(first posted 1/21/2015) As someone with a vast knowledge, love, and passion for cars, it pains me to say that I haven’t had a chance to drive the sheer number of cars, especially “classic” cars, that many of you have had. Driving a classic car is an opportunity which I’m rarely presented with, so needless to say it was an invigorating experience when I was able to get behind the wheel of this 1985 Pontiac Grand Prix.
Near where I live is a small mom-and-pop mechanic shop and used car lot that I frequently pass on my runs. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to run and check out their cars by for quite a while now due to a severely pulled hamstring, but on a day out this past summer, this pale green Pontiac caught my eye.
In its forty-six-year history, the Pontiac Grand Prix displayed a number of distinctive looks. The original Pontiac Grand Prix debuted in 1962 as a slightly sportier, more personal version of the full-size Catalina coupe. A Grand Prix convertible was added for 1967, but subsequently dropped the following year.
This car was replaced by a new Grand Prix in 1969. With a totally unique body, the second generation GP exuded all the requisite styling features of the burgeoning personal luxury coupe. Long hood? Check! Formal roof line? Check! Vinyl roof? Check! Although the interior was “cockpit style”, with its Strato-bucket seats and all instrument panels angled towards the driver, a bench seat was a no-cost option.
This uniquely bodied Grand Prix was succeeded by the overly familiar-looking, overwrought, and overweight “Colonnade” Grand Prix of 1973. Things weren’t all bad however, as steel-belted radials and upgraded suspension improved handling. Genuine African Crossfire Mahogany also graced the interior of earlier models. These were also among the best-selling Grand Prix models ever.
The energy crises of the 1970s and resulting government regulations dictated smaller and more fuel efficient cars, and that’s exactly what the 1978 Grand Prix was. The ’78 Grand Prix’s styling was decidedly more slab-sided and blockier than its Colonnade predecessor, although its sheet metal had a few more curves than some of its corporate cousins.
Once again, the Grand Prix was available only as a two-door coupe – related sedan models flew the LeMans, Bonneville, and Grand Am flags. The Grand Prix still sold well, although that fact is often overshadowed by this generation Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, which was among one of the best-selling American cars of all time.
Despite universal downsizing and the growing influx of less ostentatious European and Japanese imports, personal luxury coupes were still a popular body style in the early- to mid-Eighties. It’s no coincidence that the most popular Grand Prix were very Broughamified, with vinyl roof, pillowed bench seats, and wire wheel discs.
The G-body Grand Prix’s siblings, particularly the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, are still kicking around if you look hard enough, but Pontiac Grand Prix from this era are far more elusive. When I first saw this one, I had to return that very day, over fears that it might be gone soon.
I had no intention of getting behind the wheel, but stopping by to take some pictures led to a pleasant conversation with the Jeff, the shop owner, and the vehicle’s most recent owner, a buddy of his who was helping him unload a Mustang off a flatbed.
The current owner, whose name I did not get, was more than happy to talk about the car. According to him, he is the second owner, and the 55,000-mile car had spent most of its life in New Hampshire. For the majority of the last few years, he said it was stored inside a trailer. In a more interesting tidbit, he said that the car had recently been used as a period background car in the upcoming Johnny Depp film, Black Mass, about notorious Boston mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger.
As we were talking, a rather enchanting blonde woman came out of the shop and in an exotic foreign accent, introduced herself as the sales manager. Obviously assuming I had serious interest in buying the car, and not just doing field research for a Curbside Classic article, she asked me if I wanted to take the GP for a test drive, which I willingly accepted.
Sliding into the cloth bench seat and firing up this 29-year-old, rear-wheel drive American coupe was a surreal experience. In my comparatively short driving career, I have rarely had the chance to drive anything older than a 2000 model. The even shorter list of cars I’ve driven that are older than I am (I was born in 1993) have been either Toyotas or Volvos. Needless to say, this Pontiac Grand Prix was a bit different.
I couldn’t get the seat to slide forward any more to better accommodate my 5’7″ height, so the pedals were a bit of a reach. It was also a 90-degree August afternoon, and this car was not equipped with air conditioning. None of this mattered though. It was an invigorating experience and I truly felt alive.
We pulled out of the parking lot and I pressed my foot down on the large gas pedal, sending a pleasant sputter out of the exhausts. I actually forgot to ask which engine was under the hood, but given the car’s lack of options, I’m positive it was the standard 2-barrel, 3.8-liter V6. I was basically flooring it going 40 mph, but once again, I didn’t care.
A couple of miles up the road, I pulled into a Dunkin’ Donuts parking lot to turn around and head back. Despite having power steering, it still required more effort than the power-assisted units in today’s cars. Navigating the Grand Prix was also more difficult due to its long hood and considerable overhang, which I am not used to.
As I alluded to earlier, this particular Grand Prix is a rather sparsely equipped base model. Its original frugal owner passed on popular options like power windows, air conditioning, split bench seats, cruise control, and cassette player. A rear window defroster for those frigid New England winters was the only option I could detect.
Pulling back into the lot, I made sure to make it clear that I had no intention of buying the car. We all talked for a few more minutes as I took some more pictures, and was on my way. Jeff politely told me to stop by anytime I saw a car on his lot that interested me to photograph for Curbside Classic.
The Grand Prix was gone within a few weeks, so I’m assuming it sold. It wouldn’t have been the type of car I’d have bought, even if I did have the money, but I’m grateful I had the chance to drive it. It was an experience I shall never forget.
Had an 83 with a 307 as my first ride and drove it until the fuel lines went and the rear frame rails rotted the rest of the way out from Ohio road salt. I think it was possibly the most pleasant car I’ve ever driven. Smooth, silent, reliable, and surprisingly spacious on the front bench, that little minibrougham created a lifelong automotive contrarian.
I used to pass a very similar car on my daily walks until a few months ago. That one was white with a dark interior and this being Florida had A/C. I made a point to check on it “regularly” in case a For Sale sign should suddenly appear in it’s windshield. Then 1 day it was gone.
I once owned a 78 Grand Le Mans and I don’t remember it being like this G-P. It had the Buick V6 that pulled reasonably well. On my test drive I engaged the cruise control while traveling up a mountain and that car quickly accelerated to 75-80 mph and would have kept climbing if I hadn’t dis-engaged the cruise. The steering wasn’t all that bad for a RWD GM product….light but not completely lifeless.
A few points:
You did a quick rundown of G-P history, but never mentioned the 68 convertible nor showed a picture. They were quite rare and I’ve only ever seen 2 up close.
The car pictured has a fairly decent instrument panel…too bad that as a base model there are so few gauges in those many circles.
I never realized Pontiac “de-contented” the G-P to the point where they had bench front seats. I always think of these as having buckets.
I should’ve mentioned the convertible (it was ’67 though). Thanks!
This car’s sluggishness also could stem from it sitting around for a good number of years. I’m sure it could’ve benefitted from a good tuneup.
Well that and the 2.41:1 final drive ratio in the rear end. This car is similarly optioned to our 83 Regal, and it was a slug in town.
But at constant speed on the highway it was a very nice cruising car.
At first glance I thought $1985 was the asking price, and that seemed reasonable to me..
Yup, plugs, cap, rotor, high tension leads, fuel and air filters are just the start, followed by new belts and hoses. Replacing all the vacuum lines, as well as the junction blocks, is a cheap and easy home repair.
On V8 powered versions, replacing the two rear spark plugs on the driver’s side required either a contortionist with infant sized hands, or a series of extensions and ujoints coming up from underneath. The passenger side wasn’t much better if equipped with AC.
Driving a big ol’ american Car is like a drug. Once you’ve tasted it, it’s hard to kick the habit.
I bought a G-body Malibu with the 229 ci V6 a few years back. I only keep it for a few months because I had 3 cars at that time (1975 Rekord, 1984 190E, and the Malibu). Moreover, it needed serious bodywork because of the rust.
I had a relapse when I sold the Rekord and the 190E to buy a 1979 Caprice which still is my daily driver.
But the thing is true for any old car. Once you get used to them, it’s difficult to switch back to modern cars (which seem pretty boring by comparison).
I had a Yaris (a.k.a Toyota Echo) for a short time. It was a very good car but I hated it.
The last recent car I drove was a rental, a Chevrolet Spark. I despised with all my heart. It was like driving a lawn-mower.
On the other hand, I had a really good time when my mechanic lent me a rotten 20-years-old diesel Peugeot 309 with more than 200.000 miles on the odometer.
I think I won’t be able to own and drive a car built after 1996.
By the way, I’m a bit surprised by your comment about the steering. American power steering of yore is known to be one of the lightest one.
One should be able to steer the wheel only with the pinky even if the car is not moving.
