This 1973 Pontiac Grand Am is a rare factory four-speed car and comes equipped with a few other options that make it a standout in a few different ways. The condition appears to be quite nice, and given how infrequently these pop up for sale – especially with the manual transmission – there’s a lot to like about this car. The cherry on top is that it’s fitted with the optional four-barrel, giving the 6.6L V8 some very nice thrust. Find it here on craigslist with an asking price of $24,500, and thanks to Barn Finds reader Gransedan for the find.
Really, this is an overlooked classic in terms of being one of the new non-muscle cars from the era with excellent proportions and – dare I say – truly eye-catching design. I always tend to think of the mid-to-late 70s as an era of decline in terms of how adventurous automotive designers were, so the Grand Am is a bright spot (in my opinion) for more than one reason. Factor in the respectable performance and, in this instance, the truly rare manual gearbox, and you’ve got a very cool classic.
The interior is a far cry from many domestic cabins of the era, looking almost compact by comparison to the many personal luxury coupes running around. The full-length console is a great look, and the manual transmission is really a treat to see here. The dash pad is uncracked and the three-spoke steering wheel looks suitably sporting given the car’s performance credentials. Mileage is said to be original at 70K, and the seller notes the Grand Am was optioned with power steering and power brakes.
Heavy documentation is said to accompany the car, which is helpful considering what an oddball it must be in the total picture of production figures. Automobile magazine did a nice write-up on these and made the point that these cars were the last hurrah before oil embargoes and Japanese competition came in to undercut American compacts. While it’s obscure, that also makes it fairly collectible in my book – and I’d scoop up a car like this to have something no one else will show up to the local cruise night with.
Wow! Beautiful car. No A/C is going to be a killer for some. GLWTS! :-)
The price will be a killer for others. If this is an auto, it’s a $7,000 car. So is the 4-speed worth $17.5k more? They’ll need a very special buyer.
It gets hotter than hell in the summer here in eastern Washington. Air conditioning is mandatory, so I’d have to pass this one up.
When you finally find the car of your dreams and it doesn’t have a/c you can always look up this company.
https://www.vintageair.com/
Except they don’t have an A Body kit..
Vintage Air does make a kit for the A-body cars , all you have to do is order the one for the chevell as it is the same kit , & all you do is tell them when ordering it’s for a Pontiac engine as it will then come with all the correct brackets fro the compressor , & all the other stuff is the same.
You dont know HOT until you’ve been to TEXAS!!
I have a ’75 Grand Am 2dr in white with a blue interior. You couldn’t get a manual transmission in ’75, too bad. Mine is equipped with a 455 4bbl, most option’s including a/c, p.sunroof, p. seat, p.window’s, am 8 track and honeycomb’s. These are awesome highway cruiser’s and I always get positive comment’s at car show’s. There are always lot’s of Firebird’s, Camaro’s, Chevelle’s and Mustang’s but no Grand Am’s. I’ve owned mine 30 year’s!
I have owned a few of these through the years. Two doors, and four doors. Loved them. One was a four door 7.6 Liter Interceptor model that has forty grand on the odomieter. I t had a Speedo of 160 miles an hour, and had four wheel disc brakes. I got it up to 100 twice. No shack what so ever. And the car just kept pulling, and accelerating.. I know this sounds bragging but it would suck you into it’s seat. The cars body, and sub frame was to rusty at the time to restore. Parted out the car. Engine was bought to go into a same year GTO.
Michael, there was no GTO in 75 so how could the engine go into one ??
Where did he say it was a 75? The frame must have been really rusty for him to think it was a SUB frame as these were full frame cars.
Inerceptor? Really?
An attractive car for the most part; the front end is unusual and unique for the time but I never cared for Pontiac’s pointy rear end. $24k seems like a lot to me but I’m not really a Pontiac guy, though I did have a ’66 GTO for awhile. It seems to be in good shape and it does have rarity going for it so maybe to the right person it will be worth the big ask.
