Pity the 4-door, for they have never captured the imagination of collectors like coupes and convertibles have. As such, they’ve slowly but surely faded from the streets. A reality hard to deny when it comes to the 4-door ’68-’72 GM A-Bodies.
I mean, I know they existed and sold. But darn, I just can’t recall the last time I saw one on the street. And if one searches online, they aren’t quite unicorns but they certainly seem to be heading toward that magical land.
I’m not sure if this ’68 4-door LeMans is a visitor from that land, but I do know it is certainly scarce. Only about 9K of these 4-door hardtops were built, with the lesser 4-door Tempests adding another 28K to the numbers. Nowhere near the over 110K 2-door coupe hardtops sold; just in the LeMans nameplate alone.
Needless to say, I was really surprised to see this 4-door LeMans showing up in the Salvadorian FB Marketplace. I mean, where do they hide these cars in this city?
So this 4-door isn’t quite the most exciting offering from the We Build Excitement! division (I know; that sales pitch didn’t arrive until the ’80s). Instead, it is the more luxury-oriented Pontiac mid-sizer (By ’72, full Broughamizing would be achieved).
Playing that upscale role, this LeMans comes with a 350 cid V-8 and a column-mounted 3-speed Turbo-Hydramatic. Said tranny is supposed to be new, along with the carburetion.
On the negative, the walnut-grained paneling around the instruments seems to have been lost or damaged. A blanket also covers the bench seat, but according to the seller the upholstery is in ‘perfect condition’.
Here is the most heroic shot of the car, with some oddly blacked-out folks in the upper right corner (gotta protect those mechanics’ identities!) On the other hand, the body looks pretty straight with what looks to be a recent respray. The whole look is properly menacing.
No price on the sales ad, so it probably ain’t cheap. Then again, how many of these 4-doors are still around?
(Should you care to see the listing, the link is HERE. Keep in mind, this car is in Central America)
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Great piece Rich. And I agree the four door cars don’t get loved on. And yet they were as important on the automotive landscape as two doors. You’ll recall that when I bought my 4 door Cutlass Supreme That my dad noted the same 350 that ran the two doors ran the four doors. He tried to explain to me that I was less of a “police magnet”
If I were going to have, it would have to be a 78 four-door Grand LeMans, with the 301, tilt, cruise, all the power, the handling package and gauges. Ahh to dream.
True, 4-doors don’t seem to be in high regard with collectors, who seem to prefer to travel alone or in pairs at most.
Regardless, it does make owning a 4-door more unique, for those who enjoy them.
What’s not to like? It’s nearly as stylish as the coupe, but much more practical. A nice powertrain and not too big.
This body is a great looker. I prefer the Chevelle. I wonder how likely it is that the car effectively has leather seats as the seller claims.
The Standard Catalog of American Cars says cloth & Morrokide upholstery, choice of bench or notch back seats. Leather was not listed in options.
The ’68-’72 GM A-Bodies appeared to be designed solely as 2-door coupes, with the 4-door looking conspicuously like a lame afterthought. Pontiac pulled it off better than the others, IMHO.
Bonus point if a 1971-72 LeMans 4-door sedan and wagons got the optionnal Endura front end to look like a GTO so you could get a Phantom GTO sedan or wagon. 😉
https://www.motortrend.com/features/hppp-1005-1969-pontiac-firebird-1970-pontiac-lemans/
Agreed. These are probably the worst offender for being a stunner in two door form and very awkward in four door form. They just looked off somehow. So its not super surprising that these would not be ones saved. I like a lot of four doors … just not these ones.
Interesting thing is that these were anything but an afterthought to the two-doors. GM actually spent the money to create a shorter-wheelbase chassis just for the coupes, so the proportions could look right with either two or four doors (the latter including hardtops and wagons). Despite this, the four-doors never were perceived as as stylish as the coupes.
The 4-door hardtop is most unappreciated, looking almost as good as the 2-door ( remember these have a 4 inch wheelbase stretch over their coupe brethren) and way better than the post sedans. A neighbor who was the science department head at my high school had the Buick cousin of the subject car; a 1970 Skylark 4- door hardtop finished in a nice darker shade of blue metalic and a white vinyl top. Always liked that car.
My Dad had a ’68 LeMans wagon in the mid ’70’s and I got to drive it quite a bit. It was a nice sized, nice handling, good looking wagon. Equipped with the 350 2V engine it had plenty of pep.
Wow!! Talk about “rare”! Looks good.
How nice to have found this .
Proof there’s still plenty of undiscovered vintage vehicles out there just waiting to be discovered .
Looking at this makes me think of the early 1970’s with a bunch of young guys blasting through the night…….
-Nate
The 1968-72 GM A body had a real split personality with the 4 door versions. I have always found the 4 door sedans to be awkward and unattractive cars, while the 4 door hardtops (like these) were beautiful.
These always looked best without a vinyl roof, but being made when they were, almost none of them were built that way. I always loved how GM designers had to put a tiny little trim piece at the rear edge of the door to fill in the missing corner of the vinyl roof.
I have no problem with four door cars.
I had a 1966 Olds Cutlass four door sedan and really enjoyed it.
I think this distain for four door cars is just another example of “other guys” syndrome, which is so common in the old car hobby.
Too many guys are worried about what “the guys” will think if you have a four door car. (Most desirable women really don’t care what kind of car you have, or even have a car at all… provided you have other things going for you.)
Have always like these cars, better than the 2-door in fact. Incredibly, height was only 52.3 inches. Quick check of brochures confirms that they did indeed have a wider track than the other brands; an inch more than Chevy and Olds, not quite as much over Buick. Would have ordered one with bucket seats/center console and if available, what appears to have been a forward console with 8-track. Leather and hidden lamps would have been nice too, if only they had been available. And 15s. But definitely no vinyl top.