Brendan´s remark about the comparatively “heavy feel” of the power steering had me frowning too. But then I remembered the last time I had driven a very modern car and yes…they tend to have this ultra light and direct, almost detached feel to them. modern cars´ steering feels almost “digital” which makes even the ultra smooth US power steerings of yore feel a bit tighter. Its just a matter of difference between modern technology and the old servo driven power steerings, I guess.
It’s just what I felt when driving it. Keep in mind that I’m used to driving a 2010 Acura.
It’s also likely that power steering fluid was low. According to the owner, this car sat in a trailer for years un-driven.
Actually, I see what you mean.
My mistake. I’m so used to drive old cars that I forgot what driving a new one feels like…
In those old fashioned power steering, you still have some kind of resistance. Like you could feel belts, pulleys and fluids doing their job. Moreover, there is a slight lag between the moment you start steering and the moment the assistance kicks in.
You don’t have any of those feelings in a modern car. I agree with MonzamanGermany about the ultralight and direct, almost detached, kind of digital, feel of modern steering.
And you’re right, it might also come from low power steering fluid (or a loose belt).
Depends on the car. There was a marked difference, for instance, between when I test drove a Sienna and Town & Country. The T&C was quite firm and felt connected to the road, while the Sienna was so light you could use your pinky to parallel park and had zero road feel. I much preferred the T&C.
Pontiacs of this era had more “steering feel” than was typical for American cars of that time (and definitely much more than an Olds or Buick). But if all is in good order, the steering wouldn’t feel heavy. So I’m guessing there was something wrong with the power steering.
Either that or it was possible to buy a stripper GP without power steering in 1985. That would surprise me, though.
Constantini wrote: “By the way, I’m a bit surprised by your comment about the steering. American power steering of yore is known to be one of the lightest one.
One should be able to steer the wheel only with the pinky even if the car is not moving.”
Sadly, since the mid-2000s that trend is
returning, to foreign and domestic models.
A big culprit is electric power steering, a
reason why I won’t buy a brand new car
ever again. You practically have to center
the steering wheel yourself. People these
days want to expend no effort, and be coddled
in every respect.
“By the way, I’m a bit surprised by your comment about the steering. American power steering of yore is known to be one of the lightest one.
One should be able to steer the wheel only with the pinky even if the car is not moving.”
Sadly that trend is returhing, with electric
power steering, in post 2000 foreign and
domestic steeds.
My father purchased one when I was very young (’86-ish). It fell to pieces in short order and soured the Pontiac name to him to this day. I still get grief now-a-days whenever he hears something went wrong with my GTO. “I told you not to buy a…”
He dumped it for a new Caprice which he fell in love with.
I know, I know, a car that original should be preserved for future generations but if it were to be thrusted upon me I would not be able to resist the urge to modify it. With all the aftermarket options avilable today, it would make a fun RWD car which could be used on a daily basis if you want it.
These are great platforms for mods! However, there are so many around in a condition slightly rougher than this, and if you’re going to go through/replace the motor and probably respray anyway… A minty original like this, especially one with so few options, just seems like it should be preserved as-is.
I am laughing because you say with the aftermarket we have today you could…..
I hate to break it you but you could do it when they were new too!. And people did.
And you could also do it for dirt cheap from the junkyard. We had lots of rotted out musclecars, land barges,and pickup trucks ready to pull engines and transmissions from.
As far as what to do with this one that is easy…SLEEPER!!!!
My Grand Prixs have always been black or maroon/burgundy. with dark maroon interior and fully loaded either Landau or LEs. (Including my current 1987 GP?)
I personally hate the color of this car and would describe as puke or piss green. But would I paint this car? NO.
Would I change the interior?NO
Would I smile knowing the fact that the powerseats,Windows, locks and AC that I enjoy using means that this car weighs about 300 pounds less than one that I would normally choose? Damn Right.
Would I preserve that dogturd 231 v6?
NO.Why would anyone want to relive that?Some parts of history are better to learn from and not repeat.
Look like Grandma go like hell!!!
The only mods I’d make would be ones to improve drivability – like swap out that 2.41 rear end for something reasonable. I’d prefer acceleration to a highly illegal cruising speed. Oh, and fit air conditioning – absolute must in an Aussie summer, even down south.
I think these are good looking cars, especially the Brougham in black. I’d want a slick top like this though!
Nice write-up, Brendan!
Its quite unique to have a car of that era without all the electrical gizmos that Americans cars are so famous for.
Would a car like that be ordered specifically from the manufacturer?
Its hard to believe that a dealer would order a stripper like that from the factory, as it would surely sit in the showroom quite a bit longer than a car that meets the regular requirements of the average buying public.
I’d say that there’s a good chance it was special order. Otherwise the original owner would’ve bought a Chevy.
Actually, I honestly don’t think it was a special order. It was probably just a base model GP that was ether used as a loss leader to bring customers into the showroom to up sell a more expensive car or the was was there to be bought by somebody that did not want/ able to afford all those fancy gadgets. In 21st century North America and Europe with all our fancy gadgets and gizmos, it is hard to fathom why anybody would watch a stripper car with nothing, but in the 1960’s-1990’s there were lots of folks wanting a no nonsense car with no frills. my grand parents on my mothers side bought a 1992 4 door GMC S-15 Jimmy with no options except for 4 wheel drive(which is a must in that area of Penna that they lived in) and power steering(which I think was standard) No power windows, locks, AC etc. The rational was the car had less things to break.
I later bought the truck from their estate and drove it for 5 years, After owning it for those years, I can safely say that I wish it had had AC(not for the cooling off in the summer BUT more for the fact that a car without A/C has a piss poor windshield defrost system.)
You will find that into the 1990’s those folks that went through the great depression and remember it fully are the folks that are able to do with less and consider A/C or power this and that frivolous.
This car was probably bought by a older person and drove sparingly.
This. I remember it well, when buying cars in the 1980s, the consensus was that the fewer options the car had, the less there was to break and cause problems down the road. The options really were considered luxuries, not necessities. So people ordered only what they really wanted on the new cars, and shunned trouble-prone power windows and power seats on used cars. There were always those who wanted all the bells and whistles, but the opposite mindset was much more prevalent than it is today.
The original buyer of this car probably preferred the additional prestige of a Pontiac over a Chevy, and a base model GP cost about the same as a Monte Carlo with a few options.
In the era when this car was built, it was still far from universal for new cars sold in New England to have A/C, although I am mildly surprised to see a car of the Grand Prix’s station in life without A/C. It was not at all uncommon in the mid 1980s for smaller economy cars to lack A/C.
Based on the dealer tag on the back of the car, it appears to have originally come from what is now Swanson Buick-GMC in Acton, Mass. They must have been located in the nearby town of Concord at one time, then moved to Acton; the dealer’s website currently describes them as “serving Acton, Concord and greater Boston”. Acton and Concord are about 25 miles northwest of downtown Boston, and about 20 miles south of the New Hampshire border.
My parents bought a dealer demo Caprice Classic wagon (not an Estate, no plasti-wood in our family) in 1985, Union NJ. It had A/C but only a Delco AM radio! So it certainly could have been a dealer order. Torture on long trips. Vastly preferred our ’78 Impala wagon with an 8-track. We wound up returning the ’85 under the lemon law and getting an ’88 Camry.
Ordering cars was not something unusual in this era, it was certainly on the decline but there was nothing “special” about ordering the exact car you wanted. Granted this brochure is for 1984 but note the paragraph at the bottom of this page. http://oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/Pontiac/1984_Pontiac/1984_Pontiac_Full_Line_Brochure/1984%20Pontiac%20Full%20Line-01.html particularly “Your dealer has details and before ordering you should ask him to bring you up to date.”
In this era there were a lot more small dealers and the mega dealers like you see today that have 20 or 30 of a particular model in stock were relatively rare. In this era the norm was still for the salesman to have a demonstrator and that was what you got to test drive before you ordered the one you wanted. Keep in mind in this era there were still choices in interior colors, and quite a few more exterior colors than are available today.
It wasn’t until my Dad bought a Toyota that he didn’t order the exact car he wanted, after taking the brochure home and mulling over the exact color combo, and options he wanted in addition to deciding for example between a “loaded” Impala or moderately equipped Caprice to determine which would be the best value. For the record he usually went for the moderately equipped upper model for the thought that it provided better overall value with the higher resale value of the “high end” model.
A lot of dealers would order cars like these and advertise their low prices to get customers in the door who would buy more highly optioned and more profitable offerings.
Old time bait and switch: they would have one car like this on the lot. By the time you got there it was gone. But hey, ” We have your Brougham over here, which is the car you really wanted anyway.”
