Faults:

All original when purchased, so...

All 4 tires plus spare were dry-rotted at 25 years of age (can't blame them).

Starter died at 52,000 miles.

Alternator died 53,000 miles.

Joints holding hub caps on very brittle and would break during high speeds (65+mph) in combination with pot-holes/bumps on the road.

General Comments:

The suspension was great!

The interior was perfect red velour and shag carpet.

Large amount of trunk space.

The car is very tank-like. You can really handle anything the road throws at you in this car.

If you hit an ice patch, it glides like an elephant with ice-skates.

Faults:

Nothing, new condition.

General Comments:

Bought the car from my granddad who didn't believe in giving a car away, AUG. 2009.

The car was only driven 2K miles in the last 20 years. Never rained on, been under cover and inside all its life.

Black car, landau roof, red cloth, crank windows; loaded except crank windows; weird huh.

Only had tires (dry rot), belts, hoses, fluids changed from original.

Floats like a cloud, DON'T MAKE'EM LIKE THAT ANYMORE.

Faults:

Fuel pump leaked (but gave warning enough to get home).

ECM burned out: hard to find the right mechanic for this (well done Pyramid Services, Iowa City).

Transmission blew main front seal - cloud of smoke at speed.

General Comments:

It seemed to have a charmed life. Most of the time it ran on 4 pints oil instead of 5 (a mechanic had given a dipstick to the previous lady owner, the wrong dipstick). The longterm result was money wasted on noisy valves.

It had a special 'feedback' carb with a choke controlled by vacuum from a small steel pipe. A 1" length of 1/4" rubber hose connected the steel feedback pipe to a fitting at the rear of carb. It failed due to being old and worn, which meant the choke stuck closed in a truck station on a super-cold predawn drive across Iowa to INS hearings. A rescue Bob held the choke open with a hammer handle in order to start the car, but only later did I learn the significance of the 1" length of rubber pipe. The sticking choke caused gas to enter the sump over the rest of the drive to Council Bluffs, thinning the oil and causing ring damage: all avoided if I had replaced the tattered little rubber connecting hose. (A similar flood of diluted oil happened on a trip to Colorado but that was due to the ECM kicking in and out.)

From 2002 onward, the car had a 1979 Olds 350 engine, which was a guzzler but very stable on long drives to the west and back. I still really craved the large feeling the car had, and very smooth drive due to the long wheelbase and 'radially balanced suspension'. It was a 2-door with big windows to slide down. It felt rustic but with luxury and endured all kinds of weather, once being brought to a dead stop in a snow drift that hit the Iowa farmlands one night: no damage.

I also got a 1986 Pontiac Parisienne wagon with a 305 Chevy engine. Its layout paralleled the Bonnie but a lot of parts were lighter though of the same design (e.g. brake parts). It was fun learning from one car and applying that to the other (e.g. you could change a front shock in minutes by simply bending the upper rod from side-to-side with a tubular socket spanner until it snapped!). By the way, disconnection of the EGR valve meant the engine stopped running hot and was noticeably perkier.

The Bonneville was of stronger build and the better car for long distance.