Update 4/29/13 – After not meeting reserve, the seller has relisted it.
From 4/18/13 – We have debated the desirability of four-door classics before. Sure we would prefer the two-door version, but this 1966 Pontiac Le Mans is in such excellent condition that any car guy should consider it. It is claimed to still be wearing its original paint and interior and besides that extra set of doors, we cant find any reason not to buy it. Take a look here on eBay where a Tacoma, Washington dealer has listed it.
If the claims are true, this is quite a find. The fact that it is a four-door probably helped keep it in such pristine condition. While the two doors variants were getting hot rodded around town, this family car was parked in the garage awaiting grocery duty.
That doesn’t mean it was a slouch though. In place of the base inline-six sits this 250 horsepower 326 V8. The seller is currently having the two-barrel carburetor rebuilt, but other than that there are no obvious mechanical issues. They do suggest the addition of a four-barrel for those who dont care about originality, but we would be tempted to raise the compression and add dual exhausts, so we would probably just leave it as is.
Even though this car is located in Washington, it is wearing California black plates. The seller mentions that the car was a one owner car until they picked it up last September. We bet they got it for a song too since it is a four-door that had been sitting for a while. Now the next owner will have to pay the price for not being the first to find it.
So, the question is, would you be willing to drop upwards of ten grand for a four-door? Survivors like this dont come along very often and the asking price is not totally unrealistic, but we cant help but think of all the other cars we could buy for that kind of money…
Nice!! ….but not that nice!!
Reminds me of the 66 Catalina my folks had when I was in HS. The fact it’s a V-8 LeMans instead of 6 cyl Tempest helps it in my book. Hope the new owner resists the urge to modify it in any way.
Super nice! A no center post hardtop rather than a sedan. Last produced 1972 (big cars gm 1976, Chrysler 1978).
Thanks. I own it now.
~ hhmmmm… interesting question. i like it a lot, really gives a fresh appreciation of 4 door hardtops. but like you i feel many other desirable cars summoning my cash reserves.
Appears to me the real money is in black California plates
What this does is raise my interest in getting a 6 cylinder “Sprint” version (again)
Really cool old car. I love it. Besides how many 4-door hardtops do you see?
this would make a nice driver/family/show car. a great find.
These really were good riding cars in their day & that 326 moved out nice. I don’t think they will have a hard time getting that #.
I like this car. It just might end up in my garage.
That interior looks really nice. Color is “Reef Turquoise.”
I had a rag-top of this year and model. It had the overhead cam six with four barrel carb and four on the floor…wish I still had it! (sold it for $500) )0;
You have to love the pillarless hardtop design. That’s pretty “trick”.
Nice grille, roofline and interior.
I’m liking those Pontiacs.
Car is really in nice condition. Someone will snatch it up & have a nice ride. However a “plain jane” mid size, 4 door ht just doesn’t do it for me.
That is really cool! Id leave the outside just like that then put a 455 in it. What a neat car.
I’d leave it as is, apart from a dual exhaust and a set of Rally 1 wheels & red band tyres.
And a concealed stereo unit.
Looks like a lot of Barn Finders have the same idea I have:
This would make a great ride for your next trip to the Dairy Queen or your next Show ‘N Shine, and it won’t require you to mortgage the house to get it.
Tough to beat this price for any “No rust, everything works” car from the ’60s. And it’s a one-owner, California black-plate, 4-door hardtop—even better.
A few thoughts:
– It has the original spare tire, which will be no good to rely on after all those years. Hopefully the tires on the ground are new, and weren’t installed decades ago, or they will need to be replaced too.
– It could have original paint, but if it does, then it has the very best original lower rear fender panels, door jambs, door edges, chrome, interior…etc…we’re ever likely to see on a 47-year-old car with 73K miles.
But at around $10K for a ’60s hardtop like this, who cares? This might be the best vintage car bargain to come along in a long time.
Exactly!
Wouldn’t….touch…..a…..thing – but also cap the value at $7K, no way on anything over that.
I,ve never seen a Le Mans with cloth bench seats. They look great!
Remarkably nice, overall. I do notice that the color of the driver’s side front door appears a little off from everything else and the fit of that door is not on par with all other parts, especially leading edge of the door to the trailing edge of the front fender. Leads me to suspect that the door has been damaged and repaired or replaced at some time and was not properly adjusted (re-adjusted?) for fit and alignment. Still not enough to take away from that being a helluva sweet toy.
I ordered a new 1969 Firebird Sprint in late 1968. It had a 250 OHC engine. The engine made 230 horses with the help of a hotter cam, quadrajet, split exhaust manifold, 10.5 compression. When I went to the local strip that summer, I was put in the same class as 327 Chevy ( horse power to weight – old school). The engine is now in a 4 door Nova. I just removed and replaced the original WORKING timing belt.
Lovely car, sooo nice. Though a 4-door sedan, its pillarless which is good, step above ordinary 4-door pillared sedans if they were still made in 1966.
Sweet ride. Wish I could afford to bid on it. Would make a great sleeper, if & when the 326 gives up the ghost.
Beautiful car! I bet it didn’t come with those wheels and hubcaps though :-) (wheel color doesn’t even match the car… probably had black wheels like the spare) Easy swap for something better. A 4 barrel would generally get better gas mileage, but I’d probably leave it a 2 bbl, just for the sake of originality. Anything more than 10 grand though and you’d have to be in love with it.
Hot Rod mag just featured one of these, a 65 w new fancy suspension kit but stock drivetrain and it went around a road course in very good time and looked good doing it.
~ got a link?
http://www.hotrod.com/featuredvehicles/hrdp_1304_gran_turismo_quattroporte_1965_pontiac_tempest_gto/
As a matter of fact I do…..
Here’s an older article using a station wagon.http://www.hotrod.com/featuredvehicles/hrdp_0106_1965_pontiac_tempest_custom_station_wagon/viewall.html
what a great car!
drive it as-is.
if the photos are accurate, it is like new.
when this car WAS new, I was a teenage dumbass and thought four door cars were uncool.
now that I’m an old guy, I think two door cars are inconvenient.
too bad the dealer got to it first rather than an eventual long-term owner…….
Sure would like to know the dealer in WA who bought this. I own it now. Would like to have the protecto plate and Cal. tags.