Photos by Hyperpack from the Cohort.
For those who are fashion-conscious, a change in trends is always a matter of worry. Even if you’re not into fashion, you know what I mean. Pontiac had certainly been the fashionable brand throughout the ’60s, but by decade’s end, it was clear it was falling behind the times. Neoclassical formality and Brougham were coming in, and the Grand Prix had done quite well in that regard. But what about the rest of the lineup?
As with everything in fashion, some fads fit better in some bodies than others. So how does the Brougham look work on Pontiac’s A-Body that dated to 1969? Did it pull the trick, or did it look like someone desperate to fit in?
Not many of these Luxury LeMans have appeared at CC before. Only once in 2-door form, and a period review of the model (for a deeper look at the model, the links are further down). As explained in the review post, Pontiac was certainly entering a panic phase when the Luxury LeMans appeared. With its profitable mid-size models selling in lesser numbers by the end of the ’60s, a change of tactics was in order.
In that review post, a case is made that Pontiac could have tried to carve a sporty niche aimed at the spirit of the ’70s. Something along the lines of Holden’s Monaro GTS, creating an American take on the rising Sport Coupe segment that many imports were claiming.
Of course, that would’ve taken work and a leap of faith. Instead, the Brougham route was more expedient. And easier.
So for 1972, the Luxury LeMans arrived with all the options the burgeoning segment required; vinyl top, rear-wheel skirts, and Morrokide slathered seats. A good deal of plasti-wood (emulating Ceylon teak) on the dashboard and steering wheel, and a few nifty monograms.
That said, this was still a Pontiac, not an Oldsmobile. As the brochure says “We don’t claim the Luxury LeMans is the absolute luxury car.” Instead, you had to pony up for that. Options to pile on included: A/C, AM/FM radio, power windows, cruise control, and electric doors.
The car’s standard engine was a 350CID V-8, and the top setup was a 455CID V-8 with 4-barrel carburation. Besides that, the hardware options were myriad and it would take a whole post to explore. Needless to say, a Luxury LeMans buyer could option his car in endless ways; some even not so ‘luxurious.’
The Cohort photos come from a large upload of images by Hyperpack, some recent and some vintage. No information on this Luxury LeMans was available in the caption section, but looks to be in some dealer back in the day. Of the Luxury LeMans, this is the rarer 4-door that only moved 8641 units in 1972. This one is missing the rear skirts but carries the proper vinyl top and Luxury LeMans monogram on the C-Pillar.
Regardless of how we may feel about Pontiac’s Brougham turn, the changes did stop the bleeding. Not that the company would ever become trendy again, but hang on it did. As for the Luxury LeMans, I tend to prefer my A-Bodies looking cleaner, but even I wore stonewashed jeans as a teen. Admittedly, I was rather desperate.
Related CC reading:
Curbside Classic: 1972 Pontiac Luxury LeMans – Racing Stripes And A Vynil Roof
Vintage Review & Commentary: 1972 Pontiac Luxury LeMans – Motown’s Mid-Size Rebel Gets Broughamed
Great find and feature. IMO, the two-door ’72 Luxury LeMans looks a lot like a right-sized ’68 Grand Prix, down to the fender skirts and taillamps.
I actually think that out of all the 1968-1972 A-body four door variants, the Luxury LeMans hardtop is the most cohesive / aesthetically pleasing of them all ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
You are correct.
Pontiac lost its mojo during the Brougham Age and couldn’t find it again when the Age ended. Pontiac lovers after 1970 were high on 1960s fumes. The Pontiac snout grew cartoonish, the swoopy rear end grew heavier looking, and Pontiac looked like a Chevy a cheap pimp drove. While there were moments when the padded faux luxury worked, but one could always find an Oldsmobile that was far more legit and had much higher resale.
Pontiac needed to have been euthanized before it got to this point. It was a sporty brand, or nothing at all. The folks who depended upon Pontiac let the brand get pimped out. These decision makers wanted their 1960s gravy train and were unable or unwilling to keep “We Build Excitement” as their mission statement when American buyers grew tired of sporty cars. Yes – in hindsight – Pontiac should have stayed sporty, but it could have lost them business faster. Putting on the Ritz did stem the sales bleeding at the cost of doing to Pontiac what Clipper did to Packard – a hard habit to break once the public sees your brand as a cheap knock off sold out of briefcases on sidewalks.
The early 1970s were tough times for sporty car fashions. Each manufacturer had intermediate cars that looked fast – not luxurious. Look at how hideous Chrysler’s intermediate Coronet and Satellite looked wearing vinyl roofs and hood ornaments. AMC Matador Coupe was hideous as a Barcelona. Buyers did that by switching from pony cars to Cutlasses, Cordobas, and Marks.
So, you are very correct here. Sad to have witnessed it. When Pontiac was finally axed a generation ago, it was long overdue.
This time was certainly well into how GM lost their way. Other than marketing messaging, there really wasn’t that much different between a Broughamy Pontiac or Buick or Olds at that point. Gradually the motoring public was getting the message, and finally with the 1980s A-cars GM finally recognized there could be a problem. The better tactic would’ve been for GM to stay the course with sporty – yes, the volume for that marque might suffer but when so much of it is common parts-bin componentry the volume for the platform isn’t hurt as bad. In the car business, you’d sure HOPE that sporty (if only sporty-looking) would be fashionable again.
