Bonnie was love at first sight. She was a white 1990 Pontiac Bonneville and I adored the feeling it gave me to slide into her soft cushiony seat and feel like I was driving a luxury on wheels. Beautiful interior wood finish, soft plush blue upholstery and a soft rumble while driving that reminded me that she was a slumbering beast, ready at the touch of the accelerator to propel me down the highway with an attitude like the gangster after whom she was named. Yes, it was love. But not my only love…
A few years later, when replacing one of our other cars, a new love entered my life. A 1994 gold, bronzed-body beauty named Clyde. Clyde was different than Bonnie. Although still a Pontiac Bonneville, Clyde had a lust for travel. He loved to take me on long trips, to Canada, Iowa, Florida, anywhere we could find open road and room to run. Bonnie understood. She was a town car, sophisticated and understated but classy. Clyde was born to run.
Owning such a stable of beauties should be more than enough luck for one lifetime. But several years later, Sundance joined our family. A fourth generation 1993 Bonneville, purchased new by my daughter’s great-grandfather, Sundance came from a long line of family, and lives with us still. Sedate in retirement, he owns his own shady spot in our driveway as long as he lives to enjoy the memories of a race of cars built for the middle class, putting luxury within reach. The Bonneville is no longer manufactured, but I will always treasure the feeling of solid stability, smooth handling, and tank-like safety it always had. I can only hope that GM uses what it learned from the Bonneville to continue to develop cars that fire our imagination and feed our passion for living out loud.