Alternatively, the base model would sit around until the end of the model year because no one wanted the thing and then the dealer would clear it out for fire sale prices. (Deals like that were sort of a family tradition.)
Interestingly enough over the year our perception of base model/stripper car has changed. In 1985 a base model car meant no AC, manual windows/locks manual trans(on smaller cars)
However when my folks bought their 2009 Taurus in mid 2009 to replace a 1993 Taurus, they got a good deal on the 2009 because it was a base model that nobody wanted. However this base model had power windows/locks/keyless entry, AC, CD player(with aux port) power seats(both sides), auto dimming mirror and power mirrors. In short this base model car from 2009 had amenities that in the 1980’s and 1990’s would have been considered top of the line.
Might be getting old, but I just can’t get my head around a base model having all that stuff. Power seats? Auto dimming? Base model? What else is there to want?
Yup, I own a stripper 75 Comet that was actually ordered by a customer who must have backed out because it sat over a year before it sold. I on the other hand like plain and simple transport ( since any car purchase by me is a lifetime purchase, parts cars excepted) since that’s less to need attention after 10 or 20 years. I bought my first car on November 18th 1983, a 71 2dr Maverick and still own it.
To me, the slab-sided 1978 Grand Prix was the worst of the downsized, upright formal roof GM intermediate coupes (and none of them looked all that great). It got better with the 1981 refresh, particularly with everything getting quad headlights across the board.
With that said, it’s easy to see why there’s not too many miles on this specimen. Looks like a strippo loss-leader that probably sat on the lot for a while when new until someone who didn’t drive all that much (say, an older, single lady) got it for cheap at the end of the year. Then, with no A/C, they quickly found out what a PIA it was to drive in the summer, and RWD meant it wasn’t all that great in the New England winters, either.
Hopefully, it will retain its originality and live out its life going to weekend car shows on nice summer days. Personally, I’d rather have a nice, unmolested sixties’ Mopar A-body with a Torqueflite and /6 (maybe even a convertible) for that purpose, but this would work, too.
The very nice writeup by the author glosses over the distinction between GM’s first cut at downsizing the A Specials in ’78 and the longer, sleeker ’81 reskins.
To my eye, the Pontiac went from being the worst looking to the best looking of the bunch. The ’78 version’s slab sides and Pontiac beak made it the stubbiest-looking of any of them (the Cutlass Supreme styling worked much better, which helped explain its much stronger sales). But I loved the looks of this version when it came out (and at the same time couldn’t abide the scoop-nosed grill of the Olds.) Still looks sharp today.
I’m guessing it was a little old lady’s or little old man’s car, for going to the store, to doctor appointments, to the post office, and church. That generation of adults, on a Social Security budget, would typically forego options that they didn’t feel they needed. There were probably a lot more basic cars built back then than you would guess today. My Dad (who would have been 59 at the time) bought a 1 year old 1981 Cutlass: pretty dark blue, white vinyl, Ralley II wheels, Buick V-6, and NO a/c. He quickly regretted the no a/c part, living in humid, southern Ohio.
Rudiger,
I take it you would severely frown on this: http://www.chevyhardcore.com/news/g-force-one-87-g-body-project-car/
I would just have to…
T
I could go for that! It looks sweet! Ganz schoen!
Depends. If it had started out like the feature car, then, yeah.
OTOH, if the project began as a basket case whose next stop was the crusher, no.
Ah, the dilemma… Having restored cars for at least 12 years of my life, common sense would dictate using the best body I can get my hands on – rust repairs are a nasty business. But that car is a time capsule you cannot replicate. Hmmm…
Brendan, it’s good to see you got to drive something older than yourself. This one definitely looks good, although I am curious how much mechanical attention it would have benefitted from. From what you describe, I’m thinking it had a few issues to sort out.
My great-aunt and her husband had a G-body ’81 or ’82 Regal. It was as sparsely equipped as this Grand Prix, but I guarantee theirs had a/c.
These Grand Prix always seemed indecisive – either in-your-face Brougham or having overtly sporty pretensions. There wasn’t much middle ground, it seems.
Very good find.
Wow…can’t believe it made it this long living in the harsh salt-filled NH winters. Great story!
Agreed. What caught my eye more than anything was lack of any NH inspection sticker, past or present, but relatively recent plates.
Bet he got it dirt cheap and then up went the price with little or no work done. Always frustrating. It is a beautiful example, even despite the color.
“As we were talking, a rather enchanting blonde woman came out of the shop and in an exotic foreign accent, introduced herself as Denise, the sales manager. Obviously assuming I had serious interest in buying the car, and not just doing field research for a Curbside Classic article, she asked me if I wanted to take a test drive, which I willingly accepted.”
You do mean the car, yes?
It’s not often you get to drive a survivor like this; I can’t imagine many came out of the factory equipped so sparsely. Your average Chevy Spark has more standard equipment than this thing.
If it had the bucket seats and the console with shifter, I think I would have gone for it. Find a nice set of factory “snowflake” wheels and I would have been a happy puppy.
Ah well…
Glad someone caught my innuendo 🙂
That you were driving a stripper?
I hear you about the 2 barrel 3.8 V6. My Dad had one in his 83 Bonneville. It was quiet and smooth but you had to be on it pretty hard to get it to move at a decent speed. Nice write up!
I wonder if the Buick 3.8 was any better than the Chevy 3.8. My ’82 Malibu had the Chevy 3.8 (229), and man was that thing slow! It made the 267 in my older ’79 Malibu, itself no ball of fire, feel like a race car.
My mother’s 79 Grand LeMans wagon had the same dashboard with the clock and the idiot lights where the gauges should be. All the catalog pictures always show full gauges, so I’ve not seen that combo in some time.
Here’s how the 1978-87 RWD A-body (G-body after 1982) ranked in sales.
1. Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. Due to the fact that the Rear Drive Cutlass Supreme was so popular, Olds produced the Cutlass sedan ( with the fixed back windows) all the way into 1987. And the 2 door model continued into 1988 as the Cutlass Supreme Classic.
2 Chevrolet Monte Carlo. The Monte Carlo was also produced into 1988 as well.
3. Buick Regal.
4. Pontiac Grand Prix. I’m surprised that Pontiac continued the Bonneville G sedan ( also with the fixed back windows) into 1986. I’m also surprised that Pontiac continued to use the carbed 3.8 Buick V6 all the way into 1987 when the RWD Grand Prix was discontinued. I know the Chevy Monte Carlo went to the TBI 4.3 V6 in 1985.
The 1986 and 1987 Grand Prix had the 4.3l fuel injected V6 as an option as to why the 3.8l V6 was kept until 1987, I guess you could ask the same question about why Oldsmobile kept the 3.8l in the Cutlass until 1987 also. Probably to same money.
As for the G body Bonneville being kept on till 1986, Pontiac had a new version waiting in the wings for 1987 so there was not reason for GM to care about letting the old version hang out for a few more years.
Speaking of the 87-91 Bonneville, I have not seen one in years.
Possibly also to help their CAFE figure. And to be able to quote a good fuel economy figure in the brochure. I say possibly because I can never keep straight in my head which years fuel economy mattered in the US and which years it didn’t. Its always mattered in Australia.
Of course they’d try to upsell you to a bigger engine with more oomph – and we see from Brendan’s drive how important saying yes to that was.
By ’85, GM had worked out most – if not all – of the bugs in the 231 V-6 (I still prefer to call it by that designation rather than the 3800 of the FWD versions), so the presumptive motor in that Grand Prix could provide years of reliable driving pleasure.
I know it wasn’t a powerful engine by any means, but from what I’ve been told, the 231 is more durable than the Cadillac HT 4100 V-8.
Just about anything is more durable than an HT4100! That was one of GM’s worst engines of the decade, if not of all time.
The “pinky finger” power steering was more characteristic of Anerican cars of the ’60’s and ’70’s. I had a 1972 Plymouth Valiant (basically a 1967 design) with one-finger power steering. By the 1980’s American manufacturers began to increase power steering effort to get that “European” feel. Of course for this particular car it could be low fluid, a dying PS pump, or some other issue causing the heavy feel.
Maybe on some cars, my two ’87s (Ford LTD Crown Victoria and Cadillac Brougham) could be steered into parking spaces with one finger.
This is true…I have driven a Mercury Grand Marquis and Buick LeSabre of that era and one finger parking was easily done. My 88 Caprice Estate featured in this week’s COAL was like that as well. I wonder if this applied more to the full sized models.
On the other hand, my Mom’s ’80 Regal and Dad’s ’83 Bonneville were definitely power assisted but not quite “one finger” parking. I wonder if it was because these cars were supposed to be “sporty” Although dad’s ’78 Cutlass was one finger steerable.
