I was on on my way to the office on a Sunday morning, and decided to stop and get some breakfast. In the parking lot of the breakfast joint was this interesting Pontiac Grand Prix survivor. I am not normally a GM person, but growing up I think most people acknowledged that the GM G-body coupes from 1978-1987 were the exception to the malaise era. Generally well-built and solidly engineered, neither oversized nor prematurely shrunken, even in coupe form they had a comfortable interior for front and rear passengers.
The G-Body coupe was produced as the Chevrolet Monte Carlo (and related El Camino ‘ute), the Pontiac Grand Prix, the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, and the Buick Regal. In the case of the Chevy, Oldsmobile, and Buick, these cars represent perhaps the pinnacle of that particular model, a peak both in terms of sales and reputation that has not since been equaled. People started to bring Monte Carlos of that era to classic car meets almost the year they went out of production, the Buick Grand National/GNX/Regal T-type is perhaps the last Buick to have won general respect from the car crowd, and the Cutlass Supreme of that era is perhaps The Definitive Oldsmobile, achieving a level of popularity almost imaginable now.
The Pontiac Grand Prix from that era is a bit different, in that The Definitive Grand Prix is almost certainly from an earlier era, from the first (1962-1968) or second (1969-1972) generations. The Grand Prix of the 1978-1987 era, especially in coupe form, filled a niche and filled it very well – a bit more upscale than the Chevy, a bit sportier than the Oldsmobile or the Buick, and probably the most direct competitor to the Ford Thunderbird, which for most of this era was suffering a bit of an identity crisis, until the Aero-Birds came along in 1983.
This particular example is from 1986. I found the owner, Fred, eating breakfast inside, and he graciously popped the hood and let me get some shots of the interior as he told me the story. Fred bought it brand-new in Pennsylvania in 1986, and it came with him when he moved out to California on a whim sometime shortly afterwards. Fred still drives it regularly, though mostly around town, which accounts for the relatively low mileage of approximately 80,000 miles.
It has the optional 4.3 L Chevy V-6, introduced the year before in the Monte Carlo and new to the Grand Prix for this year. Fred told me it had the 4-speed automatic and gets good gas mileage (in the 20’s) though as average freeway speeds have continued to increase he doesn’t find the engine quite powerful enough for regular freeway use. But it’s fine for around-town use.
And it has a T-Top, which Fred really enjoys. The vinyl top has not navigated the ravages of time as well as the rest of the car.
It’s increasingly difficult for Fred to get the appropriate large-letter tires. He’s bought a few sets and stored them.
Fred told me the car has spent it’s entire life outside, which accounts for the faded paint, the cracked vinyl top (according to Fred, he learned a bit too late that Armor-All has alcohol in it and is not a great friend to vinyl tops), and the degraded state of the interior. But have no fear, Fred is a frequent purveyor of pick-a-parts and Ebay, and has acquired a new interior and a new vinyl top. These will be installed when time permits.
But first, the Grand Prix has a job to do – in one of his trips to a pick-a-part he acquired a collection of vintage factory GM radios, which he is selling on Ebay. But first, he has to test each one, which is why the Grand Prix instrument panel is partially disassembled. It features the round dial gauges which John Delorean insisted upon for the earlier generations, and which Pontiac highlighted in their advertisements.
The paint is another thing – it was originally a dark burgundy, you can still see the original, unfaded, color in the door jam. However, the paint isn’t peeling nor is there noticeable rust, the paint is faded but not damaged. The car may never get repainted, it may just slowly fade to an even browner brown. And that might just be the appropriate thing – the Grand Prix is a faded but noble reminder of a time, and a brand, which no longer exists.
Although I’m ambivalent about these it is good to see someone keeping it on the road. Fred might want to rethink acquiring and storing tires; obviously the tires won’t get worn sitting in a garage but over time the rubber will definitely start to degrade. Eventually the tires will reach a point where they aren’t safe to use, regardless of how much tread remains.
Best place to store tires long-term is in a dark, damp basement. Depending on where in California this is, that might be easier said than done.
As a Pennsylvania native, I immediately noticed the PA inspection stickers in the opening shot. And somehow it doesn’t completely surprise me that this car originated from there because it seems I see more 1980s Grand Prix during occasional visits to PA then I see anywhere else combined.
I, for one, liked the Grand Prix. In an era when Cutlass Supremes and Regals were absolutely everywhere, the Grand Prix was not. Even though the main difference was probably that dash panel full of round gauges, it was still enough to set it apart.
And wow — those T-tops. I haven’t seen a G-special with T-tops in ages.
This car has an interesting option combination – the 4.3/700R4 drivetrain combo is the first I’ve seen in a Grand Prix and nice to see it in a T-top, floor shift car. Cool.
