well i posted a month ago about a 61 apache project i was going to do but it never made it home. I traded it to a guy at a gas station for a 650 trumph so i went looking agin and found a 55 safari. anyway my guestion: is it rare or would it be cool to hotrod it. I was unable to find a dozen pics of 55's on the net. im not looking to build a high $ show car so what do you guys think?
I'd say you've been looking in the right places. I would not hesitate to hotrod that.About as cool a wagon was ever built
well I don't know about anybody else and I'm sure you'll gets lots of variations, BUT they are pretty damn rare compared to the Nomad. How bout a 389 tri power and a 4 speed ??? They are a cool as hell car and look great as a period hot rod and personally better looking than the chevy ImO. Good luck with it
Hot Rod it!....for crying out loud, hot rod it! It's drop dead cool! Congratulations! You did REAL good!
They are longer wheel base than a chevy unless its a canadian model (just for the record)...........the diffrence in length is in the front,from the cowl back its the same size body as a chevy.
My buddy is a Pontiac freak. He has a 55 Safari. He says it is rare. He hot rodded it. Answer to your question?
thanks for the input. i have trashed some car in my life and regret it now. so I guess i will hotrod it. all i need is black and red paint and some fuzzy dice. i should have it done by the weekend. xxxlmark
I had a 56 and yeah, they're more rare than the chevy nomads. Of the 55-57 Pontiac Safaris, the 57s are the rarest with a little over 4000 built and 55s the most common. I've seen some beautiful Safaris. They look best with all the factory chrome and stainless, IMHO....dropped down and clean. Any 55-60 Pontiac V/8 engine is a bolt-up deal and the 59 and 60 Pontiacs all had 389 engines...famous for having great power and parts are still available for them.
I just swapped a 1960 389 into a 1957 Safari wagon.. It has been converted to 4 wheel disk brakes and a bunch of other cool stuff..There are pics of it on my website... Jason.
Doesn't much matter....any 55-56 American pontiac front end will bolt up and if he uses a 55, there's not even any chrome trim on the fenders to line up. The hard part to find is all in the photos except for the side trim on the 1/4s. A great start! Appears to be rust free too.
the only part i did not get was the light up plane for the hood and the AC compressor. thats the good part . the bad part is it has a dent.
^^^Damn thats a nice sized dent. hope that you can find a patch piece for that... hey we dont have any pics of the safari on the website.
That looks OK actually,a bit of time on the rack will see it pulled back into shape .I never realised the meaning of SOLID until i spent time under a neighbours 56 recently.
Wagons are just too cool not to make rods out of........4 doors are cool on wagons but not on sedans (my opinion) and a 2 door wagon is even better. I would build a 4 door wagon street rod any day over a 4 door sedan but would love a 2 door wagon project of almost any year/make.
55's are the coolest, and I agree with both of brandys comments. I have not seen any super radical safaris,but these look the best lowered, and mild dechroming.
Actually, your right in that 57 Safari's are the rarest, but your production numbers are a little off: Year Nomad Custom Safari (2 door) 1955 8,386 3,760 1956 7,886 4,042 1957 6,103 1,292 56 was the peak year; And less than 1300 of the 57 Safari's made!
Mark-- You can customize your Safari without diminishing the value very much. The last two Safari's I saw sold at auction (57's) were mild customs updated with latemodel drivetrain and modern paint jobs and they brought over $70,000 each... I've just lowered mine, added front discs, and shaved a few things. Paint and interior will be tastefully and mildly customized.. Thats just me though.
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