just now. On a '67 Olds Vista Cruiser, the remote-controlled outside rearview mirror, option D33, was $9.48.
     
  10. cammerjeff

    cammerjeff Longroofs Rule!

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    This is only strange by today's standards, where we tend to think that if you're going to get one power option, might as well get them all. But back in those days, options like this were sold individually, not in packages, and people noticed how every box checked on the order form added a few more dollars to the bottom line, so they chose carefully.
    [/QUOTE]

    I understand and agree with what you say, I should have said that in my opinion I find it oddly optioned. They spent money on things I would not, Like the Vinyl Roof, the 2 color Interior, and even the color matched seat belts (that alone was usually $7 or $8) I would have spent the $$$ on Power windows, maybee not locks. And as you say it was a family car so the odds of the driver being alone on most trips was slim, I remember being my fathers "power Windows and Locks" as a kid. Hard to saywhat was going thru the mind of the person ordering a car back then, or even today.
    People find out 2009 Pontiac G8GT as Strange, with its Cloth interior, no heated or cooled seats, and no Sunroof. But the racer and Mechanic in me come out sometimes, weight and complication are still a concern to me, you would think I was still 20 and street racing every weekend all summer!!!!
     
  11. jaunty75

    jaunty75 Middling Member

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    I don't have the info for Pontiac specifically, but here's the prices on various options for a '72 Custom Cruiser. I'm guessing the prices would have been similar for Pontiac.


    Power windows: $129. Note that getting this option required getting the remote driver's side mirror as well, and that cost $12. So to get power windows really cost $141.

    6-way power seat: $103

    Deluxe seat belts: $19

    Power door locks: $69

    Cargo area carpeting: $51

    Vinyl roof: $138

    Power tailgate: $41

    Rear window defogger: $62

    4-season air-conditioner, includes heavy-duty radiator: $431 (this is almost 10% of the base price of the car, which was $4700 for the 2-seater and $4830 for the 3-seater)

    Comfortron air-conditioner: $507 (more than 10% of the base price of either model)

    Anti-spin (posi) rear axle: $48

    Cruise control: $67

    Tilt wheel: $44

    Cornering lamps: $36

    Electric clock: $18

    Low-fuel indicator (dashboard light): $9

    AM/FM stereo radio, 4 speakers: $233

    AM/FM mono radio: $144

    base AM radio: $85

    AM radio with 8-track: $215

    AM/FM stereo with 8-track: $363

    Rooftop luggage carrier: $82

    "Convenience group" (lights in the glovebox and underhood, visor vanity mirror): $9.40

    Safety sentinel/trip odometer: $15



    In looking through this list, I'm struck by a few things.

    First, the power tailgate is cheap at $41 when you consider how convenient it was to have it. I'm suprised 99% of buyers didn't order this.

    Second, choose the "must have" options for any kind of a family who wanted a car like this for any kind of traveling. I say those are at least base air-conditioning, AM/FM radio, luggage rack, power tailgate, and cruise-control. Those options alone add $854, or 17.5% to the price of the 3-seat wagon and raises its list price to $5,688.

    Now add in even a modest number of other options that one might commonly get. I'll include power windows and locks, tilt wheel, rear defogger, trip odometer, posi rear axle, and convenience group. These options add another $388 to the list price for a total $6,076.

    Note that this car still does not include power seat, carpeting in the cargo area, clock, cornering lamps, low fuel indicator, or deluxe seat belts.

    So you walk into the dealer's showroom thinking about that Custom Cruiser you read about whose base price is $4,800, and you discover that, to get it the way you want it, it's really going to cost you over $6,000, more than 25% more than the base price. It's easy to see how a husband and wife, sitting in the salesman's office, see this number and then start talking about what they can do without to get the price down.

    The power door locks and windows may go first as they were definitely considered luxuries back then, and getting rid of both saves more than $200, not a trivial sum. Take away the tilt wheel, definitely a non-necessity, and you save another $41.


    The original buyer of the Pontiac wagon in this thread spent well over $100 on a vinyl roof. Seems like an odd choice given what he could have gotten in place of that for the same money. But It was important to him, so he got it. Add in the deluxe seat belts and cargo-area carpeting, and it's easy to see that this guy was interested in appearance.


    One could go on and on here, but the bottom line is that it's easy to see how wagons of this era might end up with what we might consider today to be odd combinations of options. People got what they needed and left out what they didn't.
     
  12. SwannyMotorsports

    SwannyMotorsports Well-Known Member

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    For Sale at his car lot for $11,995.00
     
  13. jaunty75

    jaunty75 Middling Member

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    Good luck to him. I see that his auction is up to $7500 with the reserve not met. That's not a bad price at all right there if it never went any higher.
     
  14. SwannyMotorsports

    SwannyMotorsports Well-Known Member

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    Bet it don't go higher..................unless they bid on it themselves
     
  15. azblackhemi

    azblackhemi Well-Known Member

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    I'm guessing it will break 10 grand. The pictures probably make it look a bit nicer than it really is but it sure looks good. For some reason (probably because they will finance) classic car dealers seem to get much higher bids than a private person. We will see.
     

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