I didn’t know about the Chevy 4.3L/700R4 option for the final two years of the G-special; I thought all you could get were the standard Buick 3.8L V6 or the Chevy 305 V8.
Regardless, the styling of the final G-special definitely improved across the board from the previous A-special, with the Regal and Cutlass ‘shovel-noses’ coming across as the best. I know Ford kept going with their T-Bird and Mark ‘aero-coupes’ for another decade but, to me, the G-special was the end of the line for what was once the best-selling, traditional, RWD domestic coupe.
The feature car seems like a nice survivor and it’s good the owner intends on preserving and keeping it that way.
“I didn’t know about the Chevy 4.3L/700R4 option for the final two years of the G-special”
Yes, it was available but a pretty weak choice with only 140 net HP. Now I understand the owners concern about expressway driving.
Actually it should have the 200R-4. As far as I know and remember the 700R-4 never was installed in a G-body mid size. It did go in the F-body and B-body cars along with the Corvette.
The Chevy 4.3 TBI V6 was introduced part way through the 1986 model year on the G-body Bonneville/Grand Prix rated for 140 HP and 225 torque and then bumped to 145 HP for 1987/88 on the Monte Carlo/Caprice/ElCamino.
Motor Trend actually did a direct comparison of 2 4 door Caprice Classics, one with the revised 165 HP 305 and the other with the new 130 HP 4.3 TBI V6. The acceleration numbers were surprising to them from what I remember with the 4.3 only being a couple of tenths slower to 60. If my memory serves the 4.3 did 10.6 seconds and the 305 did 10.4. Where the 305 shined was in highway passing power but on the lower end it was nearly a draw.
It’s amazing to me how, some 30 years later, the coupe (and/or 2-door sedan, depending on how pedantic you want to be) is all but GONE in the US market. What was once the most desirable body style effectively no longer exists, aside from a small handful of pricey German coupes. I guess practicality has overwhelmed style.
Honda Civic is the only one that comes to mind, as far as cars that are available as both coupes and sedans. Dodge Challenger maybe if you consider the Charger the 4 door equivalent.
I didn’t even know the Civic is still sold as a coupe. I can’t recall ever seeing one of the current generation.
I think it’s a stretch to call the Challenger a “Charger coupe” – they just share a platform. The Falcon and the Mustang shared a platform, too, but nobody called the Mustang a “Falcon coupe”.
Don’t be so sure! Chevrolet was hoping it would become known as the “Falcon Mustang”
I thought the Charger and Challenger had the same basic interior, but there are slight differences in the shape of the dash and door panels.
The coupe bowed at least a year after the sedan, so it took a while to start showing up. I now see them fairly often in L.A.
Here’s mine… so yes, it is still sold as a coupe. (The 2019 is pretty much the same as my 2016)….
Supposedly the Civic coupe will go away when the next-generation Civic debuts.
Personally, I hope Honda comes to its senses brings back the Accord coupe for the 2020 refresh.
Maybe they’ll realize that hindsight is 2020….. ok, I’ll show myself out now.
😉
I think the last 2-door sedan (that is, a 2-door vehicle that shares the roofline of a 4-door sedan) sold in the US was the 2005 Toyota Echo, though it wasn’t explicitly marketed as such, simply as a “2-door.”
2010 Ford Focus
Also 2016 (2017?) VW Golf, if you include hatchbacks
Spot on with the 2008-10 Focus! The 2-door model was marketed as a coupe, but from what I can tell, its roofline was identical to the 4-door sedan, which makes it a 2-door sedan.
The published specs for height and interior headroom/legroom are the same for the 2 door and 4 door, so I think yes. The “coupe” must have been a slow seller because Ford didn’t bother making them for this generation’s final year in 2011.
I don’t think that practicality has overcome style. I think that production efficiencies have overcome style.
US car buyers have rejected two-door cars.
Once upon a time, most US car makers did most of their volume on one chassis. Everything from family haulers to glamorous convertibles were built on the same bones. Two-door design indicated that the car wasn’t a family hauler (at least not a big family). Now, cars that aren’t big family haulers are smaller than big family haulers. A new Civic sedan with fancy wheels says “I’m youthful and sporty!” like a 283/PG Impala SS coupe did in 1963. This trend has been visible for 50 years; full-size bucket-seat models died when smaller fancy cars (like the Cutlass Supreme and Monte Carlo) appeared in the same showrooms.
Also, trucks and SUVs have siphoned off a lot of the youthful-sporty image market. As an example, the Wrangler sells about as many new units as the Camaro, Mustang, Challenger, Corvette, and Miata combined, and has much more demand in the used market. 50 years ago, imported two-seat sports cars probably exceeded the CJ in sales, and the Mustang and its ilk sold over a million units per year in a much smaller new-car market. Today, the Wrangler and comparable vehicles have replaced two-door coupes and convertibles as the default idea of a “sports car.”