Thanks for making me feel old, bro. 🙂
Although, now that I think of it, I actually have never driven one of these either. My memories of them come from being a grade school-age passenger.
As soon as you showed the inside, I was hit by that GM interior scent. I think I could tell old Big Three interiors apart with my nose, assuming the owners didn’t mask them with smoke/dogs/pine trees etc.
my memories of them come from being a grade school-age passenger
Thanks for making me feel ancient, bro 🙂
Yes, the scent, as well as that distinctive upholstery.
Ha! Hey, you’ve got more hair on your head than I do, Paul.
A few years ago, my kids told me they wanted me to see an old car they had found parked by the side of the street, because they knew that I like old cars. It turned out to be a late ’80s/early ’90s Chrysler LeBaron convertible.
Ah, kids’ perception of age! When my children were young, they wanted me to tell them stories of the olden days – “You know, Dad, when you were a boy!” Okay, the fifties and sixties are thought of as a cool era, but – olden days?
So I did, but I also passed on to them stories my grandma had told me of when she was a girl in 1880s Melbourne, fifty years after first settlement. That’s olden days!
Haha, the ’90s are the “olden days” to Gen Z today.
Great post! Lovely car! I think I would be happy driving this green Pontiac here in Virginia…and I can imagine my wife hating it haha!!
A co-worker bought a 1981 Pontiac Grand Prix brand-new. Some sort of metallic medium blue w/T-Tops and matching blue interior. A really sharp car – the last gasp of the Colonnades, which spoke old GM. I got used to the fixed side glass, but still didn’t like it…
I got to drive it once – a very nice car no matter what! I especially liked the exposed Torx screws all over the dash – a nice touch at the time.
Unfortunately, his car was stolen after a short while but he got it back. Seems anything with T-Tops was thief bait during those years because convertibles were pretty much extinct for some time, thus very desirable.
Beautiful cars these and love the color. Where do you find light green interiors in cars today? Oh that’s right you don’t. You don’t often see base stripper models like this but every now and again one will pop up. It’s even more rare to find one without A/C. The 3.8 2 BBL Buick V6 was very popular from 1981-1984 but after that point more consumers were ordering them with the far superior 305 4BBL Chevy V8 with 4 speed overdrive transmission which netted the same or better highway mileage as the base V6!
I have owned 3 Grand Prix’s to date and am currently on the lookout for another in the 1981-87 vintage but with more options than this car.
My first was a 1981 white LJ coupe with a light green interior and matching half vinyl roof and side molding. It also had the Pontiac rally wheels and the small 4.3 liter 265 Pontiac V8 which made that car far more special because most in these years were 3.8 V6’s. Some of the best years of my life were spent in that car. I bought it from a very nice elderly lady and it had but 55k original miles on her and drove like it was brand new. The one annoyance was that it wasn’t ordered with a split bench or bucket seats which would have been much preferable to the solid bench. At least it was the more luxurious LJ trim and the seat was all day comfortable. The other oddity was that this car was ordered with the trailoring package with F-40 HD springs, optional 2.93 rear gears instead of the lame 2.29’s, gauge package with trip odometer and the wiring for a receiver.
Alas neither she or I ever towed with it but those options went a long was in making this car memorable. The 4.3 Pontiac V8 was nearly dead silent at idle and I am shocked to this day how buttery smooth it ran and how much better it moved my 3300 LB car compared to most any 231 V6 I drove despite only having 10 more horses and 15 extra torque. The stiffer rear gears surely played a role here. Eventually the horrid Winter started taking there toll and I vowed after getting a real job that I would never ever drive one of these in the Winter months again after watching the rear frame and lower doors rust away if I came across another one down the road.
Well I kept true to my promise and actually bought 2 1980 GP’s as I had the room to store them during the Winter in a garage. The gorgeous maroon LJ coupe came from another nice elderly lady with 24K original miles and the white SJ came from a second owner but was much more used and had 124K miles. Both were 301 4BBL powered but there personalities couldn’t have been more different. The LJ was the smooth quiet plush easy going cruiser and the SJ was the brasher sportier bucket seat T-top car with louder dual exhausts, taught suspension and noticeably better pickup from it’s W72 HO 301 which made 170 horses compared to 140 for the LJ. The 301 was often pegged as a piece of crap and not true to the other Pontiac designed V8’s before it. It is an often misunderstood engine. GM brought out the turbo 301 in 1980 and all 301’s from that point on used it’s beefier block and the W72 motor shared it’s rolled fillet crank too. The SJ went well past 200K with but a timing chain and valve cover gaskets sadly succumbing to a house fire, the maroon LJ went over 100K without so much as a screw being turned and sold on Ebay because I lost my high paying job and the 1981 265 went up to 150K miles also with it’s timing chain done which I found out later was one of these engine biggest weaknesses. Yes plastic timing gears did many of these motors in when they wore and shredded up effectively clogging up the oil pickup screen so I made sure they were done before that happened. I would love to find another 1981 like I had but with the SJ bucket seat interior but trying to find one of those is like finding a needle in a hay stack!
That 1981 LJ sounds amazing! If it’s any solace you can get light green-gray “Eucalyptus” leather in the 2015 Acura MDX. I just took this Saturday at the Auto Show.
Wow. Good job Acura! Reminds me of one of the interior colors you could get in the Lincoln Mark VIII.
Since colorful interiors are starting to make a small comeback, I wonder if a wider range of exterior colors will be next?
I really hope navy starts working its way into the rotation. Some luxury makes like Jaguar and Maserati offer it now, but I hope it becomes more mainstream.
This Pontiac grand prix is so nice inside and out . Does the original soundsytem still work . Pontiac is driving excitement .
That rear window defroster is probably required by New Hampshire law considering it is a snowy state. In New York vehicles after a certain model year are required to have a rear window defroster and/or rear wiper. Seems trucks and vans are exempt though. In theory your vehicle cannot pass the safety inspection without one or the other.
Lovely car indeed despite the bit excessive front overhang, hope it went to a good home that does not drive it in the Winter.
From 1989 to 1994 I owned an ’85 Plymouth Turismo which, despite having been originally purchased new from a dealer in central Massachusetts, had no rear defroster. It is the only car I have ever driven that didn’t have one. At least back in that era, I never had any trouble with getting it inspected (in Mass.). It was a sparsely optioned car across the board. Among other things, it also lacked a dome light on the interior ceiling. The only interior light was a small map light at the front.
My in-laws had a ’78 Grand Am, a model long gone by the early 80’s. As I remember it had crank windows and a bench seat but A/C, cruise and tilt wheel. I loved how it rode and handled.
For all the griping I’ve done on these pages over GM’s earlier FWD offerings, their RWD vehicles were the polar opposite. They simply felt solid on the road.
Reminds me of my mom’s 1986 Monte Carlo. My grandma was the first owner. She bought it new off the dealer’s lot. Low options, just like this GP. Same green inside and out, V6 under the hood, bench seat. I think it may have had the rear window defogger. The instrument cluster was different but the HVAC controls and stereo were identical. I remember that block-out plate to remind you that you didn’t get the upgraded stereo with tape deck.
That steering wheel is exactly the same as the one that was on our ’75 Catalina when I was a kid. Well, except I think the Catalina had wood grain instead of silver on that vertical strip.
I didn’t realize they used that wheel for so long.
That exact steering wheel debuted in 1975 as the optional Deluxe Cushion Steering Wheel. In 1977, Pontiac came out with the Luxury Cushion Steering Wheel option and the Deluxe Cushion Steering Wheel became the standard Pontiac steering wheel right into the 80’s. I was always so intrigued as a kid growing up in the 70’s to see what options the different cars had. I had a great uncle that sold Pontiacs forever. He said that the way Pontiac used to make you order a car was sometimes different than the other GM brands. For example, Pontiac required that you order an optional steering wheel, whether it was the Sport Steering Wheel or Luxury Cushion Steering Wheel, in order to get a tilt steering wheel. It actually angered some customers as they would question why they needed to spend an additional $20 or $40 dollars plus the cost of the tilt steering wheel option just to get the tilt wheel!
The start of today’s annoying ordering process, where almost nothing is a la carte and everything is part of a “package” or “equipment group”?
Or there’s Honda, where there are about 51 discrete trim levels for each car, with basically no such thing as options anymore.
Honda is the worst I’ve seen. “You can have any option you want, so long as you buy a Touring”
Pickups are still highly configurable. F-150 has over a million combinations possible last I heard. Few other vehicles do anymore though.
