Here’s a real treat. A 1968 Pontiac LeMans that is–yes, really folks–STILL a LeMans!
I will posit that original LeManses are scarcer these days than GTOs of an eqivalent model year, thanks to all the “restorers” that have turned Tempests, LeManses and LeMans Sports into fake GTOs. No, sir, your car is not a “tribute,” it is fake. Fakey, fakey fake.
Which is why I like this one, with column shift, bench seat and only a nice set of Crager SS wheels to set it off. Nice ride!
I’m with you on the “tribute” business. I would much rather see an authentic vehicle, even if it’s of a lesser, everyday trim level.
My father had a 69 LeMans that he had purchased new. Insurance rates being what they were he was 39 or 40 when he bought it, it was 33% cheaper to order a LeMans with a 400 4 speed and all the goodies than to get the GTO which was nearly $800 more.
I too prefer original cars. Keeping a car as God made it (or man) flaws included are what is part of the historical significance of keeping an old car. Only a limited number of people ever purchased all the “special” versions of cars, most were content with more plebian versions, those are were most of the memories are.
Another vote for your position. Yes indeed, Pontiac made nothing but GTOs, and there was never any engine in a Mopar B body than a 426 Hemi or a 440 6 pack. I am sick, sick, sick to death of those cars.
I guess this is one of the reasons I stay so far away from “classic muscle cars”, because they seem to be 75% fakes and/or tributes.
There is a 68 Lemans hardtop that sits at a mechanic’s shop near me, and I keep failing to stop to shoot some pictures. Thanks for reminding me that I need to go see if its still there.
I recently did the Hot Rod power tour in my ’77 Chevelle sedan. Nothing special really, just a box-stock grandma looking Malibu Classic trimmed sedan in faded green paint, complete with a snooze-fest box-stock 305 under the hood (right down to the 2bbl carb!)
Out of the field of I’m guessing 4,000 cars by the time it was all said and done, it was the only four door I saw, and one of 6 73-77 GM A-bodies there.
People were attracted to it in droves, just because it was a box stock car, not a shiny trailer-queen 68-72 SS. I started to get that way myself, looking for the unusual cars rather than the 18 dozen more common muscle cars.
Maybe someday genuine Tempests will be so rare that their value will exceed those of a GTO, and GTO owners will turn them back into Tempests, or Tempest clones, depending.
And repainted in their original beige or light green? 🙂 Waiter, another drink for my friend here.
I can only hope. What people don’t realize is that, fifty years from now, nobody’s going to know what the low end and mass-market models looked like because very few people could be bothered to save them.
If so, all those guys that pirated the big blocks out of fullsize Mopars to put them in their B and E-bodies will be crying in their beers that they wrecked TWO valuable cars.
That is a known problem in the Imperial community, many Imps are purchased cheap for their premium mechanicals. Confirmed by a recent former recycle yard dedicated to Imperial in California that would regularly get calls from other Mopar owners looking for parts. Many an Imperial TNT 440 made it’s way into a lesser car.
This reminds me of another problem with pre-1967 Imperials, and that’s that the heavy-duty BOF construction of those cars made them kings of the demolition derby circuit and virtually indestructible, to the point they were eventually outlawed because they were so overwhelmingly dominant.
I seriously doubt that. The thing is that a GTO, an SS and others are not just rare cars and worth a lot of money,but they were built to be very desirable. They were made to let people dream about them. Not everybody would say that about a tempest or a 6 cylinder camaro.
Thanks for enlightening me!
Thank you Tom,a beautiful car and colour.Fake(not tribute) muscle cars are a pet hate of mine.I dread to think how many fake GTOs,Roadrunners,Superbees and the like are out there.
Nice, and I just love the color!
There’s a fake ’66 Olds Vista Cruiser 442 that has made the rounds here and is now for sale. Thanks to oldcarbrochures.com, it was easy to verify that my memory was correct — 442s were always coupes or convertibles.
It’s one thing to make a combination that anyone (or at least, anyone who’s been around) would know was never sold new – GTO-ed out LeMans wagons and such come to mind. If you’re doing something like that for your own amusement, I can see the humor in it. But clones, tributes, etc. are another story… don’t build a lie, let ’em be what they are (or at least something close to it).
Very nice! Chrome grille/bumper beats a painted one any day in my books.
Completely agree.
Locally, a gearhead just finished restoring a 56 Ford. Great job except for the painted bumpers. Just doesn’t seem right.
One time on another site, blogger assumed a GTO was fake since “They didn’t come with column shifters/bench seats”. After many replies of ‘Uh huh they did’ so called expert ate crow.
When / if I eventually restore my ’65 Skylark convertible, it’s staying a base model just like it was built- column shift, bench seat, wire hubcaps, and all.
When we sell grandma’s ’72 Skylark 350 coupe it will be interesting if if becomes a fake GS. It has buckets, but no console and has column shift, apparently common back then. Such an original car, wire wheel covers and all, it would be a shame.
Can we see a couple of pics before you sell it?
It’s comforting to see this kind of hate 🙂
My father bought a Marina blue 1967 Malibu 2-door many years ago from some body shop near Birmingham, AL. It was a very clean car and kind of neat because it was a factory bucket seat console car originally. Unfortunately the original 283/powerglide was replaced by a disappointing 327 4bbl and THM350 and OF COURSE those freakin’ rally wheels. At least it didn’t have the chinatown repop “disc brake” center caps.
So the car wasn’t perfect but it was pretty close to being legit anyway. When he tired of it and sold it, the next owner immediately yanked the drivetrain & put a 427 and powerglide in it. That guy sold it to another crew who finished it off by building a fake SS427 out of it…hood, generica disc brake ctr caps, etc. China evidently makes Chevelle SS427 grille emblems now. Sad.
Paul’s above comment tickled me kind of. I think if I won the lottery I’ll buy a fully loaded ’67 SS396 Chevelle, yank its drivetrain & install that (back?) in a ’67 Caprice or Impala sedan.
The Chevelle would get a proper bench seat, a 283-2/3-on-tree and these pictured wheelcovers. Having the story Sharpied on a giant mirror & accompanying pics ought to cause a stir at the car show.