The Pontiac Safari was a two-door sport wagon, produced from 1955 through 1957, a shared a similar design to the Chevrolet Nomad. During its production lifespan, the Safari received moderate updates that included changes to the grille and side trim. Even though the Nomad and Safari shared a similar body, the Safari sat atop a longer chassis and had a wider wheelbase.

1957 Pontiac Safari

Specifications
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  • Model: 1957 Pontiac Safari
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The Safari was built using shared body components with Chevrolet's Nomad Station Wagon, which would also allow both divisions to share in the tooling costs for the special bodied wagons. The Safari was fitted with Pontiac's unique front-end bumper/grille assembly and sheet metal and rear tail light design, both created by Pontiac stylist Paul Gillan. Gillan received a United States patent for the bumper/grille design.

It featured sport-coupe front doors, extra chrome adorning the tailgate and interior, and sliding rear-seat windows. Like the Nomad, the "B" pillar of the station wagon was raked forward, a flourish not shared with other GM two-door station wagons from that era.

The interior featured a sliding rear-seat window while the tailgate and other areas were adorned in chrome, adding to its sporty-motif.

For 1957, Pontiac applied the Safari nameplate to all of its station wagons in all of its product lines (Chieftain, Super Chief and Star Chief Custom). After 1957, the name Safari was a suffix on the Pontiac LeMans station wagons, Bonneville, and Parisienne.