Beautiful car, I would love to own this. That said, why the incorrect steering wheel. It kind of stands out, and not in a good way.
Yeah, I noticed that too, its an 80’s Firebird steering wheel, so its at least Pontiac correct.
That because the big ugly steering wheel it would have come with was very ugly.
I don’t think so, but ok.
Its the same wheel a 1969 GTO could have had but with a big center hub.
Fiero steering wheel.
Looks like a Firebird bird in the center, Fieros had a similar if not probably identical wheel.
Nope, not similar to a ‘69 GTO steering wheel. Same dash and steering wheel as a ‘73 to ‘77 Grand Prix. My family had a ‘74, bought brand new, Limefire Green coupe with white vinyl top and louvered windows. 400 2 barrel with duals and a 2.90 rear end – from the factory!
I like it .
Its a cool boat 🚣♀️ with a four speed .
This is a classic car and not having AC is not a deal breaker to me..
To those that will melt-get on ebay and buy a swamp cooler. Then buy a bag of ice and drive.
Its amazing that a few muscle cars were being built pre gas ⛽️ war ..
Too bad it doesn’t have the trans am shaker hood option on the car. Back in the late 70’s, my brothers friend had one with the 455 and trans am shaker. Back in ’74 my brother bought a VW beetle at a dealer that had a triple burgundy Grand Am 4 door with a 4 speed.
The Can Am, which is really similar had a shaker, but these didn’t.
Guess it was modified to the hood cause it sure looked factory installed. Maybe the Can Am hood is same as Grand Am?
The front was changed in 1976 on all the LeMans’ to a 4 headlight front end and the hood was changed too, they probably took a shaker from a Trans Am and cut a hole in the hood.
Still love the CanAms in particular and the Colonade body style in general.
That price is a tremendous reach, esp. with it not having the top engine option. But I’d still kill to have it for a more reasonable sum!
The price is right in line & at that price it’s a very good deal. Plus you couldn’t get a 455 with a 4 spd. in a Pontiac, they were to powerful for the 4 spd to be used with the 455. It had to much TQ. for the trans at that time. If you wanted a 4 spd. all you could get was the 400 which was better then any of the other GM cars at the time too.
Lots of comments, but no one seems to know the true rarity of this car .For the record only 928 4 speed Grand Ams were produced in 73′. Under 400 in ’74 and none in ’75. 4 speed only available with the 400 4 barrel engine. 455 was automatic (turbo 400) only. So how many do you think are left 48 years after the fact? And there was no shaker hood option. Standard hood or dual recessed Nasa scoops. I owned a new 73′ 4 speed GA Ran consistent 13.60’s with just headers and a good tune.. Not bad for a 4000 lb smog era.touring car!
These are really great cars. 4 speed makes it more interesting. Could a 455 with a 4 speed have been available too?
Not 100% but I want to say the 4speed was only on the 400’s.
The other interesting thing is that you could have had a Grand Am sedan with a 4 speed too.
Jerry Z. The grand am was made from 73-75. You could get the standard hood with no scoops or the NACA hood like the 73 gto. The can am was produced for 1977 only and was Jim Wangers attempt at a GTO revival so to speak. It had the shaker hood like the trans am. They are all cool cars based on the lemans.
I don’t know why some still call the hood on the GTO a naca hood when at no time did Pontiac ever call it that. It is a NASA hood that came std. on the 73 GTO & was an option on any of the other A-body cars in the Pontiac line except the Grand LeMans. This I know for a fact & as I have said for years if you can find the hood called naca by Pontiac in any type of official Pontiac print I’ll give you $ 100.00. But I know my money is safe.
Rex, nowhere in my comment did I say Pontiac called it that. Some refer to it that way since actual duct, which is formally called a “NACA duct”, was developed for the aviation industry when the agency was still named National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) before the name change to NASA. NACA or NASA, who cares, still a cool hood!
Nice car and a 4 speed, but in my opinion priced a little high.
