Did you know that GM built roughly 3 million third-generation Pontiac Grand Ams? I’m not surprised, considering you used to see these economy cars practically everywhere. Malls, high schools, suburban driveways – you name it, there was likely a Grand Am somewhere in the vicinity between the years of 1988 and 1998. These days, however, they have clearly been retired to the big junkyard in the sky, which is why a 1988 model like this one here on craigslist makes you do a double-take – especially since it has been somewhat restored with a fresh paint job and new mechanical bits. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Barney for the tip.
The N-body platform cars represented a significant shift for GM, as the X-body models rode off into the sunset. The Grand Am, like all Pontiac products, was marketed as the performance-oriented small car offering, and of course, it was designed to deliver driving excitement. On a purely cosmetic level, the Grand Am did look racy, especially when you purchased one that didn’t sit at the bottom of the trim hierarchy. Alloy wheels, bucket seats, an instrument cluster with lots of gauges – you know, the superficial stuff that made people think the car they just bought really was exciting.
Underneath it all was still a fairly ordinary economy car, like so many other GM products. Cheap plastics, seats with no real support, and plenty of panel gaps were all a foreshadowing of how easily the Japanese manufacturers would come to dominate the small car segment. However, these shortcomings didn’t bother many American consumers, hence the strong sales numbers. And, frankly, they were somewhat unkillable, like so many other GM offerings. You may find the entry-level Iron Duke 4-cylinder to be repugnant, but there’s a reason why so many U.S. Postal Service vehicles are still running this engine.
Speaking of the Iron Duke, the seller claims the 2.3L 4-cylinder runs just fine in his Grand Am, which has been given a scale of updates not often seen in this vehicle class. In addition to being resprayed in its original color, the seller notes the previous owner replaced the power window motors/regulators, struts, and shocks and that everything still works save for the cassette deck. With under 90,000 miles, the Iron Duke with its 98 b.h.p. and 135 lb.-ft. of torque should still move out just fine, but you may not wish to subject this Grand Am to the sort of daily driving abuse that befell so many others before it. Do you think the $7,400 asking price is reasonable for what is likely one of the nicest Grand Ams left in existence?
Buddy had a stick shift one, comfortable seats, and the interior looked especially great at night-time. I drove it many times when he had too many 🍺
Mom had a new 1986 just like this with the V6. The dash was super cool at night. Fun car.
Always liked these and the Olds Cutlass Calais. My high school parking lot had more than a few of these, and truth be told, this looks like it was transportedhere straight from 1989. A stick would make it that much more fun. Very nice.
Wouldn’t mind finding one with the 2.0 LT3 turbo. Good luck though! A good example of a car that very few people preserved.
The Iron Duke was a 2.5l pushrod engine from Pontiac. The 2.3 was the DOHC Quad4 from Oldsmobile.
If you go the listing and look up the VIN, it reads that it is a 2.5L. They did offer the 2.3 Quad 4 that year, but it’s not in this car. So a typo on the owner’s part in the listing that was carried over i to this write-up.
Yes, you are correct Bob. I checked the VIN to make sure it wasn’t really a Quad-4, but it’s a U code for the 2.5L iron duke. For all the bad publicity about the Quad-4, I’d still prefer that engine over the duke.
These look best with the sealed beams. Many people bought them because they were good looking cars. Preserve and enjoy.
I had a similar thought. The black lower bodyside with the horizontal lines. The black carried over to the window surrounds, B pillar, grille, and headlight surrounds. Stylish wheels and white letter tires. Even the fog lights look appropriate. It all comes together nicely.
Speaking of the “lower bodyside with the horizontal lines”, I’m pretty sure these were the first appearance of that ribbed lower body cladding that soon spread across the Pontiac lineup for the next decade or so.
Took me a while to realize that styling cue was probably meant as a callback to the ribbed “silver streak” trim strips that were a Pontiac signature from 1935 to 1956:
https://macsmotorcitygarage.com/the-pontiac-silver-streak-story/
The flush-mounts that initially replaced the sealed-beams also looked pretty good, but the ’89 facelift adopting a slant nose IMO always looked wrong, completely at odds with the rest of the car’s otherwise rectilinear styling. Maybe if they’d also sprung for a revised C-pillar and backlight with more of a rounded/sloped profile like they did for the late A-bodies it might’ve looked a bit more coherent.
Interesting info SubGothius, specifically about the ribs as a heritage Pontiac styling cue.
My family had 3 of these GM turds
They seemed like a nice sporty alternative to other cars in its price range. However, all 3 of various years, leaked water onto the passenger side front floorboard when it rained. There was sometimes standing water visible! This was a very common problem with the Grand Ams and the ‘superior’ brain trusts at GM Tech center here in Michigan could never figure out why🤣
That’s really odd. I owned two of the Oldsmobile Calais models and never had an issue with water leaks. I wonder what was different about the Grand Am.
Back in ’92, had one of these with the Quad 4. Big POS, yet somehow didn’t affect my love of Pontiacs. While on a business trip to Frankfurt Germany in February, my wife called me from Baltimore to tell me the block cracked from the cold. I had no clue what she expected me to do about it. Told her to rent a car and stay out of my Fiero!
Did you start using antifreeze in your engines after that event?
Very funny.
Bought one,silver in 1990 from a car salesman friend for 100.00. Iron duke motor,5 speed.Great car. My buddy said it was a thousand dollar car if it was auto and not silver. Taboo back in 1990. I don’t know about the 5 speed,but silver was an absolute “no sale” in the 80s-90s.
7k with a seat that looks like a dog chew toy. pass. 2.5 4cly i would say 4k but you have to want it to pay that or more.
Now that’s a breautiful ride from the Greaties Eighties alright . I think I,d go for this .
Bought a new ‘86 SE with the 3.0 V6. Nice, sharp car.
These were all ground to dust along with Pearl Jam cassette tapes by every high school kid in the 90s. Ask me how I know…
An awful lot of rental cars were these, back in the late 1980s.
Sadly GM made no money on these, was like $800ea, were built keep the Corp Gas Average under federal limits and called throw away Cars(not by me). Not many these left, same with Grand Am sister car the Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais. Owned 2 Calais with Quad 4 and 5 speed and a Grand Am with 3.3ltr engine. Original Quad 4s didnt hold up, went threw 4 head gaskets in 98K miles