It’s amazing, given that, that today the Wrangler has no direct competition in the US, whereas 50 years ago there was the Toyota FJ Land Cruiser, Nissan Patrol, Land Rover Series I/II/III, and maybe the original Ford Bronco and IH Scout.
I think Detroit’s attempt to replace true coupes with 2 door sedans with the same stiff roofline as the 4 doors in the early 80s (think GM A, B, C, and N bodies and Chrysler’s K car vs Aspen/Volare) hurt sales of 2 door cars. Note that GM backtracked some, appending a sleeker coupe roofline to the Ciera, Century, and H body Delta 88 and LeSabre circa 1986, but by then those cars had a geriatric image that repelled young people.
50 years ago, two-seat sports cars probably outsold all of those CJ-like vehicles combined.
Full size 4WD trucks and carryalls were still mostly utilitarian work vehicles for ranchers, geologists, etc; the take rate on 4WD was less than 5 percent.
The funny trend that everyone noticed at the time was that introducing new CJ-like vehicles didn’t hurt sales of existing products. The market happily absorbed new models, even if they hadn’t taken the maximum output of existing products.
I think that the explosion of relatively youthful volume sedans like the Accord, Camry, and Taurus (yes, it was that different from traditional US products) killed the coupe market. Younger buyers liked them fine, and didn’t need a two-door version to distinguish themselves from fuddy-duddy cars.
50 years ago, the Corvette alone outsold the CJ.
If you are wondering where lot of 1970s cars have disappeared. Blame it on the TV producers of CHiPs (1977-1983). I finally came across the six series with subtitles (they weren’t subtitled when originally aired at that time) and watched the episodes over a year.
I couldn’t believe lot of awesome cars getting wrecked and dumped. Had the people know about their values, they would probably hide them until the right time to let them loose at the auction houses.
That’s a a great point made above about how this generation of GP is tolerated by Pontiac fans while this generation of Cutlass, Regal or MC is beloved by fans of those marques. I remember having that same reaction, never warming to these as I did the others. But maybe that’s because I never spent time inside one, and never saw that fabulous dash every day.
And who here misses those GM lacquer paint jobs, raise your hand. What? Nobody? I’ll bet that if Fred took a few days and buffed that paint to within an inch of its life he might see some of the old color back. If he could stop right before he hit the primer coat, that is. That stuff used to “chalk” something fierce.
The “chalky look” appeared on the hood of my parents’ 1982 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale four-door sedan. This was even though the car was garaged regularly, and given regular washes and wax applications, as well.
These were handsome, but they placed fourth out of four when it came to ranking GM’s mid-size personal luxury coupes (the Cutlass Supreme came first, in my opinion). The 1981 facelift was one time that the restyled version of each division’s offering was a considerable improvement over the original. The Monte Carlo and Grand Prix were definitely the most improved.
I really liked the relatively clean, taut implementation of the Grand Prix’s cues on the downsized 78 models instead of the fussy stying details on the other coupes (for example, the stubby fender blisters on the Monte Carlo). For 81, Pontiac went fussy and all of the other brands went clean and taut.
The Regal was clean and taut in both iterations, though perhaps ever so slightly more in ’81-87 guise due to the flush rear quarter windows.
I liked the early Malibu and (especially) LeMans coupes better than any of the G-specials though.
The GP had the best interior of any of the A/G bodies, with that spectacular aircraft-like instrument panel and wraparound console, and unique full-length door armrests not shared with any other G body, including the LeMans and Grand Am. I’m less enthusiastic about the exterior styling though. Pontiac was clearly cribbing the 1963 Grand Prix in the Coke-bottle side contours, particularly under the opera window, while the hood and decklid hark back to the ’73-77 Colonade GPs. But those design cues don’t work as well on this shorter, stubbier car. I also prefer the interior decor earlier in the G body run, 1978-83. In 1984 they tried to make it look more like newer Pontiacs like the 6000 and Fiero, with coarser upholstery in simple patterns, grey plastic trim, and less chrome and woodgrain. The older plusher interiors were nicer, whether the loose-cushion bench seats or the Viscount buckets with see-through headrests (also a GP exclusive amongst G bodies).
I never found the GP less sporty than the Regal; quite the opposite as the Pontiac never had a turbo V6 or any counterpart to the Grand National.
It’s funny how the Grand National got the hot turbo engine, but the performance-division Pontiac had the proper sport interior and instrumentation. In fact, the GN’s tachometer was a small, rectangular, ribbon thing underneath an old-school, pointer-and-scale speedometer.
In a perfect world, the GN would have had the Grand Prix’ gauge package or, conversely, the GP would have gotten the Buick’s turbo engine.