Here is a good article about cars with the NACA duct:
https://www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/articles/2019/09/20/coolest-cars-with-naca-ducts
Ok, I’ll bite. Please show me a Pontiac ad calling it a NASA hood.
I have a 74 Grand Am that came from the factory with the NACA scoops. They are only for looks and are not functional. My car is a 400 with auto transmission. It also has air conditioning. I bought it new in 1974.
Maybe a little high on the price, but definitely very unusual and rare with the 4 speed, as well as the desirable NACA hood. Can Am used a modified Lemans hoods which I believe were different than the Grand Am and not interchangeable.
Rosco, the hoods were interchangeable in all the A-body Pontiacs, & the hood was not called a naca hood but a NASA hood. See the last post from me . The price is right one the money, at least it should be a bit higher if all original.
Nick P. if you look in ANY print from Pontiac it is called a NASA hood , look in a parts book from Pontiac & it is called the NASA hood, look at any of the dealer ad or the sale book & brochures & Pontiac ALWAYS calls it the NASA hood. Thats what it was called & as I’ve said many time if you can find it called the naca hood I pay $ 100.00 to you , but again I know my money is safe.
At one time I had two of these in white, both 1973s. I had a ratty one with a red vinyl roof that I cleaned up and put glass packs on. Then a friend of my dad’s was trading hers in so I bought it for cash. This was 1983 or so and I paid 500 for the junky one and 1200 for the cherry. Both were really fun to drive. I sold the one with the vinyl roof and kept the other for a few years.
They were both 400 auto cars with red interiors like this one. For a big car, the console and buckets gave them a sporty feel. They were reasonably fast to me at the time. I can imagine a 4 speed would have really made a nice driver. He price is strong, but it’s a unique car. It was Pontiac’s attempt at a euro offering. In 73 the firebirds still said 400 or 455. These were 6.5 liter or 7.5.
The checkerboard GTO emblems in the 60’s had that “6.5 Liter” in them too.
Jim, if you were to look under the hood the ID decal would have said 6.5 & 7.4 there to. It was just a way to make the cars look more international at the time.But all the car lines had the same engines which started at the chevy straight 6 & went up to the 455, also keep in mind the GTO & Grand Am couldn’t & wouldn’t come with a 350 engine. John Deleoren made that a rule when the GTO 1st came out that you could only get a 389/400 or bigger in the GTO, ever.
The ’74 GTO only came with a 350.
It is the exception as John Z. was long gone by then or it would have had a 400 in it. But to, the Nova body GTO in 74 was getting back to the original premiss of the GTO as it was a small car with a big engine. The 350 had almost as much HP as the 400 in 74 so it was close , but no cookies.
I have a 73 GTO that I bought new & have it still & love it just as much as I did when I 1st got it. It is a lot faster now then when I got it new but drives & handles just as great. My car is a 4spd & I wouldn’t take the amount that this guy is asking for his. I’d have to get a lot more for mine. I test drove both the GTO & Grand Am in 72 for these cars & went with the GTO.
Surprised the bumper nose isn’t cracked – maybe a repro?
The center underside of the hood seems ready for the ultra rare ram air kit
http://pontiacpower.org/1973ramair.htm
Were those low back THICK buckets the only buckets available? They take up too much room.
The aluminum intake would save weight, but the carb may be of no benefit, compared to a q-jet rebuilt by a carb shop – i prefer the safer factory metal fuel line running all the way to the carb.
Neat Car!
Only 6 Four Speed 4 Door Grand Am’s produced.
A good friend of mine has one of the six Four Speed Four Door Grand Am his collection of unique 4 speed equipped Grand Am’s, Monte Carlo’s and Grand Prix’s.
Another friend of mine has a 2 door ROTTING outside in the woods.
Ya can’t fix STUPID!
I don’t know where you got the figures of 6 4spd cars but it is way off. I’ve seen at a show 6 of them sitting together & they were all in different shapes & condition at that time. So your friend must be telling you something to make him look better for having something special , but the figures are WAY OFF.
