Pontiac’s Second Generation Grand Prix is recognized as one of the more attractive classics to emerge during the 1960s. The styling is sharp, but that impression improves when the car wears a premium paint shade and other desirable options. This 1965 example ticks those boxes, and its cause is helped by its genuine 38,000 miles on the clock. It features a few minor modifications, but these are reversible if the new owner seeks spotless originality. The Grand Prix is listed here on eBay in Purcell, Oklahoma. Bidding sits below the reserve at $28,100 off the back of some frantic action.
Defining what comprises the “wow” factor with any vehicle is challenging. Often, it isn’t a single feature but a collection that works together to create a genuinely stunning car. That is the case with this Grand Prix. Pontiac released its Second Generation in 1965, taking advantage of the prevailing market trend towards vehicles with “Coke-Bottle” styling to create a car with an appearance that has aged well. This car’s cause is aided by its sparkling Fontaine Blue paint and contrasting Dark Blue vinyl top. Its overall presentation is impressive, with no visible issues with the panels or paint. It almost glows in the photos, and the vinyl appears to be in as-new condition. The seller doesn’t mention any existing or previous rust problems, and there are no signs of issues in the supplied photos. The chrome and trim are excellent, and the glass is flawless. However, it is the wheels that seal the deal for me. I rate Pontiac’s 8-lug wheels as the best and most stylish to grace any car from the 1960s. In fact, I believe they are a strong contender for one of the best of all times. The ones on this car appear perfect, accentuating its classy appearance.
Pontiac’s 389ci V8 has achieved legendary status, with its place cemented in automotive folklore as the engine that powered the daddy of the muscle car era, the GTO. This Grand Prix’s numbers-matching 389 produces 333hp and 429 ft/lbs of torque, both impressive numbers that stack up quite well against modern motors featuring fuel injection and electronic engine management. The seller upgraded the transmission to a three-speed TH-400, but that change is reversible. The driver benefits from power assistance for the steering and brakes that remove the physical effort from the motoring experience. There are a few items worth noting with this classic. The seller claims it has a genuine 38,000 miles on the clock, but there’s no mention of supporting evidence. The three-core aluminum radiator is probably a wise move to prevent potential meltdowns. Still, I hope the seller retained the factory item, allowing the new owner to recapture the car’s original appearance. My other concern is the obvious rattle can work on the engine. I never have a problem with this if the person performs it to a high standard. That isn’t the case here, and I believe the seller would have been better served to leave it untouched. They say it runs and drives perfectly and supply this YouTube video to support the claim. The clip is a bit long-winded at a touch over eleven minutes, but it provides an excellent opportunity to see and hear this classic in action. I didn’t spot anything that caused concern.
Finding anything to criticize about this Pontiac’s interior presentation or condition is challenging, but it is another aspect of the vehicle featuring reversible modifications. These include gauges by the driver’s left knee and a Sirius XM CD player under the dash to the right. The dealer-installed under-dash air conditioning works as it should, and there are no further changes beyond the fuzzy dice. The Black vinyl upholstery looks excellent, as do the carpet and faux woodgrain. The dash and pad are equally impressive, and there’s no evidence of bubbling or deterioration on the bright trim. The original owner’s decision to forego bucket seats and a console in favor of a bench is interesting, but it does make this classic a genuine six-seater.
You have probably gathered by now that I like this 1965 Pontiac Grand Prix, and it seems I’m not alone. It has received forty bids at the time of writing, which I would expect from a vehicle of this caliber. My admiration doesn’t close my eyes to its shortcomings. The modifications are easily reversible, but the engine paint is a different matter. It detracts from a car that presents exceptionally well. The reality is that undoing the damage to bring the engine’s appearance in line with the rest of the vehicle would involve unbolting most of the peripherals or pulling the motor completely. I would choose one path or the other if I found this gem in my garage, but do you agree?
No pic from behind the car, the backend?
I would move the gauges to where the radio is under the dash and hide the radio under the seat. The under hood paint doesn’t bother me other than being the wrong color, should be metallic blue if I’m not mistaken, easily changed. I’m not a fan of the 8 lug wheels, either. Look too much like truck wheels to me.
silver blue
65 Pontiacs are hands down some of the best looking cars of the 60s. This car is nice but for me boring, for the simple fact it lacks very many amazingly neat options offered that year. This is a basic car. I have a Catalina 2 door post that’s option list is longer than the car but thankfully mine lacks those ,”to me” awful 8 lug wheels. It seems that 90% of this Era Pontiacs sport these now. 30 years back these were a royal, pun intended pain. brake drums, and maybe this only happened to me but the rims mounting parts would crack and break off and if you had no extra wheels you were screwed. This car is nice and looks solid but for me the loaded big block 66 Caprice on here right now could be a big winner over this unit for the money. As mentioned also. There is way too much busyness under that dash for me.
