Photo from the Cohort by nifticus392.
What a streak of hits can do for everlasting fame. When we mourn for Pontiac, there’s no question as to what we’re all mourning; Pontiac of the ’60s. The company had some other moments here and there, but when we long for the marque, it’s mostly that Golden Age. So how about revisiting that period once more, with this one shot of a ’64 Grand Prix?
This is admittedly, not my favorite Pontiac of the period. But does it matter? The themes the marque played with during that age were taut and masculine; with variations that are fun to check out and choose from. One might nitpick on a fender’s sculpting, or prefer one beak over another, etc. But just about each Pontiac of that era is rewarding style-wise.
In the case of the ’62-’64 Grand Prix, the ’63 seems the cleanest to most, including myself. However, if handed the keys to this ’64, I would grab them in a heartbeat. Even in this not-ideal white-red two-tone.
About 63,810 units of the GP were produced for ’64, almost 10K less than in ’63. By ’65 the GP would start gaining weight and gradually deviate from its original mission as a performance-oriented grand tourer. The model was about to get slightly lost in the woods for a while, before striking back with a vengeance in ’69.
But don’t misunderstand me. I find just about any ’60s Pontiac awfully attractive. I may have my favorites, but in the end, it’s really hard to pick from an age filled with hits.
Further reading:
CC Outtake: 1964 Pontiac Grand Prix – Almost A GM Greatest Hit
Great pic! I do find this red a bit intense on such a sober-looking design. A darker red, closer to the dashboard on the adjacent Barracuda, might look more elegant and flattering on this Poncho.
I say the 8-lugs it’s sporting more than make up for the dubious color scheme…
That IS a very bright colour! My 1964 Parisienne conv. was a salmon (pinkish) colour. I drove that for a few years in the mid-1970s.
The Matchbox 1964 Grand Prix was painted that color (without the white roof). That had to have been one of the most popular Matchbox cars ever made.
Intense red on die cast cars, makes them naturally more appealing to kids. A too intense red on a life-sized car, looks almost forced, and unflattering. Seems unnaturally vibrant in this example. Just my take.
These were important cars in that period and I agree the ’63 was the best. Darker colors are the most complementary. It has been noted here that a styling influence was Lancia I believe. I also think the ’59 and ’60 “linear look” Lincolns had an influence.
Younger readers might think these are even bland. It was the removal of chrome and the clean lines with bucket seats and console that made these influential in their own way, and Ford certainly looked at these while designing the ’65 full size cars.
Stylish, comfortable, and, if one checked the right boxes on the order sheet, outstanding performers.
If someone could get that Barracuda fixed up, I’ll take that one for a drive. 🙂
I love sixties Pontiacs. Pontiac was certainly on a roll during that decade. The ’64 Grand Prix is one of my favorites. I know I’m in the minority, but I prefer the ’64 GP to the ’63. I think the rectangular parking lamps are a better fit with the overall design than the round ones of ’63, and I prefer the rear end styling of the ’64. Additionally, to my eye, the ’64 quarter panels are slightly lower at the top edge, and taper downward toward the rear of the car a bit more, giving the whole car a “lighter” appearance. But I love the ’63s too.
Love the 60s Grand Prixs. Was Lucky to have a parent who favored them. Mom got a nocturne Blue 63 And loved it. Dad gave her a new GP every 2 years after. Neighbors had a 64 in Silver. looked very elegant, as silver cars were quite a rarity ,then. one thing I noticed in comparing the 2 are most of the body panels interchange, save for the pulled midline feature on the rear quarters of the 64. Another thing was the obvious tacked on trim piece across the rear and on the lower edge of the deck lid. Though the 64 had a squared off deck lid, if you looked underneath the body colored trim, you would see the still rounded corners of the 63. Great cars, still exude 60s elegance, Helped of course by those great AF&VK pieces of advert art.
I especially loved this year of GPs in my yute. We had a family that lived around the corner that had an off-white one with a light interior with those 8 lug wheels that, to my eye, was near perfection.
We had a family friend who managed a Delco plant in Anaheim and he always got us in to see their private display of the new GM models and remember seeing these, every new Impala SS and the split window Corvette Stingray when they were released.
In addition to the 1960s being the glory days of Pontiac, they’re also the heyday of Pontiac advertising (the two are of course intertwined). Forget the cars themselves for a moment and look how far Grand Prix advertising had fallen from the wonderful 1964 Art Fitzpatrick/Van Kaufman drawing shown here to this awful Grand Prix advertisement from 1981:
I have always loved the ’62-68 Pontiac Grand Prix especially the 63-64 models. Other automakers were quick to copy this car but then again can you blame them?
Noted on another Internet board: This car has Pontiac Catalina headlight bezels. They’re chrome. Real Grand Prix had body color (as in the advertisement). Still a great-looking car, but the body color headlight bezels are sleeker looking.
Unfortunately all the younger readers will be able to remember about Pontiac were all those fleet spec Grand Ams. Funny, how the glory days of the ’60’s are all that I can remember.
I had the exact vehicle when I was in high school I love the dual exhaust good running car
Nice! I will confess, though, that this really hot red paint might be enough to make me pass on the car if I were looking for such a thing. As a natural born contrarian, I am used to being on the outside of many popular trends, and bright red cars is just one more of those areas. Out of the 30 cars in my past, only two have been red – the 61 Thunderbird (which I repainted its original white) and the Miata (try to find an early Miata that is NOT red).
Nice. I’d still prefer a ‘63 GP in black, but no complaints about that ‘64, though, again, I prefer a darker colour. I always liked the ‘60’s Pontiacs, and the ‘63-‘64 models are my favourites.