I like first-year cars or last-year cars as far as collectibility goes, but as we all know, first-year cars can have their share of problems that haven’t been worked out by the designers, engineers, or factories yet. We don’t know much about this 1973 Pontiac Grand Am that’s listed here on eBay in Conrad, Montana other than it has a 455 V8. They have an $8,900 buy-it-now price listed or you can make an offer.
The seller’s description is even shorter than the variety of photos that they show us, it literally says, “Pontiac Grand Am.” That’s it, there ain’t no more. That’s a shame as this car really does look good in the vertical (head exploding) photos that they uploaded to the eBay listing. This is a first-year car and the first-generation Grand Am was made for just three short model years: 1973 through 1975.
Of course, the 800-pound gorilla and/or elephant in the room is that this car has – gasp! – four doors! I know, the humanity! Now that the fake drama has subsided a bit, the “Two doors too many!” crowd may not remember, or want to admit, that car companies actually sold quite a few four-door vehicles back in the good ol’ days. Not everything had just two doors even though it seems as if that’s mainly what we see today in the vintage and collector market. I will concede that two-door cars are usually more valuable and some would say that they look cooler.
The “Strato” bucket seats look great in red and other than some visible wear and tear on the driver’s seat, this car looks fantastic inside. Either vinyl or corduroy fabric was available and this one has an optional power driver’s seat. The back seat looks as if was just hand-crafted by GM’s finest union workforce in Pontiac, Michigan where this particular car was made. Are there two stalks on the left side of the steering wheel? If so, one of them would have been for the optional tilt steering and the other one, the turn signal – an ancient lane-change-warning device rarely if ever used by modern humans anymore in the 20th 21st Century – would have also operated the headlight dimmer switch, reportedly one of the first American cars to have that feature.
The engine also looks like a pair of corduroy Strato bucket seats, oddly enough, because this seller, the one who gives us the description of “Pontiac Grand Am”, also doesn’t show an engine photo. Did I mention that basically the biggest selling point of this car is its 250-hp 455 cubic-inch V8? The one that isn’t shown at all in any of the ten photos? Is there an engine? Does it run? Is it actually a converted EV? We don’t have a clue but I really love the look if this era Grand Am, four doors or not. How about you?
The four doors don’t bother me – a rare exception. Maybe it’s the 455 w/factory dual exhaust, the unique front end, buckets/console/dash layout “borrowed” from the GP, and how Pontiac marketed this as an alternative to the touring four doors offered by the European brands (7.4 litre, anyone?). There are a few 400 (6.6 Litre)/4 speed examples out there today, too. The Pontiac purists recognize this car (the curator of the Pontiac Museum has two). No shame here…
As for the sparse wording, seller is a first timer (0 feedback), so he maybe used to describing items for Craigslist!
It’s odd someone would advertise a car like this with a 455 which is a great selling point and not post a pic of the engine.
Make a Buford T Justice tribute out of it . Of course his was a newer Lemans with quad headlights but , a 455 with auto in the floor makes this perfect for it .
According to the VIN it is a 455 with factory dual exhaust. Code Y.
I want a two door 73 Grand Am with 455 and 4 speed. Saw one at POCI years ago. Very cool front end. Today all cars are butt ugly.
“… the turn signal – an ancient lane-change-warning device rarely if ever used by modern humans anymore in the 20th Century”
Scotty, you just became one of my favorite Barn Finds authors.
I also loved that sentence.
My dad had a saying which offered the same sentiment. When someone didn’t use their turn signal when it would have been very helpful to others, he would say something to the effect “that car must be much older than it looks, because it apparently doesn’t have turn signals.”
Although the EPA was born in 1970, government teeth didn’t immediately sink into automotive design. Savvy buyers willing to special order sought trailer towing packages that came with the same stuff as the neutered muscle cars but came in four door sedans and station wagons. Whoever ordered this was an enthusiast.
I think the front ends on this ’73 Pontiac Trans Am and
the’76 Chevelle Laguna’s look very similar.
