Shiny and fresh, this stylish wagon traversed an unexpected journey to notoriety. Be sure to check out the whole story in the listing here on eBay, but a series of interesting events led to this 1975 Pontiac Grand LeMans Safari in Great Falls, Montana accumulating a mere 16,074 miles to date. The new owner, or should we say curator, purchases the car *and* the responsibility of deciding whether the wagon should continue life as a museum curiosity, or perhaps fulfill its original destiny as a conveyance. Whatever the potential buyer’s motives, the like-new Pontiac has attracted over 20 bids to a value above $13,000.
All-original except for the wheels and tires, this streamlined people-mover wears the mandated heavy bumpers of the era. Purists will be happy to know the original wheels and tires come with the sale!
The Grand LeMans Safari includes simulated wood trim, carpeted lower door panels, and pull straps on the doors, plus other upgrades. If you parked your low-mileage beauty outside for decades, it wouldn’t look nearly this nice, but indoor storage (including years in an enclosed car carrier) paid off with well-preserved finishes inside and out.
Only a few hints of surface rust distinguish this Pontiac from new or meticulously restored specimens. The 400 cid (6.6L) V8 was standard on the Grand LeMans. You might wish for air conditioning and more luxury options, but buyers of this era often saw fancy upgrades as “more than can go wrong.” Only in the last 20 years or so have we begun to think of air and power locks and windows as essential features. Technical advances for 1975 included electronic ignition and (oh joy) catalytic converters.
The nine-foot cargo area can swallow more than most modern SUVs. The cargo area under that flat floor alone packs more storage than some sub-compacts. If you became the high bidder on this Safari, would you preserve or drive this immaculate classic?
Mid 80’s I did one for a car lot that came equipped with 4 speed, console, rally gauges, buckets and console. I really liked it in the silver it came in.
Hmmm, by 1975, GM’s Fridgidaire A/C was tried and true and could cool an interior to the point of being able to hang meat in there and it was very reliable.
This car without A/C was a buyer going cheap, period. No A/C, a vinyl interior, and manual windows will make for an interesting ventilation exercise when summer arrives.
The car is in remarkable condition for its age and will turn heads everywhere and while some might fit an aftermarket A/C, it would destroy originality. Tough call.
Many pre-80s cars had more ventilation options, including wing windows, which kept cars cooler (except at stoplights). Living in the northeast, our family never had AC until mom bought a K-car on her own. Dad wasn’t too happy…
Non A/C was common in the northern tier of states well into the ’90s.
Another extra cost accessory that the cheap original buyer didn’t include were the opening vents at the rear of the rear quarter glass. With those open, airflow dramatically increases. You really could say this car is a stripper model.
EXACTLY,Buck….I was a General Motors “A” tech back then. Frigidaire A/C wass INCREDIBLY reliable.Good old R12 system.After you drove a few minutes,you could hang meat in a car like that……..One more thing,those 400 motors with a 195 degree thermostat AND a catalytic converter under the car. If you don’t have A/C in that thing,FORGET IT !!
Love it!
For a car of the seventies it’s wonderful.
Would drive the $&@% out of that beast! And yes, the first thing I WOULD do is put Vintage Air in it.
Big, but still no land barge. That 400 should still have plenty of guts to it. Hopefully not much more thirsty than a 350.
Probably need to check out the front end for damage. The parking lights were installed in the outermost grill sections at the factory. Someone has installed these incorrectly.
Good catch!
Absolutely correct. Also, although it’s possible, I believe it’s unusual to not have the optional body side moldings, which I believe a vast majority did, even though they were optional.
Goofs like Mrvans points out drive me crazy; how much work would it have been to get the lights in the right position?
The radiator cap looks to be aftermarket as well.
Helluva story. Who wrote it-Hemingway?
Age creeps up on us all, you never would have told me that I would like a mid-seventies station wagon. But alas, this one is pretty sweet. God it sucks getting old.
Beats the alternative!
Fabulous original condition and the exterior color is eye-popping! The seller is quite enthusiastic about the car, and rightly so, but in the old car hobby, low mileage, all original cars aren’t as rare as he thinks. We see examples here at Barmnfinds on a regular basis. I have two all-original, low-mileage cars and both are older than this Pontiac. This is probably the best 1975 Pontiac Grand LeMans Safari you’ll ever find; I’ll give the seller that. This is a real gem and probably worth a pretty penny when all is said and done. Personally, I’d add A/C, drive it in good weather only and enjoy the attention it gets. That’s what a car is for.
The fact remains that the current seller doesn’t know what happened to the car before he got it.
stories are just that, stories.
Like another poster pointed out, the turn signals are in the wrong position. How could that happen unless somebody took apart the front end and didn’t know how it was to be reassembled?
I’m not sure if you have to disassemble the front end to move the parking lights, I bet there are screws holding them in just like headlight bezels used to attach. Could be a previous owner just wanted his car to look different from all the others out there. I moved parking lights from bumpers to behind the grille on a 65 GTO I had as a kid, it did give it a slightly more aggressive look with the wider opening in the bumper, plus back then, parking lights were not on with the headlights until 1967. You barley saw the turn/park lights unless they were on. Nothing was changed, bolt in as they say, even the wiring reached.
It’s been said a great car salesman can sell you beach front property in Yuma, Arizona. Love the story on this one, but it’s still a ’75 Pontiac station wagon. Hard for me to get excited about those years. Nice car that it is, really, what would you do with it?!
Drive, show, or store?
I’m probably in the minority of those who find the ’73-’77 collonades to be highly underrated. Given the lack of interest amongst the general public for these since they were new, chances are this example is the best alive today and it deserves to be appreciated. Love every bit of it and it’s a car I’d be PROUD to own
Maybe its just me, but the paint looks a little flat – theres no deep shine like I would expect for such low miles. Plus it looks like overspray on the door switch and striker ; as I recall they were left unpainted . I do like these mid size GM cars, though ,they were really tough cars !