The 1965 full-size cars are beautiful inside and out. Pontiac always have had really nice dashboards 65 was a good year for Pontiac. The 65 Lemans was a small version of the full-size Pontiacs. Every one loved the Lemans, we had four neighbors thar bought the 65 Lemans. One of them had the 326 V8 under the hood. The sound of the exhaust was great, the 326 V8 had the great sound of a healthy V8, the 326 also had a crisp sound on top of the V8 rumble. I can still hear it in my head. The Grand Prix was styled perfectly. The vertically stacked headlights had such a cool look to them. The chrome that surrounded the headlights gave it a very elegant presence, the way the front fenders were cut back exposing the chrome bezels surrounding the sides of the headlights giving the vertically stacked headlights was nothing shy of beautiful. The coke bottle styling was definitely cool. Also, in Grand Prix style, these Pontiacs had full-width taillights that were covered by horizontal chrome and black grill work, which was a Pontiac styling que. It was beautiful, and yet, there are no pictures of the rear, that’s questionable at a minimum. Actually there no really good pictures of this car, that’s ashamed. There are so many beautiful lines on the 65 Grand Prix. By 65, air conditioning was expected in luxury cars, One thing jumps out, with no air, you can be sure this was not a California car.In any event the 65 Pontiacs are excellent examples of what an American car styling was all about. They say you can never go back, but I believe EVs could bring back cars that will be styled in the American tradition. We can only hope. Thank you for kindling such wonderful memories. I am so glad I can say I was around to appreciate
these cars as part of My daily life
Another case of the no no’s. No doc’s, no numbers, no high prices. Is it nice? Hell yeah. It’s probably about 3k overpriced currently so???
My 65 Bonneville came from factory with a TH 400
The added side marker lights appear to be from a Mopar (68 vintage) and they look good on this car. The Pontiac “arrowhead” type, although family, wouldn’t have looked as good (IMO). GLWTA!! :-)
Between the aftermarket air conditioner, the electronic thing under the steering. wheel, the aftermarket gauges, and the already dynamic 1965 Pontiac dash, this interior is way too busy. This would trigger my ADD to the point where I couldn’t even get the car into drive!
1967-68 high school carpool. My friend would drive his dad’s “Grand Prick.”
We were styling; I can still hear the rumble. This identical trim and color, what a sled.
When I taught high school math back in 1965, I had a 65 Impala SS and a friend who was an engineer at the Dupont plant outside of town had this car. Of course, we were both biased towards our own vehicle, but my bonus was my car key fit his car, but his didn’t fit mine… so I considered myself the winner as I had a “spare car” if I needed it…. LOL He never thought it was funny that I referred to his car as a “spare car”
Did you two ever race each other?
The place I was working at in 65 had several of us buying new cars. One guy bought a 65 GP, we had one guy with a 58 Impala, he walked to the 65 GP, unlocked it and started it with his 58 Impala key. The GP owner was not happy!!!
In 1967 we had a fully loaded 1965 GP with factory everything, bucket seats, including a switch for stereo reverb. For a 17 year old this was amazing and I drove it almost every night cruising the Ft. Lauderdale beach.
That’s the way I would want it now! For 57,881 built in 1965, these cars are surprisingly “rare” and values are high.
Great looking car. Love the way the fender appears to peel away from the headlamps evoking speed. Older brother had a Catalina. Awesome car to my 5-year-old mind.
In 1965, the family headed to the Pontiac dealer to get a new car. There was a beautiful GP there, but we didn’t look at it because it was common knowledge GP’s had bucket seats and our family required a bench. We had titled on a nice Bonneville when Dad wandered over to look at the GP. It had a front bench! He bought it on the spot and it was the coolest “family car” in town. I learned to drive in that car and have been spoiled ever since.
IIRC, dark blue was NOT a color choice for a 65 vinyl top.
Something is really amiss with this GP. First of all, Pontiac’s GP was considered the very top of the line – above the Bonneville – and so they ALL came with AC – and the standard engine for the ’65 GP was the Pontiac 400 – not the 389. Also – GP came standard with ALL the bells and whistles – including gauges for every function of the car. — The add-on AC and gauges screams there’s a problem lurking under the facade. Also, the side running lights are Chrysler markers – not Pontiac. This car really smacks loudly of someone taking a ’65 Catalina – the stripped down Pontiac model – swapped out the grill with a GP grill – and then slapped GP nameplates on it. You notice there’s no photo of the back end of the car. There’s very likely a reason for that. Buyer beware with this one — it looks nice, but it’s not what it appears to be.
The 400 didn’t come until ’67.
silver blue
Please don’t comment until you do some research. 389 was the base, or 421 with 4 bbl. or tri power.
“Base” for what car/s?
389 ‘s Pal not 400’s!
That did not answer the question. Repeating yourself accomplishes nothing.
My parents bought a new 64 Catalina. I became a Pontiac guy at that point. I was 12 years old. By the time I turned 16 I started to become a Mopar guy and bought a 64 Dodge Polara 500. I’ve owned many Mopars and I saw those side markers on the fenders and thought WTH? Those are Mopar! Strange, very strange. The car is nice overall and I guess it’s worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it?
