The boxy GM B-body wagon might have been the last successful bastion of the full-size station wagon, complete with rear-facing seats. Yeah, there were bubble-bodied versions, but by the 1990s the sport-utility vehicle had etched the writing on the wall with a screwdriver. We celebrate the 1977-90 B-body as one of General Motors’ best products and we’ve seen the capabilities of what a Pontiac Safari station wagon can truly become in the hands of gearheads who can see past the whole woodgrain-paneled mom-mobile schtick and towards what can be a monster of a rig.
Stock, you can say that this car is super-clean for it’s age and that the interior should be comfortable. The 307 Olds engine isn’t going to light any fire, but that isn’t the point. That 307 should be ditched for just about any other option anyways. There’s plenty of suspension parts out there, including some of the new parts that QA1 showed off for GM B-bodies, so handling shouldn’t be an issue. Neither will be room…stuff as many people or as much cargo as you want in this wagon, it’ll take it.
Why are we focused on a blue-and-woodgrain Pontiac? Blame the guys at Three Pedals and their hot-rodded Safari. Ever since they cut me loose behind the wheel, I’ve been dreaming about completely duplicating the build. Snotty LS, six-speed swap, instrument cluster re-do with useful gauges, and we’d blatantly copy their faked wire hubcap wheel deal without a moment’s notice.
Or you can just roll a clean Poncho wagon. That’s cool too.
eBay Link: 1987 Pontiac Safari
Can anyone please tell me why American station wagons were always plastered with that hideous fake wood….
The wood appliqué was supposed to evoke in the observer fond memories of the days when American station wagons, once called depot hacks, were merely cut down saloons fitted with wooden bodies. The earliest American-style “woody” station wagons of song and story are direct predecessors of this Pontiac station wagon and themselves look like horse-drawn wooden wagons on sitting on horseless carriage frames. It took quite a few years before the majority of American manufacturers fashioned all-metal bodies for these cars. I suppose the memory of the old wood-bodied depot hacks was a powerful, long-lasting one for marketeers and Mouseketeers alike…
Thanks very much Ammocabby for your excellent answer to my question.
My only change to this if I were to do the LS Swap is a 6L80e auto with manual shift mode with a modern shifter on the column. Otherwise I’d throw the parts catalog at it and have me some fun. Maybe retrofit a dash from the newer Camaro?
Strange, but the 1987 Pontiac station wagon is not legal for NHRA Stock or Super Stock. However the 1987 Buick, Chevrolet & Oldsmobile wagons are.
Why is that? I did not know that.