Also looks like the undercoating “plug” above the sriker pin in picture 8 has paint on it while all the others are black rubber.
I I love it! And of course I’d drive it. Well, as much as I could afford to. Anyone know the mileage on these?
Interestingly, the original tires with 95% tread must be 300,000 mile tires! They just don’t make them like that anymore! I absolutely love this car.
Advertised as a Bug Block 400 but its not.
Pontiac small block 400 similar to Chevs
185 Hp maybe.
Nice car…
But at 16 grand close to its max value
I hate to tell you look at the pic of engine it’s a big block Pontiac ! Any one that knows car’s will agree with me ,sweet old wagon
Good one daniel, but we all know there is no such thing as a small block or big block Pontiac V8. Outside dimensions are all the same, 287 to 455.
Pontiac only made 1 block, the stroke was different, but a 301 block is the same as a 455
Actually, Pontiac did make two different sized V8 engines. The 265 and 301’s were short deck engines and approx. 100lbs. lighter than all the other V8’s, however, these weren’t referred to as “small blocks”.
Try 170 horsepower? At least that is what The Encyclopedia of American Cars gives as the number.
There is zero similarity between the Pontiac and Chevrolet 400 engines.
And I forgot, these mid 70s small blocks are Gas pigs.
20 bucks to drive to a car show.
Most of the gasoline passing right out the tail pipe unburned
BY 1975 it has the catalytic converter and in better shape of tune than say a 73-74. Still had to pass emissions, no way all the gas exit’s the tail pipe. But you can’t compare this car to a modern car that’s all plastic junk.
Drive it.
Always check seller’s feedback, proceed with caution and read between the lines.
That’s one thing that’s pretty common to anything built before say, the late 80’s.
I notice it whenever I’m in the vicinity of a Cruise Night or Cars and Coffee.
Drive behind any classic in traffic, particularly American iron, and the raw gas smell is quite noticeable.
It’s obvious gas was cheap back then. Lousy mileage didn’t mean much when you could fill your tank for next to nothing (relatively speaking).
I can smell that vinyl interior right through my cell phone…
How come it has a Wisconsin collector plate on the front? There is no mention of it being there in the ad.
Not to mention having an Alberta, Canada dealer plate on the back.
Not only that, in the EBay listing, seller says the car is in Calgary, Alberta. eBay says Great Falls.
I say bull on the mileage, left lower back quarter panel, paint bubbles, and why are most of the pictures far away……today with products available on the market for detailing of engine bay and a littler elbow work, yea even I can make a car look like new. So buyer be ware on this one. I say bull…….
Those are not the original Pontiac wheels. Look at the spare tire wheel with the Pontiac rally wheel design and logo. Seller makes no mention of where the original rims are. Devalues the car greatly in my opinion.
The seller says he has the original rims and tires and they go with the car, but there is no picture of them.
I owned a 1975 Olds Cutlass Wagon version of this car as a winter beater. It was in average condition in the late 80’s but the tin worm was eating it as I drove those salted and pot-holed roads of Massachusetts. The gas tank is located in the right rear quarter panel and even that developed pin holes from the relentless tin worm from road salt being splashed up from the rear tires. It was not a very good or seemingly safe design, but what was during the mid seventies from the USA or Japan? This one looks surprisingly good. I’d convert the front end to a Grand Am soft nose, or tuck in the protruding proboscis that was required to survive a potentially devastating 5mph destructive hit. As I remember I think 5mph was the national interstate speed limit at the time, or at least it seemed like it. LOL!
“No other photographs will be given, what you see is what you get?” How do I delicately word this….kiss my…
Now this one is really nice. Should take in a great price on Ebay, if it doesn’t, don’t sell it.
Oops, I forgot to add, if it doesn’t sell keep it till it looks like the 28 cars for $70,000 for sale. After that many years this one will still look good
Nice car, no options, not worth adding, to me not worth much w/out them, needs at least a/c and power windows, got my first car over 40 yrs ago, never owned one w/o options
Circa 1987 or so, my Dad bought a 1974 Safari wagon for $100 from a guy at work. It needed mechanical work and the guy had no interest in putting money into it. My Dad spent a weekend getting it running, and handed it off to me to use at college. (It was my junior year so I was finally allowed to have a car on campus.) Plenty of good times heading to the Nautilus Diner in Madison, NJ at 2am for cheesecake and onion rings (hey, when a craving hits…) and other nearby spots. Two years later, my mother wound up taking it over when I bought a 1976 Cutlass Supreme coupe. If I could have a car collection, a Safari wagon of this era would be in it.
take the cats off…. put a flow through exhaust and a K & N breather on her and you’ve got a nice cruiser
I confess, I haven’t read all the comments to the end but has anyone else pointed out this car is wearing licence plates from my great province of ALBERTA Canada?
There’s something fishy about the Wisconsin collector plate on the front. I emailed the seller asking about it, & he told me it must have been pre ’95 when he acquired the car. These plates are issued sequentially & stay with the owner for life. I have one. My # is almost 4000 plates lower than his & it was issued in 2000. Additionally, the letter at the end designates an owner who has another car with plates with that #. Something doesn’t add up. Perhaps the plate was stolen. Beware!
Amazing how much money old wagons are bringing. Speaking of no air, my dad took us all the way from near Niagara Falls NY to California and back in a 66 Country Squire. 6 people, family dog and no A/C. Saw the grand canyon, painted forest, route 66, tourist traps, speed traps, etc. We survived, heck we did not even get a color TV until 1977 or so.