@Al: The only problem with your hypothesis is this: The Catalina did NOT have the concave rear window. :-)
Do you have photos of the car taken from the rear? I don’t, and the roof on the Catalina you posted looks like the roof on the car that’s supposed to be a GP. There’s no way to tell from the photos of the GP if the rear window is concave or not. It appears it may be from the trailing edge of the roof panel, but that can be modified too – especially with the installation of the vinyl roof which also is not a vinyl roof color that was available on the GP in ’65 – to make it look authentic from the side. This “GP” would have all the factory installed standard GP bells and whistles and it doesn’t. The car has major identity problems…..
Also, GM had several roof designs for all of their full size models for many years – particularly for the 60’s models. The photo of the Catalina you posted was called the fast-back roof line and those cars with it were more expensive. The standard roof line was like the one shown on this supposed GP.
Catalina VIN #’s started with 252.
Grand Prix VIN #’s started with 266
The VIN # on this car starts with 266…
End of conspiracy!
1965 was the first year for these Ponchos shifting through the Turbo 400. The previous cars had that miserable Rotohydramatic. I agree, the dash has become too busy. That distracts from the real wood veneer they came with.
Why no pics of the beautiful rear end / quarter panel views ?
Fine.– I grew up in the 50’s and 60’s. My family bought nothing but Pontiacs and I was a car-hound kid – always kept up with every make and model on the road and was always down at the Pontiac dealer every year to see the new year’s models when they came in. — In the heyday of the Grand Prix – the 60’s – I never saw one that wasn’t completely loaded with power steering, power brakes, auto-headlight dimmer, as well as AC, a full gauge cluster and the best radio system available of each year, and a few options as well – and I never saw one that had a bench seat. — ALL of the ones every year that were at the dealer had front bucket seats with a center console where the automatic transmission lever was. I followed the GP production every year all the way until it became a rather unremarkable car – a GP in name only.
People here claim the GP could be ordered with a bench seat. Maybe so, but I never saw one – even many used ones later through the years. – Also, VINs can be transferred from a junkyard vehicle or other vehicle to another vehicle of the same manufacturer without anyone noticing the switch. It’s highly illegal, but it’s done – and has been done since the beginning of VINs. If the VIN that was transferred to another vehicle was never registered at the DMV as no longer on the road – then no one would catch it at the DMV either – and that’s how and why it’s done – a lot.
In a professional shop, the roof line of a car can be easily altered so a different rear window can be installed – and no one but a knowledgeable trained eye will be able to notice the modification. — In the amateur classic car market – this kind of thing goes on a lot, and the buyer gets a Frankenstein car, but if they don’t know enough about the model to know it isn’t the factory car it’s claimed to be, then they go on their merry way none the wiser.
People think that justifies the practice, since the buyer thinks they have the car it’s claimed to be and so there is no harm. Well, there is harm – it’s called ‘fraud’, regardless if the buyer is aware of it or not. — This “GP” is highly questionable for many reasons, so buyer beware. – I just hope whoever buys it doesn’t care about the unusual oddities that abound in this car and is happy with their classic “GP”.
Ok, the conspiracy lives on.
Let’s put it this way: – If this “GP” is “full factory” then it is one of most extremely rare GP’s out there – and should be sold as such at a much higher price (like one-of-a-kind survivor price) —- but I very seriously doubt it is! As I said; whatever this “GP” really is, I hope whoever buys it enjoys it as such – as we did as kids putting playing cards in the spokes to pretend our bikes had motors…..
😆😆😆
I just watched part of the video and it did show the correct GP rear tail lights. As far as A/C, the 65 GP I owned in high school in 75 did not have A/C and originally had a bench seat which my step-father replaced with buckets and center console from a wrecked GP. It did have a lot of power and would set you back in the seats at full throttle. One of my favorite cars. I don’t remember any side marker lights on it though.
Side marker lights came on all cars in the USA & CANADA in 1968 when they were required by government laws. The side marker lights on this GP are of “Chrysler vintage” from 1968.
Picture of concave roofline taken directly from the eBay ad.
Here is another photo of the rear window from a previous BF ad. https://barnfinds.com/70k-miles-and-runs-1965-pontiac-grand-prix/1965_pontiac_grand_prix_b/
No 421? Hard pass. (Just kidding.) But as far as the “numbers matching 389” claim. In my previous research on 1965 Pontiacs I had read that GM did not start casting the engine blocks with serial numbers until 1966. The engine could be “date-code correct,” meaning the date the engine was built (month and year stamped on the block) could likely coincide with the subsequent assembly date of the car. This could be incorrect info, but it is what I had found when investigating if the 421 in my 1965 Catalina 2+2 was the original powerplant.
I was 11 when my parents purchased a brand new 66 Grand Prix, black w/ black interior. It had a front bench seat with a fold out arm rest, as shown in this listing. Obviously, column automatic shift selector. Funny how everyone had to conform to the setting of the driver, as it pertained to the front bench seat LOL, and hope it wasn’t your 5’2″ cousin Susan that was driving !