The big sport-ish car was definitely a thing in the early ’60s, a market in which Pontiac had been an innovator. Products like the ’62 Grand Prix and the genre-defining ’64 GTO had famously made the brand a trendsetter.
Of course, by mid-decade everyone in Detroit had caught on and the market was flooded with choices. Also, the buying public’s taste was shifting. The youthful ’60s were mutating into a luxury-oriented decade, and Pontiac had to find a way to stand out from the crowd.
Like most of Detroit, Pontiac knew how to add options and plushness to their cars. One could accuse the brand of following the ’65 LTD trend, if it wasn’t because Pontiac had already done such a take on their ’64 Bonneville Brougham. Indeed, Pontiac had been ahead of the trend, but failed to ignite the crowd and thus, any claims for being the innovators.
Still, the luxury theme was clearly what was speaking to the public, and Pontiac was to offer it in a “sporty” manner. The updated line of ’67 spoke to that idea; with the ’67 Grand Prix offering a compelling package in that department.
On Car Life’s review of the ’67 Grand Prix, reviewers were impressed with the brand’s reinvention efforts. Pontiac’s new models attempted to bridge the gap between understated luxury and “sportiness”; a mission testers felt the car delivered.
To begin, the visual matters. The car’s exterior wore an understated Coke-bottle exterior, with retro-looking skirts, a vinyl top, and a sporty face. The interior refrained from being overtly bordello, offering plush accommodations, but still purposeful and driver-oriented. The upscale luxury trimmings around the cabin were kept under control, with ergonomics being fairly functional. Finally, passenger accommodations were found to be quite good -which they better have been; the GP was a large car.
Across the review there’s quite a bit of noise on two matters; the cabin’s quietness and the car’s clear ample view ahead -the result of Pontiac’s new model being among the first GM products offered without vent windows (after the ’66 Riv and Toronado). It was wide-screen viewing, in keeping with Pontiac’s terminology.
On the cabin’s quietness, Pontiac’s well-muffled 400cid V8 gets a large part of the credit for the results. After all, Pontiac’s 400/350 powerplant was “another in GM’s family of unobtrusive, mild-mannered brutes…” As befitting the car’s nature, the engine’s nature was attuned to operate at a whisper. The upgrades revolved around updated gearing and other tweaks to the engine’s 4-barrel arrangement; from balance enhancements to additional sound muffling touches.
CL’s GP was optioned with GM’s renowned Turbo Hydra-Matic and provided “crisp and quiet service”. With the GP’s tall 2.73:1 rear axle ratio, the engine moved at 2075 revolutions at 60mph in high gear, adding to the model’s relaxed swift feel: “In all practical city street situations, the 400 cid engine would never turn more than 2000 rpm, except when accelerating briskly through the gears.”
The GP’s suspension was pretty standard GM fare; coil springs, telescopic coil absorbers and a 0.75 in. antiroll bar up front. However, while all suspension elements seemed quite ordinary, “the GP’s ride delivered in a manner something more than mundane.” Last, the car’s 4520 lb. test weight was a battle for the brakes.
Filled with accessories, CL’s GP proved to be an offering full of comfort and convenience with the car’s major attraction being its prowess, ride, and handling. On city streets, the car “slid through traffic effortlessly…”
On the open road, the GP’s suspension permitted “enthusiastic cornering with only a modest amount of body roll. Shock absorber control was, however, barely adequate…” But the freeway proved to be the model’s forte, “matching traffic speed proved not in the least difficult… the GP could be guided along with the driver in a pleasant state of relaxation.”
Ultimately, CL’s testers seemed to have been quite charmed by Pontiac’s GP, a mix of luxury and sportiness, in an understated package that mixed both schools. Hindsight tells us that the public was less enthused with these years of the model, with its sales numbers dwindling. Its combined attributes sent a muddled message, and the model was failing to make a case for itself.
Pontiac, in general, did best whenever it released more expressive products; something this generation of GP didn’t quite do. The division would provide that new expressive product when the new ’69 Grand Prix arrived, a model that helped define the rising PLC segment.
Related CC reading:
Auction Classic: 1967 Pontiac Grand Prix – Wide-Tracking Down Under
Styling is very serious. Afflicted many domestic full-sized cars during that era. Fender skirts, vinyl top, and bland wheel cover design, just contribute to the seriousness of its looks.
The car looks quite nice now, though it would have been totally off my radar as a kid in 1967. But the best part of the road test is the sketch by Gene Garfinkle on the third page. I just love the perspective and the parallel line “shadowing” beneath the car, which echoes the grill and headlight cover design. And which in turn highlights how the Pontiac stylists balanced the curvaceous profile with straight lines to emphasize the width.
