By the mid-1950s, Pontiac sales were showing a decline as the brand became synonymous with geriatric buyers. Something had to be done quickly if the division was to be saved, so in an effort to resurrect the division, GM appointed Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen as general manager of Pontiac in 1956. Knudsen felt the turnaround would be in appealing to the youth market and, to do that, a car company had to exude style and deliver performance. One of the first orders of business was to remove the Silver Streaks from the hoods, as Knudsen said, “they looked like suspenders.” So, those disappeared for the 1957 model year. Knudsen also strongly felt the company needed a halo car, something that conveyed performance, luxury, sophistication and exclusivity—a car that offered buyers an ocean of amenities as standard and a powerful, ultramodern engine that delivered fine performance. The Bonneville was born, taking its name from two 1954 GM Motorama concept cars called the Bonneville Specials, which were named for the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. Only 630 Bonnevilles were built for 1957, one for each dealership in the U.S. at the time. Under the hood was the Pontiac 347/310 HP V-8 engine with a Rochester fuel-injection unit specially engineered by Zora Arkus-Duntov and Harold Barr, and that engine was backed by a Strato-Flight Hydra-Matic automatic transmission. The special engine could propel the Bonneville convertible from 0-60 MPH in about 8 seconds, which was very quick for the time. The Bonneville was equipped with power steering, power brakes, a power convertible top, a power antenna, an eight-way power seat, a Wonderbar signal-seeking radio, deluxe carpeting and much more, and only two options were available: a Continental kit and air conditioning. The sticker price of nearly $6,000 reflected the equipment roster and sustained the exclusive nature of the new Bonneville. Of the 630 built, all but 12 were painted Kenya Ivory with either red or blue trim. This 1957 Pontiac Bonneville Convertible features the red trim and the optional air conditioning, and it rolls on wide whitewall tires with full-size polished wheel covers. It’s been argued that the 1957 Bonneville is one of the most important Pontiacs to have ever been built, turning the division around and giving the brand a whole new image to build from. Thanks largely to the Bonneville, Pontiac became the unofficial performance division of General Motors and sales continued to climb through the 1960s, becoming the No. 3 sales leader behind Chevrolet and Ford.