From 1955-57, Chevy had the famous Nomad and much has been written about it to the point of iconic status. But another General Motors product also had a version. The Pontiac Safari. It is relatively rare and rarely mentioned.

1955


1956



1957

For some reason this post went twice on the board.....can someone remove one for me?

As a Pontiac/GMC slesman I sold a GMC Safari onec and mentioned casually how I'd love to own a '50s Safari Pontiac and the guy just looked at me like I had three heads. But he was a baby boomer so I thought he'd get the referance.

An interesting note regarding the 1955 and 56 Pontiacs in general..for some reason they were almost identical...virtually no changes. The only thing changed from what I can see were the silver streaks on the hood and some chrome details on the side. It's curious in a time when vehicles changed annually that it was a carryover. The Chevy Bel Air had all new sheet metal in '56.

Also, the Pontiac Safari was longer than the Chevy Nomad (lengthened in the rear) and used real leather on the seats. So while sharing the roofline, the Pontiac is not just a '50s rebadge of the Chevy version. I like the '57 model the best, btw. And the Safari name continued after '57, but it was on a 4-door station wagon body. I beleive 1990 was the last year for the Safari name on a Pontiac wagon (yep, GMC & Pontiac both sold vehicles named Safari at the same time).

'56 Chevy is a carry-over body, the 2nd of the then 2-year cycle. Pontiac is the same way: same basic body, brand new nose.

And by 'nose' I mean other than the sheetmetal... ie: new bumper & grille & trim. Silver Streaks look the same to my eye '55 vs. '56. GMTruckGuy74: '89 was the last model year for the Safari- the TranSport debuted for '90... I guess "replacing" the Safari as the utility model. :(

The 56 Chevy comes across as considerably different than the 55, although I agree they are quite close. The 55 and 56 Pontiacs are virtually the same, visually.

Edited August 24, 200520 yr by HarleyEarl

See, to me, it's the same degree of difference, and that's after seeing a few dozen of each over the years. The '56 is so flashy & heavy and the '55 is still simple.

Balthazar, I discovered that the silver streaks on the hoods of the '56 were further apart than those on the '55s.

One other major distinction - rear wheel openings. The '55 & '57 Nomad had teardrop wheel openings. The '56 had round wheel openings. The Safaris' had half-flattened openings.

Very good eye...interesting.