Is it just me or does this car have one of the worst wheelbase-to-overhang ratios ever -right up there with the ’80-83 Lincoln Mark VI? I mean, just look at all that car hanging out past the front and rear wheels! And those tiny teeny wheels don’t help either.
The interior looks nice, though, really like the cloth on those seats.
I think the overhangs work, but maybe that’s because I hated how the ’78 version looked without them.
And, sure, the wheels look small today, but unlike today’s absurdly low-profile tires, with those 75-series whitewalls on 14″ wheels you won’t crack a rim just because you hit a pothole.
My daily driver is a 2004 Ford Focus wagon. It has 70 series 15-inch tires, which strike a perfect balance between size and performance. I do get what you’re saying about today’s cars having ridiculously low-profile tires on oversized rims (and I agree with that totally) , but I think these older GPs would have looked better with 15 inchers.
I got a chuckle out of you describing your drive as “invigorating.” For those of us of a certain age who knew and drove these cars when new, “invigorating” was something reserved for a Vette, ‘Stang, Camaro/Firebird, SS, or BMW.
My grandmothers 1988 G-Body Monte with the V8 could get up and go, though….
I meant the experience, by no means the (lack of) power.
While not the beauty that the 1973-1977 was, I do like this car, especially with the vinyl landau roof. It is still a conventional personal luxury coupe, just smaller. They even put the mirrors in the right place. I have hated mirrors mounted on the A pillar ever since I first saw them on the Ford Fairmont. I don’t like this car as well as the model that came before it, but it is one of only 3 generations of The Grand Prix I have any interest in, along with the second and third generations.
What I hated even more about that Fairmont mirror was that it was fixed, ready to give one a bruise in the garage. Inexplicably, our XV10 Camry had the same thing, despite our previous V10 Camry having hinged mirrors.
There was an internal debate at Ford over whether the ’96 “Catfish” Taurus should get a “sail” (A-pillar) mirror or a door mirror. After intensive, costly research at Lockheed’s wind tunnel in Georgia, the engineers came up with a door mirror with low drag AND low noise.
So w/o consulting Wikipedia imagery, can you guess which mirror got the nod from the Dearborn suits?
I always get a kick out of people reacting to the amount of front and rear overhang on older American vehicles. Compared to my parents GM cars that I grew up riding in and driving, these overhangs are normal or even shorter than normal. Don’t compare the styling of cars from previous generations w/ autos of today. There is no comparison!
I think today’s CUVs have large front overhangs that I think look funny on a vehicle trying to masquerade as a truck.
It’s all relative depending on your perspective.
+1
The tall hoods don’t help either
I was reacting to the way these cars looked with their long overhangs, it just seems out of proportion to me on the downsized wheelbases. I totally understand that many cars of the 50s-60s had long overhangs, like the late 50s and early 60s Cadillacs, but on these cars the proportions looked good and worked well with the longer wheelbases. On the ’78 and up GP’s and sister cars, not so much.
I’m with you, Frank. They looked awkward then, and they look downright weird now – it’s all about proportion.
“I was basically flooring it going 40 mph…” That was the main problem with this generation of GM cars, in my opinion. I’ve always thought these were beautiful cars design-wise though.
The basic 110 HP 190 torque 231 Buick V6 was never a performer but needing to floor it to go 40 MPH is not representative of how a proper one ran. 190 LBS FT of torque available from as low as 1600 RPM meant that one didn’t need to floor the throttle to get one of these moving. In normal driving this mill provided enough muscle to keep up with traffic and safely pass on a two lane road. If it can’t do this then it is out of tune or you have a plugged converter or something else wrong. Where this and many smog carbureted smaller sized engine of this time era failed was when you wanted a quick burst of power that just didn’t exist. They were low RPM torque engines not high HP screamers.
Also keep in mind that during the late 70’s and early 80’s Ford and Chrysler were putting 85-90 Hp Slant Sixes in similar size or heavier cars and Ford was only using there little 85 HP 200 six in 2700-3000 LB Fairmonts and Mustangs etc so the 231 V6 was a bit peppier than these with more power and torque.
Agree, I’ve had an ’87 GM with an Olds 307 V8 and a ’77 with a Buick 350, 140 and 155 HP respectively. Only time I ever had to floor the Olds engine was uphill at turnpike speeds. The Buick is even better, only needs to be floored on short onramps or making a rapid pass, like pretty much any car. Otherwise there was so much low end torque these cars could just coast along between 35-70 mph
I don’t really get this one except maybe for Pontiac loyalists. I don’t much like the downsized RWD Monte Carlo personally, but it was flashy enough to make it clear why someone would pop for the Monte over an A-body Malibu. The GP is just sort of there — it’s not that flashy, it’s not that practical, and in stripper base form has me fishing for the point.
Me too. Having grown up in the era of the early GPs, these were like yesterday’s dishwater. I just didn’t want to be the first to say it 🙂
+ 3. For me, this is Grand Prix, a 63 in midnight blue. Or the 67 in black over burgundy bought new by the manager at my high school job. Really special, flashy cars with far from ordinary interiors.
Agreed. I can appreciate the grille/bumper treatment and the dashboard would be nice with better use made of all those circles, but I don’t get the feeling it was designed with the same passion as the 1962 original, more like they were doing it out of habit.
Having said that I hope somebody (else!) saves it as a sunny day cruiser, it would be just the thing to drive to car shows with.
Great to read another driving impressions story too – thanks Brendan!
Dead right, John – designed out of habit. They lack the obvious enthusiasm the earlier models had.
Even though it is somewhat rare, I can remember a few Grand Prixs equipped stripped like that. My uncle that worked for a local Pontiac dealer for decades said his dealership liked to have one price leader on the lot equipped exactly like the featured car. They would advertise it in the newspaper on the weekends to get people in the door. The customers would see how bare bones it was and as a result they would often order cars equipped to their liking, or the salespeople would try to switch the customers into a more loaded car that was in stock – a.k.a the good ol’ Bait and Switch!!
Overall I think the majority of Grand Prixs were equipped with A/C by this time. I very rarely saw another Grand Prix without it. Even though this featured car was very bare bones, the dash still looks good and overall the car has a nice look to it. As Paul has mentioned in other blogs in the past, the angles that a camera shoots a car can easily change the way it appears. I don’t think these cars looked as out of proportion in person as these pictures are suggesting. My sister had a base 1981 Grand Prix which was silver with a burgundy top and vinyl bench seat. It had the Pontiac Rallye wheels and was a very good looking car. I think the base deluxe wheel covers, small tires and lack of a vinyl top are making the green featured car look somewhat awkward in comparison to the way most Grand Prixs looked back in the day.
Very nice write up and what a terrific find. Hard to recall ever seeing a GP of this vintage in that shade of green. In a world of cars now in every shade of grey, opening up the page to see this green is a nice surprise. Why car’s today aren’t in a color like this is beyond me. I love it.
I believe these GP’s came with a manual transmission. I can see myself owning a car this this or the cover car here.
I knew a kid in high school who had one just like this, in this same color combo, back in the ’90s. It was a grandma hand-me-down, and it looked like it came from another planet compared to the round, jelly-bean aesthetic of 90s cars.
This era of GP probably looked fairly fussy and dated by 1985. By 1995, it looked like a dinosaur. Today, I can’t remember the last time I saw one.
A nice old Survivor .
I grew up in New England , this was a standard car , not a special ordered stripper .
‘ Yankee Thrifty ‘ is serious business to the older folks there .
I get a laugh every time someone experiences ” Saginaw Squish ” power steering for the first time .
It’s on my ’69 Chevy truck too , fingertip parking ease .
-Nate
Maybe it’s because I’m older, but these never did it for me. But it is nice to drive something older than you are, for the experience if nothing else. I am not sure there is a less satisfying American car decade (from a driving perspective) than the RWD American large-ish car of the 80s. Too tall axle ratios, low performance engines and just barely enough of the swaggar from the previous two decades to make these sell, make these unt very pleasant to me. Cars of the 90s drove so much better.
This is a nice survivor, though, especially in your part of the country. And nothing says “thrifty New Englander” like a Grand Prix with crank windows, a bench seat and no air. 🙂
I’ve always rather liked these Grand Prix, more so than the equivalent Montes/Cutlasses but probably a little less than a nicely optioned Regal. Yes, they’re a little more conservative than the Monte, but the look just works. Love this shade of green too.
Both of the A/G-body cars I’ve owned were equipped similar to this one, but they were both Malibus. I’d expect a little more gingerbread on a Grand Prix. Both of mine (a ’79 and an ’82) had crank windows, manual seats, non-tilt wheels, and very basic gauges. The ’79 had no cruise control either. Both did have A/C, though, a necessity in North Carolina summers! Both were AM/FM radios without cassette. Only real divergence was the trim level–the ’82 was the fancier “Classic” trim, which meant nicer upholstery, a sprinkling of fake wood, and wider stainless moldings on the fender lip. The ’79 was the base trim level but had the 4.4 (267) V8 as opposed to the base V6.
