Photography by Dave Cruikshank

As we’ve shared before, we have a soft spot for 1959-60 General Motors cars. They were the last GM models developed under Harley Earl’s watch and combine late-Fifties design cues with angled, newfangled, ’60s sensibility. GM’s family haulers were stylish as ever. Aside from sharing side glass and windshields, the General’s wagons of this era had little interchangeable sheet metal. Each had its own distinct design cues and were easy to distinguish between divisions.

Pontiac styling for 1960 was a retreat from the outrageous twin-finned 1959s. Some might think the styling was a step backwards, but we love 1960 Pontiacs with horizontal fins, twin rocket booster taillights and the shark-like front end. The station wagon model Safari, is as rare as hen’s teeth these days.

The 2018 Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona, California held many surprises including this lime-gold 1960 Safari. It took us a minute or two to catch up with owner Bo Swan, but we’re glad we stayed on task, finally connecting with him and shooting the car recently up in Rancho Cucamonga, California.

 

Bo is a big guy with an equally big, megawatt smile. If there was ever the perfect pilot for this custom So-Cal schooner, it’s Bo. He also brought his two young sons along for the shoot and both were chips off the old block. Bo handled most of the design and build of this Poncho wagon and being so smitten with the car, we were keen to get the backstory.

Let’s rewind to New Jersey, 1960.

Bo’s grandfather, affectionately nicknamed Babop by the grandkids, bought the nine-passenger Pontiac wagon brand-new. It rolled off the assembly line painted refrigerator white with a red interior. It spent the first few years on the east coast providing faithful service to his family until the winds of change blew upon them.

It 1964, he packed up his wife, son, and daughter (Bo’s uncle and mother) and moved to California to work in the shipyards. He drove the Safari as a daily driver until 1971 when the transmission gave up the ghost.

Bo says “Babop said he would just order the parts from JC Whitney and fix the slushbox himself. But, he was a bit of a procrastinator and after he parked it in the garage in 1971, he bought a newer Pontiac Bonneville as a driver and that’s where the wagon stayed until 2002. People used to see it in the garage over the years and make offers to buy it, but the never relented.”

Bo continues by saying, “The wagon is rust-free and was undercoated when new. The body was in great shape, except for a dent in the rear bumper that my Mom put in it when she was driving the car in high school. I thought it was kind of ugly back in the day, but as I started to build custom cars myself, I became more interested in the car.

I asked Babop what he was going to do with the car and he said ‘I was saving it for you.’ I got the car in 2002 and immediately got to work. I swapped out the old Poncho motor for a Chevy small block and 700R transmission. I painted it orange and did the interior up in black vinyl and suede upholstery.” Bo drove the Safari in this iteration for roughly four years and then decided to rethink the project.

With new inspiration, Bo tore down the car and got to work. He chose the lime green/gold pearlescent color in homage to Babop (green was his favorite color) and swapped in a 5.3 LS V8 motor, LS6 manifold, Cadillac CTS-V front drive system and 4L60E transmission.

Then he added Vintage Air AC and modern accouterments like the custom console, armrest and tune system. The car is bagged with an AccuAir system, and rolls on wide whites and chrome steelies with bullet centers. 

Readers with s sharp eye will notice the swapped in 1960 Olds dash. “It took a bit of welding and finessing, but I made it fit, “Bo says. He also added Chevy Impala SS bucket seats and interior guru Martin Avila sewed it all together.

Be sure to check out the combination of materials, color, crosshatch stitching and silver piping employed here. Really cool. The custom made roof luggage rack was built by Bo and literally crowns the build with an old school surfer vibe.

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The wagon is over 20 feet long and has an incredible amount of glass area. You could easily convert one of these GM wagons into a greenhouse and grow tomatoes. Bo built the luggage rack himself and it lends just the right, old school surfer vibe to the build.

Bo shared that while Babop is gone, he drove his grandmother and mom to the service and he knows he’s “Up there looking down, nodding in approval.”

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Look closely. Bo keeps Babop's memory with him at all times.

Lastly, we really like the fine line between lowrider and So-Cal Custom and we think Bo expertly straddles both worlds. The car could be equally at home on the cover of Rod Authority or a lowrider ‘zine.

This isn’t Bo’s first time building a custom car and we’re keen on seeing what’s next for him and his boys. Until then, dig this big tall drink of frosty fresh, limeade longroof.