1980 Pontiac Bonneville Safari

1980 Pontiac Bonneville Safari - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle... (craigslist.org)

 

Interesting that it has Snowflake wheels, those were only made in 5X4.75", and 4X4"versions. Usually Pontiac Wagons had 5X5" wheel bolt patterns.

It has a Buick 350 powering it, I bet it originally had a Pontiac 301 for Power.

 

Had to order the heavy duty towing or handling package to get the 5 on 5" wheels, at least after 1979.

 

I was under the impression all box wagons had the 5x5 bolt pattern........ My '81 did, and I don't think it had a towing package.

 

Honestly... it's hard to tell. The literature from this year didn't specify all of the exclusions like it did in earlier years. You could get the "cast aluminum" wheels (snowflakes) on wagons and sedans alike per the literature, but we are fairly certain that they never made 5x5 snowflakes (none have ever surfaced to my knowledge). There were multiple trailer packages these years too, light and medium or "heavy" according to the literature. I have no idea what they included or didn't include either.

I thought all wagons got 5x5 bolt patterns too, but along come cars like this one that are likely to be 5x4.75 and the occasional base Catalina wagon I saw in a salvage yard in SoCal once that had 5x4.75 as well. Without the PHS or better yet, a build sheet, it's not going to be easy to know for 100% certain. People on forums have gotten very upset with me over trying to discuss these things, so I guess it's best to just say "dunno" ;-)

 

Well, with this evidence, we can make the conclusion that:
A. The 'snowflake' alloy wheels WERE offered in a 5x5 wheel bolt pattern, OR......
B. SOME box wagons came off the line with the 5x4.75 wheel bolt pattern

Probably more likely it's 'B', rather than 'A'.
I remember my buddy Mike (81X11 here) saying that when his dad ordered a '78 (or was it a '79...?) Bonneville Safari, and wanted to specify the Snowflake wheels, he was told he couldn't get them. His also had the 403 under the hood......

 

All my full sized wagons had the 5x5 rims. My 80 bonneville 2 door has 4.75.

 

All wagons had 5x5 that I know of. I have a buddy that had a 1980 Pontiac wagon with snowflakes. He said they were 5x5. So the answer is yes they made them...but I think they were only offered for a couple years making them extremely rare. They also made aluminum snowflakes for the Astra in 13 in 4 bolt...even more rare...never seen one in person just photos.

 

I own a set of the little Snowflakes, they are mounted on my 78 Sunbird wagon.

I am not saying they did not make 5X5 snowflakes, but I have never seen or heard of a set. But it is possible that Western Wheel sold them in that size in the 1980's. They did sell an almost identical wheel as an aftermarket wheel in the 1980's in different sizes. They may have made 5X5 versions.