Did I just say in yesterday’s W123 post that the forthcoming sightings will have more visible pavement shots instead of all-encompassing ice covering everything in plain sight? Why yes, yes I did. That means this ’89 Bonneville was captured a little while ago, before those well-welcome sunrays gradually punctured and melted down most of the slippery surfaces in my town.

But it’s too good a sighting to let pass, so here it stands – all pointy edges and triangular wheels.

The Picard-endorsed Bonneville isn’t too common a car over here, but like this example, they were brought here new. Back then there was a wider palette of US saloons available over here, and a certain number of Bonnevilles found a buyer here. In 1989, a brand-new Bonneville SE cost you a tick under 300 000 FIM and a SSE was 348k; that is 74 700 EUR and 86 700 EUR respectively, in today’s money. Not a cheap car, but those prices matched the ’89 W124 Mercedes-Benz 230E and 260E.

By the way, since I now have a nice amount of old Finnish car magazines lying around, they might even come in handy for price references.

I rate the wheels on the Bonneville the best bit on it.

A naturally-aspirated 165-hp 3800 V6 made the Bonneville surely a swift performer, especially to the rather more glacial aforementioned W124 230E, but a review from back then did chastise the handling department.

Actually, the side profile reminds me of the Fiero Formula the most. Must be the thin C-pillar’s position to the rear wheel.

And you know, it doesn’t even look that different to the Accord wagon behind it. Sharp is back in vogue.

Like the Taurus posted a while ago, the radical-when-introduced and nowadays rather everyday Bonneville does stand out on a Finnish street. I’m sure a large amount of them have faced the crusher by now, but over here they do have enough curio value to remain in light.

 

[Images: Copyright 2012 Hooniverse/Antti Kautonen]