Looking at the size and beautiful styling of this 1975 Pontiac Catalina, it’s hard to fathom that in just 2 short years the General Motors B-Bodies would be redesigned and downsized, thanks to the oil embargo a couple of years earlier and fuel efficiency becoming more important than ever. Not that the downsized cars were all that bad, but there’s just something so eye-catching about these larger vehicles, especially examples as nicely preserved as this 1975 Pontiac Catalina for sale here on eBay. This one ticks a lot of the right boxes, and if you’ve been in the market for one of the last really large Catalinas it may be worth checking out. The car is in New Baltimore, Michigan, on the north end of beautiful Anchor Bay, with bidding currently sitting at $8,000.
Jonny, thanks so much for the tip here! To be nearing the half-century mark and to have only been driven 36k miles is pretty amazing, but that’s what the owner claims, and looking around the car there’s not much that leads me to believe otherwise. It’s said to be just a 2-owner vehicle and highly original, with most of the factory Lakemist Green paint still present, which is also stated as being sort of an uncommon color. A few minor blemishes are mentioned, such as a small area on the trunk with thin paint, but the body itself is straight with good gaps and looks really sweet for its age.
You’ll find a green interior as well, back in the mid-seventies days when interiors could be found in numerous colors other than grey or black. It’s claimed to be all original in there, with the only specific defect that the seller points out being some thread separation on the front seat seams. The dash appears to be in overall fine condition, other than one small area around the instruments that’s detached, and from what I can tell I believe that’s the factory radio still intact. Those are even OEM-style floormats, which I’m guessing are probably original to the car. Not perfect inside, but probably close to as good as it gets for an unrestored 1975 Catalina.
If there’s any bad news, it’s under the hood, as the engine is a 400. Pontiac offered a 455 here, with the 400 coming as the standard powerplant, but the good news is the low mileage of course plus it is numbers-matching, as is the automatic transmission. The car is said to run great and drive down the road excellently, and some more good news is there’s no reserve, so the top offer buys the car. Is $8k about right for what you’re seeing here, or do you think the price is going to go up a bit higher?
Posted here March 10th, no mention?
MoragaPulsar: There is a bit of overlap on the articles. The authors don’t know sometimes that a vehicle has already been covered.
GM made the decision to downsize its full-sized cars in 1972, well in advance of the oil embargo. Proof that GM’s leadership once had tremendous courage.
If they had really been on the ball their downsized cars would have been in showrooms before the embargo began. That would have been for the 1973 models, not the 1977s.
Is the A/C belt not on? I like working A/C down south, I hate those pesky just needs a recharge but belt pulled stories!
It looks like the belt is on. It’s the kind with the notches.
I had a 72 Catalina four door hardtop, bought it in 1975 from a retired PA state trooper. Car was over maintained and I continued that process. One night at 70 mph, a giant buck ran in front of the car, KABOOM, deer dead, car still drivable. Got it repaired. Sold it. Miss that boat when GM actually built cars.
That’s funny cause I recently had the same thing happen but my little jelly bean was totaled.
SO nice……….
Dad bought a 76 Catalina with a 350 2 barrel. It was a 4 door, light blue, dark blue interior with matching vinyl roof. His pal had basically the exact car shown above.
These are great cars, and did everything well. Dean nuts reliable too. Seeing the interior pics of this sure brings back memories :) . Seems very inexpensive to me…
bt
All she needs is a set of pontiac rally wheels with pencil whites,get rid of the pancake converter , a dual exhaust,and I ‘d source an original GM tilt column.Nice car , cool color. These were excellent road cars.Had a 72 400 4dr. Sedan.This body style wears its 5mph crash bumpers well.I think it’s worth around 15k tops imo.
Hands down, the ugliest paint code in GM’s shop.
I always thought this was a terrible color green and I like green cars ! At least this one has the black vinyl roof to offer some contrast .
On the street it was known as babysh1t green.
Green not my favorite color. That being said its a beautiful car. Today our color choices unless you’re spending big bucks are silver, black, white maybe blue or red. Manufactures are getting cheaper every year and asking foolish prices.
Neat car at a good price. Finally a reasonable owner who isn’t looking for trillions, just a good home for a neat car.
I love these old Pontiacs loaded w options, this one has nothing to speak of, manual windows, no tilt, no in dash am/fm 8 track, power doors or power seats, just the 400 w a/c, not very exciting