What do you think ? Or do I need new glasses ? lol
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/1975-chevrolet-laguna-s-3
“… the turn signal – an ancient lane-change-warning device rarely if ever used by modern humans anymore in the 20th Century”
I just entered the term “what century is it today?” into a search engine. I have bad news for you. ;)
Ha! +10 for catching that, rocksteady. I’m still living in the past…
I prefer this Pontiac over the Chevy Laguna type S 3 any day of the week. The Laguna was just plain ugly. The Pontiac has better lines, and probably better mechanical engineering. Does anyone remember the (RTS) Radial Tuned Suspension these tin indians were available with? Or did that come along later? Magnificent engine, that 455.
I remember the RTS badges, but radial tires didn’t become mainstream (or standard equipment) until after the 1973 oil embargo. Those cars were 1974 models.
4 doors with buckets and console, something hereto before I only ever saw in a Ford.. We had a 78 2 door GA Black and Gold, hard to find another
Hey Mark, I have a 79 black and gold G/A 2 door, with a 4 spd. I like the car advertised here, but too far away to give it serious consideration
Mine was a 301 that leaked oil ALOT, spent 450 to repair badframe by the steeringbox, I thought about swapping a 455 I had into it but the rust was too much broke even on sale
Super cool car. 455 3 spd auto and likely 3.23 gears makes a splendid cruiser.
I had two of these in white, coupe with red vinyl roof and red interior. As someone said, the intent of these was to make a European feel car. In my opinion, they were simply too big to pull that off. But nice cars. Both of mine were 400 ci with automatics. The automatic had a feature where if you pushed the stick to the right it was gated so you only went up one gear at a time. Good for streetlight fun.
One of mine was pretty low option with manual windows and hubcaps. The second one was a high option car, power everything and rallye IIs. These are an interesting footnote in Gm history.
I’m glad you brought up the headlamp dimmer switch. The GA had these on the column to mimic European cars. All other Pontiacs had the floor mounted dimmer through 1975.
Ive looked around for one recently but they don’t come up often. Although I like the four door as a curiously, the coupe was my favorite.
Nice looking car. If only more pics were posted. It’s a good looking car from the outside, and looking inside the car is nice. But what’s wrong with showing the engine, or inside the boot (trunk)? The more pics can be posted, the better.
190 hp of neck snapping acceleration
Ah, but with glass packs like teenage me had, it felt like double that.
1973 + 455 = 250 hp
I never really liked the 4 door Collonade cars – but this is such a rare model, even back then. I can’t remember when I’ve seen any 4 door Collonade cars around, let alone one like this. I hope the future owner takes care of it!
This car is sweet and I really don’t like GM’s all that well. Clean it up good and lay on a nice paint job, some poncho speed parts and have some fun.
IMO, Rally 2 wheels do not belong on any 4 door pontiac, tho apparently you could even get honeycombs, console, & buckets(dumb passenger only reclining) on a 4 door – in ’75 at least …
http://www.jumpingfrog.com/images/magads4/mas8787.jpg
And to think that Pontiac had initially scheduled the SD 455 for their A-body! But sadly, not even a 4-speed for the 455…much less an SD 455!
I always liked the four-door Colonnades and the fact the Grand Am coupe has the unique-to-Pontiac slotted rear quarters (none of the “upscale” coupe quarter windows look good to me, it’s clear the Colonnade coupe was meant to have the big triangular ones) makes the four-door the one to go for.
I would think only a handful of these 4 doors were built with the 455(same with all other midside 4 door & even full size 4 door cars built with 454, 460, etc. motors), especially after the oil embargo. With only 25 more hp than the 400, i would think a stripped grand am with 400 would be about as fast as a heavier loaded 455.
Someday, perhaps soon, i bet this 455 motor will be modified & wind up in a ’70s firebird, since a good condition pontiac 455 is not ez to come by these days.
My Dad picked up a silver ’73, 2 door, red interior, buckets, 400, 4bbl, duals and 3 speed automatic and honeycomb wheels, at an auction in Warminster PA, many years ago. For a big car, it could hang it out pretty well in the turns. A bit of a barge by today’s standards, but I loved to drive that beast, Valdez sized fuel thirst and all. Comfortable and well equipped, good looks for the tough times of the ’70s. Just not for the economy minded. Sounded awesome when it was opened up on the high way tho ; )