In the end, GM trying to make Pontiac their “aimed in the direction of BMW” idea in the 1980s was about the only branding success they had. Oldsmobile never really had a direction and it didn’t help making Buick the “home of brougham” between the Grand National and a “T-Type” of every model in the portfolio.
I believe the delay in the release of the Colonades had something to do with the subject. Originally planned to be introduced in 72, the Grand Am (just recently renamed from GTO) Was hopefully a new tack for Pontiac. A more Eiro expressed road car. A combination of Sporty, with Luxury. and not really either. The delay meant The GM mid sizers had to go another year and very little was done to differentiate them from the 71s. Sure Chevy went with horizontally split front turn signals and a differing grille texture. Pontiac added chrome to the valance under the front bumpers and tossed on all the nascent brougham styling tropes. Vinyl covered roof. Fender skirts, car length chrome trim, etc. But it was still just a Lemans in a knock off evening gown.
As a car, nothing wrong with the Luxury Lemans. I do, however, prefer the car without fender skirts. They’re okay on a large, full-sized car, but not on an intermediate one.
Yep. The “skirts” just don’t do anything for the appearance.
Mention of the Monaro is interesting as GMH did the same thing, Monaro GTS was the hot version Monaro LS was the luxury coupe engine options ranged from a six if you really wanted one and 3 V8s 253,308, or imported 350 cube, and they aped the styling.
Visually I equate the Luxury Lemans with the mid 70s Gran Torino Broughams, there’s a similar bloated jock past its high school football glory days presentation to them, right down to the fender skirts on the 2 door. The Pontiac was a little too early for the battering rams and opera windows fad, but everything else matches to a tee.
Yeah, the 1970-1973 Torino was a great looking car but in 1974 they made it really ugly and it stayed that way through the end of it’s life cycle.
Except that Ford put the skirts on quarter panels with a flaired wheel lip, which I always thought looked awful. The LTDs with skirts had the same problem. The Pontiac skirts integrate more smoothly.
There was, IIRC, a shot similar to the green car in the 3rd (promotional) shot in the Observer’s Book of Automobiles around 1972 or 1973, and I wanted a Le Mans then. I wasn’t yet at grammar (high) school and was in West Yorkshire…..but the appeal is still there.
I sure don’t care for that Brougham look, but I stand by my 71 Pontiac T-37 as the best friend a junior in high school could hope for.
That’s a great car for a high schooler. I like it!
I love the 4-door hardtop Luxury Lemans for ’72 ! I drove one once back in 1978 and they are great road cars ! They resemble the Olds Cutlass and have many of the same options . GeneralMotors has really produced some beautiful scars over the years right ? I think the GM products have the longest life of any American make . The Buicks go almost forever if you take proper care of them . That’s true of any make though . At least I can say I have driven some great luxury cars in my time ! Happy Motoring
It’s hard to believe that the bloated silver LLM 2 door in the ad that’s the second picture from the top, is a sibling of the Cutlasses in Paul’s Cutlass Part 4 episode published later today. I think those 1968-72 A Bodies are a rare example of Oldsmobile consistently coming out on top of the GM styling hierarchy.
I can’t get rid of the sporty image created by the cheerful, brightly colored stripes on the GTO. Seeing her crushed by a vinyl roof and rear skirts makes her deplorable.
The Luxury LeMans reminds me of the old saying, “those who live by the sword, die by the sword.”
And so it was with Pontiac. They were GM’s performance division which absolutely killed in the sixties. But by the seventies, perfromance was all but dead.
And if someone wanted brougham at Pontiac, they went the Grand Prix PLC route. That’s where the Luxury LeMans seemed to be aiming; it was the poor man’s Grand Prix.
It didn’t work. Oldsmobile was well on their way to market dominance with the better-styled Cutlass.
On the lead/feature car from the cohort that Rich kicked the article off with:
We had the 1972 Lemans in the showroom for seemingly all of my childhood years working at my Dad’s Dearship / Carwash near Pittsburgh PA. THat model was there from at least 1989-2002 when this picture was taken. We had a a bit of a GM collection in the showroom at the time, This Pontiac, a 1966 Cutlass in front of it and a 1972 Skylark Convertible behind it.
The Lemans only had a reported 23,000 miles and the interior was near perfect, It had that Sealed old-new car smell when you slid behind the steering wheel. It had the 350 Pontiac 2bbl. and I don’t think I drove it all that much. It must have sold somewhere between 2001 and 2004 after I was working at the shop regularly.
The car was repainted the original olive metallic color and I do not recall if there were skits included in the trunk or not. We never had too many Pontiacs of this vintage at the shop, There were a few others, notably a 1966 GTO all black with a 4-speed, but I have no pictures of that to share in the cohort. Also, I recall Some of the 1973-1978 Models with mid and full-size boxiness that was to follow.
Enjoy!
Interesting that it is the smallest V8 that has the lowest axle ratios.
I am in the process camp on these. The 4 door hardtop was a really attractive body style, and I think the skirts work a lot better than they probably should.
It was one of these (and in this color) that my mother rode in during the summer of 1974 that made her look at the Pontiac dealer when the Olds dealer couldn’t get her a 4 door Cutlass Supreme.
I love Pontiacs from. This era, looks like something Steve McQueen would park in his driveway, Sophistication and strength!