Pontiac Safari

Safari was a name first applied to Pontiac's version of the 2-door Nomad station wagon. The body style, originally exhibited as a 1954 Chevrolet Corvette Motorama concept car, was shifted to Chevrolet and Pontiac full-size 1955 production vehicles because of the perceived greater sales potential.

After 1959, the name Safari was applied to Pontiac's full-size four-door station wagon vehicles in its Catalina, Executive and Bonneville ranges.

1955-1957 Safari

1955

The 1955 Safari was built using shared body components with Chevrolet's Nomad Station Wagon, which would also allow both divisions to share in the tooling costs for the special bodied wagons. The Safari was fitted with Pontiac's unique front-end bumper/grille assembly and sheet metal and rear tail light design, both created by Pontiac stylist Paul Gillan. Gillan received a United States patent for the bumper/grille design.

The Safari featured sport-coupe front doors, extra chrome adorning the tailgate and interior, and sliding rear-seat windows. Like the Nomad, the "B" pillar of the station wagon was raked forward, a flourish not shared with other GM two-door station wagons from that era.

Interior trim, upholstery and bright work were equal to Pontiac's top line Star Chief range of models, however the Safari was actually the only model in the Star Chief Custom (Series 27). Production of the 1955 Safari stood at a model year production of 3,760, making it the lowest production Pontiac for 1955.

1956

With its unique body style only a year old, Pontiac limited changes to the Safari to match those of the 1956 Star Chief. Again as in 1955, the Safari was the only model in the Star Chief Custom series (27). Sales of the Safari improved slightly for 1956, with 4,042 vehicles produced; still the lowest production Pontiac for 1956.

1957

For 1957, Pontiac applied the Safari nameplate to all of its station wagons in all of its product lines (Chieftain, Super Chief and Star Chief Custom).

While the high-trim unique 2-door body style was still available, Pontiac added a four-door high-trim version to the Star Chief Custom series mid-year which was named Safari Transcontinental. This half year series featured special exterior trim to set it apart from other Pontiac station wagons. Despite only being on the market for the last half of the 1957 model year, the Safari Transcontinental outsold the special-bodied two-door Safari 1,894 to 1,292.

At the end of its three year run, the specially bodied two-door sport wagon sold only 9,094 vehicles compared to the Chevrolet Nomad which sold 20,092 copies in its three year run.

1958-1989

General Motors discontinued its unique sport wagon body at the end of the 1957 model year, and hence forth, all full-size station wagon models produced by Pontiac would be named for their series, and as Safaris. While a two-door Safari was fielded in 1958 in Pontiac's Chieftain range, it shared its body with Chevrolet's price leader Delray station wagon. Both models came with few features and were popular with tradespeople and small businesses.

From 1959 onward, all Safaris would come with four doors.

Discontinuation of the Safari

In 1989 the Safari was discontinued due to the decreasing popularity of full-size station wagons. Pontiac wasn't alone in this decision. Chrysler produced its last full-size station wagon in 1977. Ford discontinued its Country Squire and Mercury Colony Park wagons in 1991. The other GM wagons were the last to go with the Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser being discontinued after the 1992 model year, and finally the Chevrolet Caprice Wagon and the Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon were discontinued in 1996. The Safari name lived on with the GMC Safari minivan, which largely served the same demographic as the Pontiac Safari.

References

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* 1955-57 Pontiac Safari: An Expedition Into the Unknown, "Collectible Automobile Magazine", December 1992, pp.67-74.