This was most likely the slowest car I have ever owned.  And to make matter worse the transmission kick-down at some point became inoperative.  Molasses.  But man, could it ever cruise.  The interior was very luxurious, with a sort of green felt covering everything,  like a comfortable old pair of pajamas.  Smooth ride and very quiet.  At the Bonneville Salt Flats however, it would have been a real slug.  Was anybody buying the Bonneville idea?  Bonnevilles from the sixties were much more muscular.  This one was trying to hold on to its past like an overweight middle aged man reliving his high school days.  Glory.

Take off the Bonneville name to eliminate confusion and obfuscation and you are left with a nice car.  Slow, but nice.

And another GM car with no rust.  were they getting better?  Perhaps.

Mr. Brougham was in very good shape, it's previous owner was very meticulous.  The best story I have about this car was the purchase itself.  Brougham belonged to a guy I worked with who was also my boss.  His name was Walt and he was an ex-USMC.  hard as nails.  A nice guy once you got to know him, but he could be a bit explosive at times.

I found out he was trading in the wife's car so I asked if we could make a deal.  I had seen the car before and I knew Walt took good care of his cars.  He came up with a great price and I needed a family type mobile so we came to a quick agreement.  I asked how he wanted me to pay for it and he said just write me a check.  Well, me being the big shot told him I had made many deals and it was much better for him to ask for a guaranteed check like a Money order or cashier's check.  Anything else except cash was just too risky.  But since we knew each other we agreed a check would be fine.

So we made a deal.  I brought in a check and we went over to his house later that day and picked up the car.  Eileen liked the car and we registered it. All was well.  Now we were the proud possessors of a nice big four door family sedan.  Ah, the bliss.

About a week later Walt comes into my office and he just stood there for a second or two with a blank stare.  Then he said, you guessed it, "Mark I do not know how to say this but your check bounced."  Now I fancy myself as a guy who can think quick on his feet, but the class clown in me often takes over and creates sometimes difficult situations from time to time.  This was one of them.  I replied "Walt, I told you not to take a personal check, I was teaching you a lesson."  Oops.

Walt was 20 years my senior and once told me "I was writing IBM assembler code before you were a gleam in your Father's eye."  I guess that kind of sums up Walt.  Right now Walt started shaking and turning red.  I sensed danger and said "Oh my God Walt, I was just kidding, what a stupid as***le I am.  Let me go to the bank right now and get you the cash.  I must have made some kind of mistake balancing the checkbook last week.  I know it's in there now, we just got paid yesterday."  it all came out in a rush.  It saved my life.  Walt agreed with my assessment of myself, and then just left.  Needless to say I left and got the money right away and soon Walt and I were back on good terms.  Disaster averted.

 Interestingly enough Walt had another car, a more desirable one than this one, at least to me.  A red 1985 Cougar LS with a 302 V8. Nice car, well taken care of, with too many miles, but like brand new.  Once again Walt made me a great deal.  This time I paid him in cash.  I insisted. 

Aloha Brougham, welcome to the bad ass cat.  I successfully bought two cars from Walt and averted any large objects being forcefully inserted into painful areas.  Living on the edge, that is my life.