The ’87 GNX finally got a proper full set of round gauges. GNX-type instrumentation clusters for other G body Century/Regals are available through the aftermarket, as are various digital clusters that don’t look like anything from the factory.
1978-83 Regals had nicer gauges, 3 or optionally 5 square silver gauges, I think including a tach as an option, rather than the later horizontal speedometer or optional digital readout used ’84-’87.
Pontiac was a stickler for full instrumentation in that era, at least as an option.
I’ve seen G body dashboard swaps, including someone here who put a Pontiac dash into a Malibu. Apparently it’s fairly easy as long as both cars are the same or similar year. I agree with you, GN (or actually, the 1987-only Regal Limited with the GN’s turbo engine and suspension) with a Grand Prix interior would be my ultimate G body.
I’m going to guess that the popularity of the Grand National surprised Buick. They must have figured in the planning stages that the expected low sales numbers didn’t justify a model-specific dash which, from what I understand, is one of the most expensive parts of a car to engineer and develop.
Coupled with a line of cars that was living on borrowed time, well, I suppose it makes financial sense (something GM was always big on) that the GN didn’t get a proper, sporty dash. The GNX might have gotten a decent dash, but I think those cars were outsourced and uber pricey, too.
As for a funky G-special dash, one need only check out the gauges on the 442. Yeah, they got full instrumentation, but you needed a magnifying glass to read them.
Great chic magnet back in the day. My kid brother had one in a monotone light grey. Stunning! So were some of the chic’s he brought home.
Quite a nice style of car, a nice design. Great find. At a breakfast joint no less!
Does anyone remember what the black lever in the door jam did?
Prevent the seatbelt from rolling up and sitting too tight.
Perhaps comfortable, but not the safest way to wear a seatbelt.
I have a ’78 GP SJ 301 4-bbl. Still runs beautifully, body deteriorated fast! Interior too! Factory sunroof, can’t find parts for any of it. The metric GP fell through the cracks as far as popularity goes. I had a ‘71,72,77, & 78. ’78 was special, as I gave it to my mother for Mother’s day ’88. Wish I could get “Overhauled!”
A friend owned a similar Grand Prix, only blue.
I had a 81 grand prix for 10 years
.motor not very good..had the267.pontiac motor in it..very weak .I liked the car..and color…these cars are good projects.motors junk.
.think the probs.shot down these cars..my 84.monte.ss has a 305 and is decent but getting age on it..the carb.is awful. But corn.oil.doesnt.help it..just hard to keep these old cars going..my 2015 Lt.impala is a much better ride..rj
The Grand Prix was really treated as the loser of the four G-Body coupes in the 80s, wasn’t it? Sure, there was the 2+2 but there were no turbos, no wild performance versions, etc.
I much, much prefer the ’78-80 frontend as I thought the ’81 facelift – unlike the other ’81 G-Body coupes – made it look worse. It’s just so staid, it makes me think of a nondescript gate or fence. Meanwhile, the Buick was gorgeous and the Olds had that sexy sloped nose. Even the Monte looked better!
Of course, it’s flipped all around once you get inside. The Pontiac had the nicest interior of the quartet by far. Love the dash.
Great to see this survivor out and about!
Great piece, Jerome. So wonderful to see a survivor GP of this vintage with t-tops (and original owner!).
I’ll concur that, for whatever reason(s), this generation of Grand Prix tends not to get the same level of adoration ladled on it as its G-Body platform-mates. I like these just fine.
Is that steering wheel original? Looks like it came out of a later model 6000 or something to me.
I was gonna say “No,” but I took a look and sure enough it is original (see attached image from the ’85 brochure). BTW- I’m not a fan.
The interior image isn’t clear, but the black insert you see DOES NOT have buttons. Instead, it’s a black rubber insert with thumb indentations.
That’s weird, because my Dad had an ‘85 Grand Prix, and I seem to recall a much better looking steering wheel than the one pictured there, Dave.
I remember the round gauges and really liked them, but IIRC correctly, the wheel had three spokes and a round horn button with the Pontiac arrow head emblem on it.
But then that was 30 years ago now. Who knows. Maybe he had a nicer model, but I thought his was LE or SE trim. Blue over Silver Two-Tone; no T-Tops or Vinyl; 3.8L V6; and turbine looking wheel covers. It was a really pretty car. One of my favorite of his many cars over the years.
That was the LE trim level sport steering wheel. It was an option on the base cars too and many were equipped with it especially with the optional bucket seats. The Brougham trim level kept the old 3 spoke wheel with the round center compete with Pontiac badge.
My older brother’s loving reminisce could have been summarized and restated thusly: “Grand Prix, huh? More like ‘Bland Pee’.”
I love you, big brother, but c’mon. It’s like eulogizing a dung beetle.