I was stopped at a stop sign a couple of weeks ago when I noticed what appeared to be a late-’60s full-size Pontiac sitting in a driveway across the railroad tracks. I was driving my mother’s car and thus had no camera, but I did make a mental note to go back and get a picture. When I first spotted it (from a couple of hundred yards away), I thought it was probably a ’68 Bonneville. As it turned out, I was in the ballpark–but it wasn’t a Bonnie.
It was a particularly nice afternoon last Sunday, so I decided to go for a drive–and eventually found myself back near that Pontiac. By now, you Poncho aficionados undoubtedly have noticed it’s a Grand Prix, one of 37,125 GP hardtops built that year, and looking particularly fetching in aqua with a black top. It appeared to be pretty solid too, though it looks like it hasn’t been driven in a while. I regret that I wasn’t able to get a shot of the nose, as the ’67 GP front-end styling was the best of that year’s big Pontiacs. A convertible would have been an even cooler find (only 5,856 were built in the GP drop-top’s only year), but I was perfectly happy finding this hardtop. And I found an even more amazing car that very day–indeed, it may well be my CC Find Of The Year. But you’ll just have to stay tuned for that one…
In Canada we had the Grand Parisienne, which was superficially similar but lacked the US details such as ventless glass and hidden wipers. Of course, the wheelbase was 2 inches shorter to accomodate the Chevy underpinnings.
But having this in a 4-door hardtop or even a cool wagon almost made up for it.
I thought that background in the ad looked familiar. I went to Expo 67 as a teenager.
The wagon
So the GP front end was on the wagon and sedan in Canada?
Yes.
We also had the Custom Sport, although I’m not sure what year it went out of production.
The Custom Sport morphed into the 2+2 in ’67, and continued thru ’70.
Cool find. These were always kind of mysterious to me. In those years, between extended family and neighbors, I was surrounded by all kinds of Pontiacs, but never a GP. These always seemed a little exotic to me, but only a little, as it was plain that they were still basically a regular big Pontiac. Looking at this one afresh, it might be my favorite of the 67s.
My folks were Bonneville folks. But I always thought this year of GP was the best of the 1960s Pancho lineup. Perfect proportions and beautiful lines.
Very cool. Nice hips on that one too.
I think I’d like the 67 drop top to add to the fantasy garage.
Nice find.
And isn’t that Don Draper’s latest wife in the passenger seat? I’m hoping that once I get my ’60’s car back on the road Mrs DougD will indulge me with a date in period dress and hairdo. However, since my ’60’s car is a 40hp Beetle the overall effect may be diluted somewhat….
Speaking of Don Draper, I wonder what kind of car they’ll put him in this season. 68 Eldorado is the natural choice.
There appears to be a circa Tempest or LeMans next to it…
My second favorite GP (first is the 63). The folks I worked for in high school had a business that was doing well and traded their well-worn 64 Cutlass 4-door sedan for a new 67 Grand Prix hardtop, burgundy with black vinyl top like the one in the artwork above. It was a great looking car, more handsome than the green Riviera that replaced it three years later. I loved the hidden headlights, sleek lines, clean but classy interior and the unique taillight lenses. The rare convertible version is in the Smithsonian; this car was driven through 49 states in 150K miles:
http://amhistory.si.edu/onthemove/collection/object_27.html
Another beauty,you’ll be making a full size enthusiast of me!
Cant say Ive seen that particular model but I shot a 67 Laurentian for the cohort in that colour, Nice.
Beautiful car, beautiful color! I’d take one without the vinyl top though.
I agree that the GP had the most attractive front end of the ’67 large Pontiacs.
Although the Grand Prix Henry Hill drove in Goodfellas was a ’68, the ’67 is close enough to make the list of the last, great, full-size Grand Prixes before the second coming with Delorean’s brand-new for ’69 personal luxury coupe. Yeah, the ’69 and later cars are classics, but there’s something about those earlier cars with the big back seats that are every bit as cool. They just have a certain kind of big-car presence that really says it all about the sixties.
in real life, it was a ’67 Catalina convert, according to the Wise Guy book by Pileggi.
He ended up scrapping it because he couldn’t get the smell out after digging up Billy Bats and moving his remains elsewhere.
That’s an interesting factoid on Pileggi’s corpse transportation Pontiac.
I have no doubt that Scorsese used the Grand Prix coupe in the movie instead of the correct Catalina ‘vert because the headliner of a convertible would have been unfinished with the headliner ribs being black (even if the top was white). Cars with (complete) white interiors show up best in movies for rear seat shots, and it’s important for that camera angle.
I think it might have been Tarantino who first figured it out as the cars’ white interiors were very noticeable in his first movies that had scenes focused on rear seat passengers.