As it happens, I imagine the 3.8 V6 was probably the smallest engine on the B-O-P cars, but in the early part of its run the Malibu’s base engine was a 3.3 V6 that made something like 95 HP. If the 3.8 seemed slow, I’d hate to think what one of the 3.3 powered models would have been like to drive!
Buick also had a 3.2 liter 196 CID 2 BBL V6 which was of course a smaller 231 offered in 1978-79. Talk about sluggish. The 3.8 felt lively in comparison.
It’s nice to see a survivor no matter what the make or model. I can’t get excited over this generation of Grand Prix. The models from the sixties to 1970 are my favorites. After that, yuck!
However, if I was willed one of these even with few options I’d enjoy it. Because as others have said its a whole different driving experience.
it’s always interesting to see how younger people react to these types of cars…Yep, back then power accessories were rare in non-upper class cars. most cars had a am radio and as a kid, putting in a tape player was first priority. this GP was definitely NOT considered a large car, in fact one sort of giggled at it as it was styled like a GP but was the size of a Nova. and yes, everything was sluggish. 15.5 quarters in a 400 TA made it the king of the road….
Brendan, as usual, I really enjoyed your perspective in this piece. I hope you get to drive more older cars and write them up in the future. I think your reactions to how they drive and perform are valid and really interesting.
As someone who began driving in 1965, my first car was a VW bug (we also had a Ford Falcon and a Thunderbird in our garage around this time) and my current car is an Infiniti G37 sedan. In between I’ve driven all kinds of cars and I really appreciate how much better cars are today, in terms of engineering, safety, quality, etc. What I appreciate less is the complexity of controls (not the G – I may hang onto it forever as the Q’s technology is less user-friendly) and some other changes made to reduce weight and improve CAFE (electric power steering, stop/start systems, etc.). I think we’re in another transitional period where some of this technology isn’t yet perfected and can be annoying.
It is easy to forget just how the older cars felt when they were new, e.g., I think the poster above who mentioned that power steering was less sensitive in the 60’s and 70’s and required more effort in the 80’s as US manufacturers changed steering feel to more closely resemble those from foreign competition is correct and that supports your reaction to the GP.
Keep up the good work.
I’ve thought the 1981 restyle of the Pontiac Grand Prix and the Buick Regal was an improvement over the previous style, the same couldn’t be said for the restyles of the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme and the Chevrolet Monte Carlo, I never understood why the 1981-87 Pontiac Grand Prix didn’t sell very well as its competition and that these cars are almost near extinct unlike its siblings.
While I generally prefer cars older than this, I would not chop one up. For me, between this generation and the 5th generation which debuted in 1988 is clearly where the line is drawn between traditional cars and whatever you want to call what we have today. It would not bother me in the least to see an ’88 or up model run through the crusher. Despite the fact that my ’01 Malibu has served me well, I would like to see it crushed as well, and the metal used to make parts to restore older cars. I am fully aware that most people do not feel this way, but for me, if I cannot develop an emotional connection with a car, then it is nothing but a soulless device to get me from one point to another.
Many people judge a car solely on it’s ability to do just that, as quietly, smoothly, and reliably as possible. That is just fine for them, but to me a good car needs to be something more.
’01 Malibu, I dont blame you…
I see the Regals, Monte Carlos and Cutlass Supremes fairly often but rarely see the Grand Prix, I guess Its due to original sales and the lack of a collectible variant other than the rare 2+2.
Looks like they forgot to order “color keyed seatbelts” and got the standard black ones. Has a thrifty look without a vinyl top. It took some time, for New Englanders to buy air conditioned cars, in any great numbers.
Oh Adonai, she is beautiful….color is the same as my bathtub here in SW FLA….
Never been a big Grand Prix fan, prefer the Cutlass Supreme and frankly the pre ’78 Colonnade, too. But I like the color.
Everyone I remember who drove these in the 1980s were single women in their late 40s/early 50s. Not sure if that was the actual demographic.
Glad you enjoyed your first old-school driving experience. Next you’ll have to try a big one with a V8 to really capture the torquey, whipped cream ride of the past.
I remember when we were building the last of the 77 Monte Carlos in Fremont Ca. We were working two shifts, six days a week. People loved that car! It may have been sparcely appointed but it was a real steel road runner. When we saw the 78 model we couldn’t believe how it now looked like a shrunken head, totally mishappen and out of proportion. And cheap! Those plastic bumpers with those awful silver plastic strips. At least the 78 GP has real metal bumpers and much nicer interiors. The A bodies were so similar, like the same rectangular sheet cake differentiated by lumps of frosting. That being said my favorite is the downsized Grand Am coupe. It may have been just a gussied up LeMans but it was reportd to handle pretty good and still had a small V8 in front. I would still like to find one. I find this to be an ideal size for a car. Strangely enough the wheelbase and over all length is almost identical to my 70 Mustang.
It’s crazy how we were technically born in the same year but have had such opposite automotive experiences. I actually didn’t get to drive any car newer than the year 2000 until I had already had my license for two years! My first car was a 1990 Mercury Grand Marquis (in 2007) and my dad was still driving his ’90s Toyota heaps at that point. This car would’ve been pretty average for me in those years, but I purposely sought them out on used car lots because the boxy, chrome 1980s domestics seemed more interesting in high school when the typical “first car” was a blobby, plastic ’94 Saturn. 1980s cars were dirt cheap then, too, because no one would’ve ever called this “classic” in 2007. Hard to believe he asked $5k now and actually sold it!
Although the baby boomer car guys generally seem to hate these ’80s RWD domestic cars (for valid reasons), they’ve always been a favorite of mine and I still seek out surviving examples. To me they combine the old-school RWD layout and styling aspects of their predecessors with more manageable dimensions, handling, and fuel economy versus the 60s/70s versions. The 1977-1992 full size Cadillacs are the quintessential examples, but this car fits the same general theme, in a cheaper, smaller package.
Flooring it at 40MPH is something you get used to, unless you get a platform and model with the biggest V8. Handling isn’t worse than a modern truck. Lack of ABS is annoying, but that’s my only real complaint. Personally, this car seems downright lithe compared to a lot of what’s sold today. Low height, huge windows, visible corners. The long hood and trunk are a trick on the eyes – the overhangs are still there in most 2015 cars, they’re just disguised by heavily raked windshields and modern styling (high hoods and beltlines).
Your comment on the power steering is odd – all the ’80s RWD domestic cars I’ve driven in non-sport trim could be turned lock to lock with your pinky finger. Must’ve been something wrong with the system.
I agree. Different driving experience on new/old cars could come from being in different states. I suppose in some states it would not be that common to see people driving ’80s cars on a daily basis. From what I heard about cars in Florida, the number of Mercedes or Lexus is simply not imaginable in Michigan. The most common car in Michigan is W-Body Impala, followed by various other W-Body and ford panthers, and boxy Mercury Grand Marquis is still very common on the street that I dont really want to drive one even though it is technically a vintage car now ( so I opted for something more scarce. choosing between Fox Ford LTD/Granada, Plymouth Valiant without AC and a Plymouth Volare with AC, I chose the last one. ) boxy Town Car is as common as those too, also boxy GM B-Body.
As a result, I mostly drive cars from ’70s, ’90s, sometimes ’30s and ’50s ( belongs to a friend of mine ) and there was a chance that I could drive a ’00s Corvette but my friend chose a 91 instead because how affordable it was plus being a convertible, still retaining the powerful engine and nice condition ( typical for a corvette ) I only drove an ’11 Regal, my parents’ Cruze, spinning several circles in a ’06 Taurus without ABS and a dealer MKZ from this century ( so I am kinda unfamiliar with the latest models, and DTS sounds still very new to me ) And even now, I still feel column shifter is a very common sight because over half of the cars I drove are equipped like that, it is just hard to believe the W-Body Impala is the last one with offering like that ( except cops cars, though )
Location and the other drivers you’re frequently around can really change your exposure to certain cars. I don’t get the chance to drive many other cars in general, because I don’t have much close family and besides my mom (my only immediate family member) there’s really no reason I would ever have to drive any of my family’s cars except the time I drove my cousin’s Silverado in a blizzard. The majority of my friends don’t own cars either, as they’re still in college. Those that do own cars less than 10 years old.