I SAID 6 FOUR DOOR FOUR SPEED Grand Ams not 6 plain ole four speed Grand Am’s!
Information quoted above was from PHS document for his FOUR DOOR FOUR SPEED Grand Am.
Bull, I know what you said about only 6 4 door cars with a 4 spd. but again I don’t know where you got your info because there are 5 of them alone on a few of the Pontiac car site for sale right now. Yes they are 4 spd. 4 door Grand Ams. So your info is incorrect as I know from being involved with these cars over the years there are closer to 500 that were 4 spd. 4 doors. I think your friend is just trying to make his seem more rare then it really is.
Howdy. I had the ultimate 73 grand am.bought it for 1500 in 77 and promptly blew it up.Rebuilt engine and trans(rock crusher) ,added ram air set up and decent cam. A real runner! Wish I still had it. A unique car indeed. Had to sell it, could’nt afford the tickets.
No AC no deal, nice big car no power windows, stick? Eh, nicer car loaded w sunroof worth 20 maybe, No ac no go
Had one of these in Maroon with the red interior. 400/4bbl/auto. Was cruising on I-95 between Richmond and Washington once at about 100 mph when a VA State Trooper pulled alongside me and just motioned for me to slow down a bit then took off – NoTicket!
Fun car, but the paint on the shnoz kept cracking, and, man were those doors heavy!.
That steering wheel looks correct to me. It’s a little hard to look at as rough as it is. Looks like off-the-shelf Pontiac Formula/Fiero/TransAm/Lemans if you ask me. Symbol in the middle does look like a screaming chicken.
Not period correct for a 73. The popular steering wheel was a thick rimmed unit with 3 “spokes” in a brushed metal finish with a large, almost Mercedes like pad for the horn switch.
My Dad bought a 1973 Pontiac Grand Am at an auction in about 1975. Beer bottle brown with a cream vinyl top. Automatic. I loved that car. Heavy doors. Coolest car Dad had ever owned. I got a kick out a the soft nose. I subscribed to Barn Finds just to see if there were any of these. Cool to see. Wish I had a place to put it. Brings back a lot a memories. Only had it a few years. The knot head that bought it wrecked it within the year. I remember coasting down tiger mountain on Hwy 18 & picking up speed. I called it the lead sled. Next car the folks bought was a Toyota carrolla station wagon. I couldn’t fit in the back. Hated riding in the carrolla after having the big back seat of the Pontiac on.
Thank you Barn Finds
Love it. The nose is such a great look. More aerodynamic and not as clunky as the same year GTO. While A/C would be a nice option, not a deal killer. The 4 speed is a huge plus as well as the NACA duct hood. Agree that price seems high, but who knows?
I owned one of these in the late 70’s. Was one of the nicest cars I’ve owned. I’ve always admired them, fast, great ride, and surprisingly good handling. This is a very rare combination. The price may be a bit high, but not by much. I’m surprised about the comments on air conditioning. Of the 18 cars and trucks in my collection only five were equipped with air, but that’s the newer stuff, except one of my 57 Cadillacs. by newer I mean 60’s and 70’s, LOL!
When this car first came out I hated the design of the back of car. Well I am much older now and I can see much more beauty in the design of this car. I don’t know where the rest of you live, but I never see these on the street or at the car shows I go to. Would be great to own such a car if I were younger. Give it some time and most billfolds won’t be able to buy it.
The 1975 Pontiac accessory catalog shows a picture of the hood. Under the listing for “performance packages” , the LeMans GT package lists the hood as a N.A.S.A hood.
Thank you. I went to find the accessory catalog. In doing so, I found an excerpt from a gto book by tom demauro. In it, it says the car received the NACA ducts so named after a 1947 airplane feature (not NASA), as even Pontiac has stated in its literature. NACA became NASA in 1958
AGAIN , no Pontiac print calls the hood naca , it is always listed as the NASA hood. The book your referring to is not put out by Pontiac . Yes the scoop is a naca scoop , but the hood is always called the NASA hood in all print by Pontiac. Tom D. is not Pontiac. & he is only referring to the scoop not the hood.
