Pontiac does not build many cars like the Pontiac Safari: a 3-door station wagon (1955–1957) / 5-door station wagon (1958–1989) with 287 cid Strato Streak V8, built from 1955 to 1989 at the height of the post-war boom.
The story
The Pontiac Safari is a line of station wagons that was produced by Pontiac from 1955 to 1989. Initially introduced as the Pontiac counterpart of the two-door Chevrolet Nomad, the division adopted the nameplate across its full-size wagon range in 1957. Through its production, the Safari was positioned between Chevrolet full-size station wagons and below its Buick and Oldsmobile counterparts. During the mid-1960s, the Safari added simulated woodgrain trim to the exterior, becoming a feature associated with the model line.
The name "safari" is derived from the Swahili word safari, which means journey, originally from the Arabic سفر (safar) meaning a journey; the verb for "to travel" in Swahili is kusafiri. As General Motors expanded into the intermediate, compact, and subcompact segments, the Safari nameplate saw a similar usage as the Estate (Buick, Chevrolet) and Cruiser (Oldsmobile) nameplates, denoting the highest-trim station wagon in each model range. After 1989, Pontiac became the first GM division to discontinue its full-size wagons; along with model overlap between its divisional counterparts, demand for full-size wagons had been overtaken by minivans. For 1990, the Pontiac Trans Sport was introduced as the first Pontiac minivan. After 1991, Pontiac ended its use of the Safari nameplate (and production of station wagons) entirely; the GMC Safari continued through the 2005 model year.
What is underneath
Under the skin sits 287 cid Strato Streak V8; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. Kerb weight is 3746 lb. The gearbox is a 3-speed manual / 3-speed Strato-Flight Hydra-Matic. The wheelbase is 122 in. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Its place in the line
Where it sits in Pontiac's history is not in doubt: the Chevrolet Astro/GMC Safari / Pontiac Trans Sport followed it. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, the Fiat 500. Nearby in the Pontiac catalogue sit the Pontiac 2+2 and the Pontiac 6.
The money
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Pontiac Safari has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.