Location is the other part. My hometown, which I lived in until I was 18 was a middle class suburb, although there was certainly a high percentage of upper-middle class people and multi-million dollar homes. By the time I was driving, pre-1990s cars were basically unheard of, and American cars weren’t that common in general.
Where I live now is a more rural town with a lot more blue collar people. American cars are in abundance, but “older” cars still largely comprise of early-2000s Ford and GM products. A few 1990s American cars can be seen kicking around, but the majority of them are in driveways and never seem to move. Anything on the road older than 2000 tends to be a pickup or a Camry. Neighboring towns to the north-east (closer to Boston), such as the one I work in and the one I go to the gym in tend to be higher socio-economic, and once again new cars are the only cars.
Definitely depends on family and surroundings. My experience was similar to Max’s in that my parents drove older cars, so other than driver’s education, I didn’t drive any car newer than 1990 until I had been in college for a year or so (I started driving in ’97). And while my ’79 Malibu was probably the oldest “non-classic” vehicle in the high school lot (classmates did have a ’70 Chevelle, ’62 88″ Land Rover, ’70 K5 Blazer) it was only by a year or two. Lots of mid to late 80’s cars, and a mix of American and foreign.
Location is definitely a part of it–up in Michigan and New England, salt is of course a big factor too. My part of North Carolina would only have a couple of winter storms each season so the roads didn’t see a whole lot of salt. This is not to say cars didn’t rust, but it wasn’t a huge problem, so most of the time it would be engine failure or an accident that finally sent a car to the scrapyard, rather than corrosion. I’ve owned nine cars, six of which were 10 or more years old, and only one has had anything other than surface rust, and even that damage is not of the terminal variety.
Salt and rust… It’s just dreadful. For a car with thinner panel or poor coating, or improper design, it will show rust really soon. ’11 Infiniti is starting to show rust around wheel well, and Ford Five Hundred starts to have door legs shot. Ziebart can only save the older low mileage cars and usually quarter still has rust. Once in Ferndale I spotted a ’70s Chevy C/K, the owner must be very frustrated with the rusting body panels, the whole truck was undercoated except the chrome bumpers and few bigger trims.
But undercoating still protects the cars very well, in some ways. There is a ’76 Dodge Aspen for sale on eBay now ( http://m.ebay.com/itm/301489598598?nav=SEARCH ) and the amount of rust under the car is more than my volare spent 5 years in Michigan driving in winter ( since 91 or 92 till 96 or 97 ) especially on frame rail ( I asked the seller for the photos about it ) it’s actually much worse than what I can expect from a car from Virginia, most F-Body J-Body M-Body in any condition in Michigan still has less rust than that one, on frame at least. It’s not too good on body panel though, as when salt accumulates around rear view mirror, it rusts even from outside but it’s relatively easy to fix.
Majority of your friends don’t own cars. Sigh* what a different world. Usually for a college kid here ( around Detroit and suburb ) or high school girls it’s common to see them driving a ’90s A-Body Oldsmobile cutlass with vinyl roof, or hundreds dollars worth ’90s Monte Carlo, since the running cost for those cars are fairly low, and throw away type. But I suppose if driving a K-car New Yorker around where you live that would be a big social stigma, eliminating the desire for ownership of cars.
Usually around multi-million dollar homes the chance of seeing an American car is lower, and exotic cars are more common. But in Michigan, sigh*. They drive Ferrari Dino, Porsche 356, Citroen DS in the summer time, while a Buick LaCrosse, Cadillac Escalade are common winter cars for them. For north Michigan, the old money still stick with Mercedes W126 these days, sometimes a W123. A newer Mercedes from this century usually appears only once or less every month around that area, and Infiniti? No way ( the only single Infiniti I spotted in north Michigan is a non-runner G35 in the yard of an adult store next to many fox-body mustangs. )
Those cars on the driveways, sigh* It’s common to see few garage kept rust free examples such as ’81-’83 Malibu, ’70 Cutlass sedan, ’70s LTD, ’49 Ford or ’30s Ford…. I wonder why. And few of them occasionally run around the neighbor, like a Volvo 1800 couple of blocks away.
On Monday I went for an oil change in my LeSabre and I spotted a continental in the showroom in a local small town Ford dealership. ( later that day I spotted another fox continental in a mechanic shop) A Lincoln Continental Givenchy, with minor rust on quarter and door seals. $3989 is a fair price for the car, and in the same showroom a ’79 Corvette occupied another spot. The only new Ford in that Ford dealership showroom is a white MKS.
Regions and states do have a huge effect, but I think you hit the nail on the head with the socioeconomic class point. An upper-middle-class New England town is going to have a vastly more gentrified (newer, less domestic) selection of cars than the working/lower-middle-class Michigan city I grew up in.
Jeff is 100% right in that the W-body Impala is “The Camry” of our state (it’s surreal how I see virtually none in my visits to my relatives in San Francisco – and yes, every single family member there drives a Camry/Corolla/Civic). In regards to these ’80s RWD domestic cars, they probably sold better in Michigan cities than in any other part of the country. A run-down ’80s Caprice or RWD Cutlass Supreme is still the exact image that comes to mind when I hear the word “beater” because they littered the streets when I was a toddler, circa 1997. I doubt there were every that many in New England or California to begin with, because people had such different tastes and incomes.
This brings back memories of my neighbors, real down to earth couple (a doctor and his lawyer wife), who were both in theirearly 60’s, treated themselves to a brand new 1976 Grand Prix. The car was a total stripper except for an AM radio, AC, and whitewalls. The car didn’t even have wheel covers! I remember them bringing the car home for the first time and looking at those tiny hubcaps and shaking my head.
A few days later, the doctor took the car back to the dealer to have a landau roof installed. Poor Grand Prix still looked pathetic. The dealer installed landau’s looked horrible as they didn’t use the same moldings that the factory did, and the they never had the correct angles as the factory landau.
Well my neighbors really liked this car a lot, Believe it or not, a few weeks later the car was stolen. They replaced it with a fully loaded 1976 Cutlass Supreme Brougham, with every option. Deep down, I think that was the car they originally wanted to get.
One major advantage of the fully optioned cars from ’70s comes from the AM-FM radio. AM only wasnt a big problem back then, but now…
As a result, there are endless ’70s Chrysler AM radio sells for 10 bucks on ebay, and an AM-FM ends up at 50 bucks, sometimes 100+. sigh*
And one day, I saw a nice M-Body LeBaron with an original interior. The only thing strange is the radio, since LeBaron usually has glass-like HVAC control and radio, but his AM-FM radio cover looks rather from a truck or ’76 Aspen/Volare. I know how it happens.
And right mirror is an option too.
The 1974 Grand Prix remains my favorite model, completely loaded, white with a white landau roof and either white or burgundy interior, and those really cool 5 spoke Pontiac rally wheels available at the time, and thin whitewall tires. And the sport mirrors. It was not only my favorite Grand Prix, it was my favorite personal luxury coupe of all time. I dreamed of owning one of these while other teenagers wanted Chargers, Camaros, Corvettes, etc.
I just looked at the photo’s of the feature car again. I believe that the car does have another option, the “Sport Mirrors”. I believe that the base Grand Prix’s only came with a drivers side chrome mirror, so the box for Sport Mirrors was checked. Not sure if the passengers side one had the optional remote.
A buddy of mine had a 1973 Grand Prix (Colonnade style). It belonged to his parents who sold it to him after graduating from college. We drove from Dallas to Big Bend national park on vacation and this was the absolute “quietest” car I have ever ridden in. Back then, GM had a product you wanted.
I still have the 1983 Grand Prix that I special ordered when a high school senior. 305 V-8, added acoustical insulation, rallye tuned suspension, rally II wheels and tons of other extras. Now it has 37000 miles and has never been driven in the rain or snow, always garaged and never used as a regular car. Great driving car, smooth and QUIET. I have seen the car in this article on and off craigslist Boston for the past 3 or 4 years. Great article. Thanks for taking the time to post about the Grand Prix.
We had a ’79 Grand Prix with a 2bbl 301 V8. I was driving this in ’95 when I was in high school and remember that it was very well-worn by that time. I thought it was a throw away car, but now I wish I had appreciated it more. Glad to see someone has preserved one this well, and in the Northeast no less!
I love the color. It’s a big part of this car’s appeal. And I’m really glad that you got the chance to drive it and tell us about your experience, from the perspective of someone who wasn’t born when it was new and for whom they were already getting thin on the ground by the time you were probably aware of such things. And you liked it!
