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Non Stop: 1969 Pontiac LeMans Convertible

left front

Doesn’t this look like a great summer driver? This is one of those cars where you really wish it might be as good as it looks. After being stored for 8 years this Pontiac is ready to go but not stop. It has brake issues as well as a rusty trunk floor. This LeMans listed here on craigslist in Cambridge, Massachusetts looks beautiful inside and out but could it really be worth $9,000? It appears original from what we can see but there no picture of what’s under the hood. All we know is that it has a 350. The paint is 15 years old and still looks pretty nice.

inside

What we can see of the interior looks really original and in great condition.

rear

It looks pretty good back here as well. The back window looks clear and the chrome looks nice. It looks like the left side of the bumper might be bent down a bit. There might be poorly repaired collision damage. A look in the trunk could be very revealing.

right front

It’s nice on the right side as well. How much bondo and rust do you think is under that shiny paint? If this is really as nice as it looks and didn’t have brake problems it might be worth the $9000 asking price. With the rusty trunk floor there will likely be rust elsewhere, especially being a drop top. For the right price wouldn’t this be a nice driver if there’s not too much rust? Some might want to create a GTO clone. What do you think you might find if you were to inspect this convertible? It is not likely worth the asking price and there’s no way to really know what it might be worth without a close look.

Comments

  1. Avatar geebee

    The Massachusetts address screams “rust bucket.” That’s a shame, too, because these are really nice cars.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Oingo

      We call the ones that look good like this bondo buckets.

      Like 0
  2. Avatar john C

    Looks good to me….however hopefully a BF follower might be in the area to get a closer look. Could have spent it’s life in the south ya’ll. (-;

    Like 0
  3. Avatar Greg Member

    I agree with geebee. Great cars, but from my own experience with convertibles, rusty trunk means more elsewhere, especially where it’s coming from. 1969 was a good year for the 350, with a better cam and valve heads. Would be a lot of fun! But have it inspected first.

    Like 0
  4. Avatar racer99

    Had a LeMans Sport convertible with a 400 — great driver and super reliable cruiser. Made all the right noises and went and stopped very well for what it was — a 4500 lb boat with pretty rudimentary suspension and (by today’s standards) pretty small tires. I’m with geebee on this — trunk rust is probably an indicator although you would think body rust would have popped back out of the paint by now unless it was very minimal or it was repaired correctly.

    Like 0
    • Avatar bradshaw

      I wouldn’t call the GM intermeidate cars of the late sixties cars with rudimentary suspension.

      They were almost identical to the current Alfa Romeo’s in that they both used staight axles at the rear, with mulltiple locating arms, and coil springs. The front with un equal lenght A-arms and front sway bar was better than many McPherson Strut modern cars.

      The suspension were sophisticated for the market they were in and with each manufacturer tuning for their customers created real market differences even among GM models.
      I remember the Cutlass models had outstanding turn-in.
      The Chevy II would use simple leaf springs as did the Camaro for locating the rear axle….but the LeMans, Cutlass, Buicks and CHevys were world class.

      Like 0
      • Avatar Bobsmyuncle

        Who would down vote solid info like this?

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      • Avatar Chris In Australia

        They have a terrible positive camber gain with suspension travel. On paper,
        they are better than a strut front end, on the road, not.
        The camber gain can be fixed with taller B body spindles or tall upper & lower ball joints. I have tall uppers in my Skylark
        Of the ’69 Skylark and a strut equipped Holden in the garage here, I know which one handles better.

        The Olds 442s had a rear sway bar. That makes quite a difference. The one I fitted to the Skylark took the handling from appalling to merely bad.

        Like 0
      • Avatar Jamie Staff

        Bob, it could have been an accident. I added a plus ’cause I agree with you.

        Like 0
  5. Avatar Brian

    You note that the rear window is clear. I hope so, because as far as I know, it should be glass. Also, I believe that the 350 is a big block. So you can drop a 455 in there with minimal issues. Wish that I still had my ’69 Custom S convertible (basically the same car).

    Like 1
    • Avatar M. Wane

      Actually, Pontiacs didn’t have ‘big block/small block’ like the Chevys did. They had large journal/small journal which involved different cranks, different rods and of course different displacement for the various engine sizes. All Pontiac blocks appear to be the same size from the ouside. Sizes that year were 350, 400 and 428 with the 350 and 400 being small journal motors.

      Like 1
      • Avatar Oingo

        Great explanation I knew about the one size block but never the specifics of how different displacements were obtained. What do you say about putting a 455 with a TH350? Back in the day think I recall reading something to the effect that it might be ok for stock but anything more and you need a TH400 or a built TH 350.

        Like 0
      • Avatar RBatsch

        Not sure where you got that info M. Wane, but my dad owned a 1970 LeMans and it definitely had a big block 350. The engine was blue whereas the small block was supposedly orange. This was in Canada so perhaps there were regional differences?j

        Like 0
      • Avatar Steve

        Canadian Pontiac’s of that era used Chevy engines, The Blue engine might have been a Pontiac performance engine But the orange one was definitely a Chevy small block

        Like 0
  6. Avatar Jack

    White mud flaps need to go :}

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  7. Avatar DENIS

    My 2-cents worth re the big block/small block debate….all the same in Pontiac350/389/400/428/455…so you can call em all big or all small or all medium….whew!

    Like 0
  8. Avatar Cattoo Member

    Sure wish I still had my Custom S. Silver with black interior. 350.

    Like 0
  9. Avatar 68 custom

    ALL Pontiac motors shared the same external dimensions at least the V8s did from 55 to 77/ or 78 with the 301.

    Like 0
  10. Avatar Robert White

    One of my favorite American sports cars out of the GM line of the 60s muscle car era. I would actually consider this car for purchase if I had bucks. The colour is nice and the paint looks fairly good given the repaint. The interior looks well kept and it’s a ragtop where you don’t have to get a new ragtop to make it a driver. This car is not a trailer queen by any stretch, but it is a nice car IMHO. This is the kind of car I always wanted in high school. The very first car that I ever looked at to buy when I was 16 was a tan LeMans 350, but it was a total rust bucket so I moved on realizing that I had better find some steel instead of rust before I start out.

    Bob

    Like 0

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