So going forward we should refer to it as the hood with the NACA scoops, not the NACA hood. Kinda like the artist formerly known as Prince. NASA hood has NACA scoops. Got it. Good luck with your quest.
I recently made a statement about how I am having a hard time wrapping my head around a colonnade style GM car being worth over $10,000. After looking at this car, I take back that statement. I would pay big bucks for this car. I would locate the correct steering wheel for it & drive it with pride. I personally couldn’t care less about air conditioning.
Earlier this year I was driving around Phoenix in 115 degree heat with my windows down & sunroof open. Let me melt!
Your a better man than I
With all these guys complaining on nearly every Barnfind post about cars with no AC , I’m amazed that any car from the 1970s and down was even saved !
We’ve seen a couple of these lately but this is the first 4 speed car and in the best condition of the previous ones we’ve seen!!! It might be tough but I’m sure the AC parts could be sourced!! Definitely a nice looking car!!!
Absolutely a gorgeous car, but I’m on the hunt for a not perfect black or white one, w a sunroof automatic, power windows and doors, and definitely A/C, it’s just my preference, I want the same options I have in my 73 Grand Prix SJ, I live in NY, stick is not something to dream about in traffic on the LIE, going to the beach, and since I drive my car most between April and October A/C is a must
Nose much more appealing and stylish compared to the ’73 GTO. As far as the hood, lighten up Rex-pert. People can call it whatever they like. It’s just a hood!
With all the uproar about the hood, I should point out that it is not the correct hood for this car. It is a later hood without the cowl vents. All 73’s had vent slots near the windshield. This is probably a 75 hood. I have both. There are a lot of not quite right things about this car. It is really nice looking, but not factory correct, IF that’s what you want.
That is my experience too and wanted to say something. But I figured they’d cut my head off if I was wrong, or not even. Thanks for clarifying that.
In all the years I have been subscribed to this site I have NEVER seen this many comments on any vehicle ever I have ever looked at.
To think all these comments and passion are expressed for an old Pontiac Grand Am no less is AMAZING!!
Wow! A lot of great comments on this car, even though there are some differences of opinion. However, I never liked the styling of any of GM’s cars in the mid ’70’s except Camaro and Firebird. IMHO, this is one of the ugliest cars ever made. Ranks right up there with the Yugo, for looks. And most of you are right about the price.
How many BF readers drove cars without AC? Judging from the “I owned…and “My buddy had a…or “My uncle drove a… stories posted here daily, most of us had a lot of fun in AC-less cars. All of a sudden no AC is the major deal-breaker on BF?? Guess what sports fans- We are all getting old and spoiled. If I were in the market, I would have to give this car some serious consideration. Roll them big ol windows down and crank up the stereo to block out the wind noise and go for a spin.
I agree 100 % !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was born in 1961, loved cars since I was a baby, most childhood pictures were taken in or near a car, staring w my dads 57 Imperial, and 65 Catalina, my sister in laws 69 Grand Prix, I’m not a gear head, I’ve always owned Luxury cars w big motors, my whole life, and I’ll tell ya y, guy on my block had a 69 Pontiac Bonneville loaded to the bone, w a 428 in it.that at blew a lot of Camaros and fast cars at the time, doors off.like I said, I was t going down the 1/4 mile, so y suffer w/o the amenities,
I agree whole-heartedly Frank. One won’t be daily driving this car (or really any classic for that matter), so how many times is not having AC even really going to matter? On top of that, have fun servicing your 40+ year old AC system, plus the added weight and complexity….no thanks. And yes I know about Vintage Air kits….they are okay on some cars but let me tell you I’ve installed a couple that were nightmares…never fit right, never worked right, and didn’t make the car much cooler than just opening the windows and driving.
did the car sell? it’s off craigslist now…..