Great looking Grand Prix. Always liked GM mid 60’s through 1967. Sleek lines. Got bloated after this year especially in the early 70’s.
I agree, the 68 GP wasn’t as attractive. The 69 GP was a different animal, and quite cool. However, for the full sizers, each year got a little worse from 69 to 71.
The fascinating thing is how dramatically different the 1968 Grand Prix appears against the 1967, when the sheetmetal is identical. The only change was a (big) refresh of the grille and taillights, but it made all the difference in the world.
This whole segment is one that has always fascinated me – the big car that tries to bridge the gap between sport and luxury. The Chrysler 300 lit the fuse, and by the early 60’s almost everyone had a car in that category. But even as late as 1967-70 the segment hung around with lots of participants and dwindling sales.
Pontiac was among the first to identify this trend and made a hard pivot with the 1969 GP, making it a smaller car that could be tuned towards either sport or luxury at the buyer’s option. But even this 1967 model seemed to be quietly steering into luxury territory. I am starting to appreciate these late big GPs more as I age.
The world was changing very rapidly in 1966-1968, and the GP had totally fallen behind. It was now an old man’s car, the antitheses of everything JZD had worked towards with Pontiac. No wonder he re-conceived it in 1969. The format had become irrelevant.
I agree with Paul. While I love the shape and style of all the high end full size GM BOP coupes for 67, they give off a “landlord coming to pick up the rent” vibe. Who needs a 2 door that big? I am glad someone did as my LeSabre is a pleasure to look at and drive!
My experience with Pontiac is very limited. We were always a GM family, but few every looked at the Pontiac brand. However, my one brother loved the Grand Prix models and I loved the interiors on them. But I was too young to pay much attention back then in the mid 70’s. However, in the mid 80’s, I was paying attention more and always found that the interiors on the more high end Pontiac’s seemed to be so plush. The seats were very plush and comfy, lots of wood grain (fake, but I didn’t care) and they were just so nice. Yet, I never have owned one myself.
One thing I never understood was why Detroit was so late to the party with overdrive transmissions.
The 2.73 axle ratio made this car a relative slug. 0-60 in 9.4 seconds? A 17-second quarter mile? The torque clearly makes the 0-60 figure somewhat tolerable but 0-100 in 29 seconds shows the power curve falls off a cliff.
Install a 700R4 in place of the 350/400 Turbo Hydra-matic and you can open up the rear end to something more accelerative and get much better highway fuel economy, so good the oil embargo of 1973-74 would have been easier to handle.
Unless the technology simply wasn’t there at the time (overdrives were available on manual cars, of course), that extra overdrive gear has historically made a huge difference,
Europe and Japan weren’t there much sooner. Prior to the first energy crisis (1974) there just wasn’t enough demand or concern about maximizing fuel efficiency. In inflation adjusted terms, gas prices in the US declined slowly throughout the ’60s, hitting a low in about 1971 or 1972. Meanwhile, incomes were rising.
Of course OD manual transmissions were available for those really concerned about maximum fuel efficiency, but the demand for them dropped throughout the ’60s as automatics took over and folks just didn’t care. The closest thing was a very low numerical rear axle ratio with a big lazy V8, which turned top gear into essentially an OD ratio. This GP was only turning 2075 rpm at 60. Pontiac was very big on this approach, but Olds had the ultimate version, the Turnpike Cruiser, which had an even longer rear axle and only turned 1850 rpm at 60. That’s totally an effective OD. As to the impact on acceleration, it was good enough. If not, specify a taller axle ratio.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/almost-forgotten-the-20-mpg-400-cubic-inch-1967-olds-cutlass-turnpike-cruiser/
Of course a genuine OD automatic with 4 gears would have been better, and the technology was no big deal, it just cost more! With the downsized engines after the energy crisis, they became increasingly essential. Detroit never did anything along these lines until it was mandated or essential.
And this century, they went overboard, thanks to CAFE changes. I wonder if the small marginal benefit of 8 or 10 speeds over 4 or 5 makes up for the constant gear shifting.
I thought taller meant lower numerically. Am I reversed?
There’s one in my neighborhood lately, lowered with stupid 20″ wheels. Spoils the nicely proportioned styling.
“Inspiration for the ((several years later)), “Gran ville”. Big, bodacious, too large for “personal, sporty, luxury”.
That’s a nice design.
Just been to Wikipedia, and cannot believe the ugly monsters that followed it.
One minor correction: The ’67 GP was not the first GM car without vent windows. That honor went to the ’66 Olds Toronado and Buick Riviera.
Thanks, the text has been ammended now.
Interestingly, the image of the 1967 GP convertible (the only year a convertible version was offered) shows the vent windows are still there.
Yes, the convertible had vent windows (same as the Bonneville and Catalina that year).