Count me as another who is surprised at the low option level. There were a lot of these around when I was growing up in Texas in the ’80s, but I can’t imagine one without air conditioning. I assumed it was standard by that time, but I guess not! I also thought that steering wheel would have been retired by then, but there it is! This is a fun car to look at and drive, but not (in my opinion) to own. It’s too stripped! Half of the fun of these old Broughams is the buttons and options, and this one has shockingly few. I’m trying to figure out if that ETR radio is AM only. I think it might be (egads)! I had a base model 1985 Sunbird, and it was better equipped than this, at least in that it had A/C and AM/FM ETR stereo.
I am NOT a GM sort of person, but I find that ’69 GP simply irresistible!
Wow… That’s a neat find. Back in 97 my uncles 91 hardbody was t-boned in a Vancouver intersection. He wasn’t interested in a corolla or a civic as a rental.. We headed over to a rent “A” wreck. The car he picked was this grand prix’s twin. It was exactly the same color combo as this car but was fully loaded with working options and had a 305. That thing was a compfy couch cruiser. He had the thing for a week and a half and loved how it drove. He really hated the color combo. When he returned it he enquired if it could be for sale, after about ten minutes in the office the lady came back with a firm no as it was one of there more popular wrecks.
That is amazingly rust free for a 29 year old New Hampshire car. New England has one of the cruelest environments for automobiles.
Not really… we still have a lot of CCs running around and being used as DAILY drivers around here.
There was an ad in Cape Cod for a 79 mint condition T-Top Grand Prix, not too long ago.
The LAST good Grand Prix, before they became FWD plastic appliances.
Love the A/G bodies… own 3(86 Monte Carlo SS, 81 Malibu Classic coupe, 85 Buick Regal).
Amazing how awful those old G bodies look now. Ouch! Even a Smart car is better looking than those angular G bodies!
Counterpoint: G bodies look better than ever.
Really, David?
If you think a Smart car is better looking than these… You might want to make an appointment at LensCrafters. Lol
We can play a game of chicken… I’ll drive the G body Grand Prix and you can risk it in your bubble gum machine unSmart car…
Didn’t think so………….., 😉
Yeah, let’s just insult everyone for having a different opinion. I mean, I think the GP looks nicer in its own way, but come on, man.
I had an 85 in almost the exact same green, maybe a shade or two darker. Mine had the white landau roof and all power options. That was my first car. Honestly, looking back on it, it was really a pile of junk. The oil light would flicker at idle, the steering was sloppy, and like you said in the article…the thing couldn’t get out of its own way. All that said, it was mine, and it got me where I needed to be when I was 16 years old. I slapped a set of Cragar SS wheels on it that I found in a junk yard, installed a loud stereo system, and then drove it until it caught fire. Total loss and replaced it with a Firebird. I can honestly say I have more fond memories of the Firebird than I do the GP but again, it was my first car, and it was mine.
Look I’m probably wayyy too biased as I own a 77 GP, but IMHO from 78 on they just became drab slabs of generic caricatures of their former selves. Stand and take that side-on photo from another 20 feet and it’d be almost impossible to identify.
Yes a lot of folk still bag the 70s, especially anything from 71 on, but everything about that decade was overwrought. It was after all “the decade that style forgot”.
Which ironically, gives these overwrought, overstyled, ridiculously excessive beasts their…………….style.
Beats bland anyday. Here in New Zealand it gets some looks!
The way one of these is optioned can make or break the car for me. If ordering one back in the day the first thing I would do is upgrade to the Pontiac rally or snowflake alloy wheels. There would be no vinyl roof. It would have the sport rear view mirrors. The 231 V6 would be chucked in favor of any one of the V8 options available given the year. The bench seat would be replaced by the buckets and floor shift, the idiot lights replaced by full gauge package with tachometer and the suspension would be of the F-41 variety with the larger P205 tires with raised white letters. the exterior would be either white with maroon interior or better yet blue with blue interior. It’s amazing how these options transform this car from mediocre to awesome in my eyes.
Wow – that is probably the most stripped Grand Prix I have ever seen! No A/C? Wow. The only options I see are whitewalls, sport mirrors and a rear defroster.
There is no question that with GM cars of this era, options could make or break them. This looks like a car that an older couple would want. Bare bones, no frills basic transportation.
The type of buyer who got a stripped Chevy Biscayne/BelAir or Pontiac Catalina in the ’60s would get a car like this 20 years later. No A/C, manual windows, bench seat and no tape deck. Had some frills, like velour and hood ornament, but not common features of most personal lux coupes. I remember seeing some GP’s with dog dish hub caps then too!
OTOH, I can see dealers in New England ordering new cars without A/C, being far from the Sun Belt. Just that economies of scale made A/C standard in today’s cars.
You would be surprised how much I use my A/C and I live in RI. Our summers are HUMID and even on days when it is mild out, the A/C makes defrosting and the overall climate in the car so much better.
By the 80’s it was rare to see a GM intermediate or full-sized car without A/C.
I think they’d have rather gotten a base-model LeMans coupe.
You may be interested in knowing that GM “G” body is a mainstay of Saturday Night short-track racing all over America, this is in what is called a “Hobby Class”, an entry level class in which a car cheaply obtained is stripped, fitted with a roll cage and raced with strictly limited modifications. The basic good handling,horsepower, and toughness of these cars lend themselves to this endeavor, much to my amusement because the elite car magazines of the day didn’t have much good to say about them.
I had a 83 brougham that was quite not stock, 350/4 barrel on a edlebrock rpm manifold/hooker long tube headers, so on so forth. I was a high school kid with more horsepower than any kid needed, and I racked up the points in exhibition of excel, drag racing, etc. Parents sold it around 2003, just after I graduated. I’ve missed the car, and the feeling it gave me, cruising main on a Fri/Sat nite in second gear as the Flowmasters sang their song. It would be great to find another and build it with my son.
I liked the looks of these in their time. A couple of friends each had one, and I remember their cars being admired out in the parking lot at work. One was used to chauffer co-workers out for lunch on Fridays, those folks liked being seen in the Grand Prix. I haven’t seen one of these in at least ten years.
Looks almost naked without a vinyl roof.
Does anyone still sell green cars? Or make a cut-down door like the ’73-77 (the best part of it)?
Of the quartet of G-special coupes, GM got the styling right with regard to the Sloan hierarchy. None were bad, but the further you went up the division ladder, the better looking car you got.
So it is with the last RWD Grand Prix. It’s okay, but the Cutlass and Regal coupes were better.
Not perfectly for me, I put the Monte Carlo ahead of the GP(in both in regular and especially SS form) although I do think the Pontiac dash is the best of the four
Agreed. It was kind of a toss-up between the last RWD Monte Carlo and Grand Prix, coming down to simply whether you liked Chevys or Pontiacs better.
I’m amazed how many comments there have been, but I’ve contributed a few along the way myself.
One thing bugs me about this car (and its GM cousins) – it suffers the ‘seventies Ford disease’ of too having much length on too little wheelbase. It would look so much better if those front wheels were moved forward about four inches or so. That would give better weight distribution which would improve handling, and it’d be easier to maneuver when parking too. Why did they do that short-wheelbase-with-long-overhang thing?
I think the 5mph bumpers played a major role in that, at least for GM. These G bodies were still designed with them before the law was relaxed, and to better visually integrate them the bodywork was pulled forward and smoothly integrated. Comparatively when you look at a lot of the transitional 73-74 cars with those early battering ram bumpers the overhang doesn’t look disproportionately long on them, the bumper just kind of hangs out on its own to add length.
Speculatively I wonder if it was done for actual crash safety which was becoming more important at the time, using that longer overhang as the intended crumple zone. That seems to be the case in my later MN12 Cougar, it has a similarly long front overhang and all the internal stampings within are accordion shaped.
These cars had loads of space between the bumper and radiator. The long hood thing was a Detroit standard for a couple of decades. It was always about styling. The first generation of these cars in 1978 had 5 MPH bumpers and was a bit shorter. These cars were 200″ long, so not small.
With the V-6 there is plenty of space!
Yeah but GM in the 60s and early 70s typically had proportionally shorter front overhangs with more space between the cowl and wheel opening, compared This 85 from the side compared to a 69 Grand Prix is like a 65 Mustang compared to a Mustang II in terms of wheel placement. The long hood was no doubt for style but there must have been other reasons to reposition the wheels further back
The first car I ever drove was a 1981 Grand Prix similar to this one, also light green inside and out though a different shade, back when public high schools in my state still offered driver education to 15-1/2 year olds. It was a base model, but not quite as stripped down as this one (I don’t think I’ve ever seen an 80s Buick, Olds, or Pontiac personal luxury coupe without A/C, or just an AM radio). Don’t know which engine it had, but my driving impressions, even though I had nothing to compare it to yet, were about the same as described here.
Also, I thought Pontiac had retired this mid-’70s steering wheel design long before this car was made.