buy 1969 bonneville 455 th400 wagon and restore? thoughts?

elderly neighbor has 1969 bonneville wagon, i think large engine, bought 1971, rarely driven since, usually in concrete driveway. car was briefly stolen 3 years ago, some trim and muffler taken, now she can't find keys, surface rust minimal.thoughts as to value in midwest, finding trim? etc. Had been started in drive regularly for many years. Looks ok but oxidized from distance, Thoughts? comments? I think this is a frame car that might make a good tow car for a trailered GTO or similar.

It is a frame car but I'm not sure about its tow capacity. Pictures would help a lot, but there were several engine choices; not all were big blocked.

Hard to believe a 6 cylinder would pull that thing around.

Lemme know if you pass on it.

Dan

From NADA:

Option note: Only select engines/options below that are in addition to standard equipment and equipment noted in the manufacturer or year notes shown above. Model names may show standard engine sizes in parenthesis such as "2 Door Sedan (440)"

Tempest Sprint Package

The standard engine in a '69 Bonneville was a 428 cubic inch motor rated at 360hp. Front disk brakes were still an option that year but I wouldn't be surprised to find them on a Bonneville wagon. You can always retrofit them if this car doesn't have disks. They were big, strong cars with plenty of power, and it would make a fine tow car.

There's not a lot of reproduction stuff out there for full size Pontiacs but a couple sources are

Performance Years Pontiac: http://performanceyears.com/

Ames Performance: http://www.amesperf.com/

California Pontiac Restoration (CPR): http://www.pontiacparts.net/

For used parts try

Steve Barcak at Pontiac Heaven in Arizona, he has a huge all Pontiac salvage yard: http://www.pontiacheaven.org/

Also Steve Snyder at Indiana Pontiacs: http://www.indianapontiacs.com/

Finally, if you buy it the Pontiac owner's club is a good resource: http://www.poci.org/

well I did make 1 mistake. It is a 1970 and she says it is definitely a 455, the blue books don't show that in a 1969 but do in a 70. The scary thought is trim cost and rust, as I priced brakes, cooling, suspension, etc. and all seems reasonable except the American car curse of having multiple parts sources i.e. do you have the "deep hole" m/c or the anodized shallow hole, etc. Still thinking, thought was get mechanically good but not a full resto as I would lose $ on that, I think.

Darth Vader it and hit the highway !

Hey,

Go with it! I loved the '66 Catalina 2+2 I had! Of course it only had the small 421 H.O. motor but it still sucked a lot of gas through the Tri-Power carb setup. Maybe the 3.91 gears was part of that issue, but the wagon should suck up a bunch too.

We love our old Edsel wagon and these cars are going up in value quickly, as people rediscover them. If that car is in decent shape it is a good investment.