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Proper decorum suggests a few basic principles. Don’t tell your host that her dog-haired sofa is anything less than a companion piece to the appointments at Versailles. Don’t claim firstborn rights to Dad’s stock portfolio while he’s still investing in it.
And, by all means, if you’re trying to dance the family-type sedan waltz, don’t break into a burlesque. A little ribaldry goes a long way, and on Pontiac’s 2000 Bonneville SSEi, it distracts from what has grown into a capable, mature sports sedan.
The Bonneville SSEi is new for 2000, but still a big front-driver powered in all editions by a version of GM’s corporate 3800 V-6. Though it’s based on the same platform as the not at all tawdry Buick LeSabre, Pontiac says the Bonnie, especially in hot-to-trot SSEI form, is aimed mostly at guys beyond the family-hauling years, looking for an indulgence that’s not totally bereft of practicality.
SE, SLE and SSEi
2000 bonneville engine
Dr. Laura would definitely not approve of the Bonneville’s new set of sheet metal. It’s a brassy design, bristling with edges and strakes and self-referential bits. And yet, there’s something unfinished about the Bonneville’s appearance: Its smooth flanks and gentle door-panel contours contrast sharply with its overbearing nose and bullet foglamps, with the creases in its body skirts aft of the front wheels and the hokey strakes running aft of them. Even inside, generally smoother styling is interrupted by air vents that seem like outgrowths of the natural shape of the instrument panel. Admittedly, these filigrees are less pronounced than on, say, the Grand Am, but we’re seeing progress hampered by a knee-jerk dip into the Pontiac gene pool.
