From 1964 to 1970, Pontiac did not have a compact car in its portfolio. The Tempest/LeMans had been promoted to mid-size status after the 1963 model year. With sales of the Chevy Nova running high, Pontiac was the first of the other GM divisions to lobby for a clone and finally got it in 1971. Called the Ventura II, the “new” Pontiac was a Nova with a different front clip, rear taillights, and powertrain. The seller has a nice 1973 Ventura Sprint for sale, perhaps the forerunner of what would become the final GTO in 1974. Located in London, Kentucky, this “Poncho” is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $17,000. Our appreciation goes to “PRA4SNW” for the tip.
The Pontiac compact began as the Ventura II in 1971, then simply Ventura in 1973, and finally the Phoenix in 1978. Buick and Oldsmobile would soon get their versions of the Nova, respectively, the Apollo and Omega. None of these cars would sell as well as the Chevy, but the Ventura beat out the other two. The Pontiac “V” received its first restyle in 1973, as the Nova grew slightly in size to accommodate a new hatchback model and bigger bumpers fore and aft.
From 1971 to 1975, the Sprint package became an option on the Ventura. Strictly a 2-door model, the Sprint could be had with obvious exterior striping, body-colored mirrors, bucket seats, a floor shifter, and – in many cases – a Pontiac 350 cubic inch V8 (2-barrel). The seller’s car also has a 4-speed manual transmission, which was standard on the Ventura Sprint.
The ’73 Sprint might be thought of as a dry run for the GTO, which moved from the A-body platform to the Ventura X-body for 1974. And then the muscle car was retired after that. The ’74 GTO had a 4-barrel version of the 350 V8 compared to the smaller carb on the Sprint. The seller provides almost no details on this car. Is it original or a restoration? Is it stock or has it been modified? We don’t know, but it seems like a solid ride that should be seen in person.
I like these,especially the Olds Omega.
There’s no pictures of the whole car from different
angles – why do people do that?
Laziness, or they don’t really want to sell, or they’re hiding something.
Good eye snow ❄️ Like this Pontiac especially w the stick shift. No console to go w the buckets. Still looks good in there 👍 Thanks for the article Dixon.
Wow, this is a great find, tip of the hat to PRA4SNW for finding it, and Russ for writing it up. I don’t remember these at all. I like it especially with the Pontiac built 350 and a 4 speed and the bucket seats. Pontiac, Olds, and Buick built V8s have a nice exhaust note back then. It looks nice, but really wish the seller took some better pictures showing the whole car…. (Hmmmmm………. Where have we heard THAT before???)
It has a small block Chevy now, it would be wise to check if these transmission is a Muncie or Saginaw. Someone would need to check if these are the original style bucket seats. Looks nice, but as with any car, it needs a thorough inspection before purchase.
Steve R
Good eye Steve! This is definitely an engine transplant. This should have the Pontiac 350 in the engine bay. As I have told this story before. I worked at a Pontiac store from 1972 through 1975 while in college. We had one of these Sprints in loaner car service. It had the 350 Pontiac engine (as this one should) , full power, buckets, console and an automatic transmission. It was green with the white stripes. It was such a nice driving car, (It was no ball of fire, but the torque just matched the weight of the car so well. That the car was a pleasure to drive) that it was a favorite of all the dealer personnel. It went on so many vacations (including one of mine) that in no time at all it had accumulated over 30,000 miles. When the dealer principal found out how many miles were on it. It instantly was out of loaner car service. So dealer personnel were now relegated to their own cars or a used car off the lot for vacation purposes.
exactly
That’s not a poncho engine…
I see these as a big step above a Nova – just a better looking better engineered package – the front end and rear end treatments are miles apart from a run of the mill Nova
I agree totally. Unless you have driven one with the Pontiac 350. You can’t appreciate the difference in the feeling of the car. I have driven both the Nova 350 and the Pontiac 350 back to back. And the Pontiac is a completely different driving car.
Sellar wants 17 grand for a Pontiac Ventura, and they can only take five pictures? And pictures that are not very good at that!
should have a poncho motor in it with a chevy motor its just a nova in drag. what a shame especially for 17k
I was hoping to take a trip down memory lane with some good shots of the car. Nope. I had a Ventura. 350 with a 3 spd in the floor. That seems like a lifetime ago
The Buick Apollo was my favorite of the N.O.V.A. cars, the Poncho was in the best movie car chase
It was a good chase, it’s available on several YouTube channels, so is the movie in its entirety.
Most every notable car chase can be found on YouTube.
Steve R
I have the ’74 Omega version with the L-34 factory package, and let me tell ‘ya, this body style can be a rush when that 4 bbl. is opened up!
Unfortunately $17+ is current price for pristine X body models of this type, that chevy engine will lower its value on the market.
I remember reading about a rather odd and comical language problem this car had. It didn’t sell at all in Spanish Speaking South America due to the name. Turns out the word No-Va in Spanish means: It won’t go!” It was one of those language bloopers that happens every so often.
Kinda ironic GMC called their elcamino equivalent Sprint for 2 previous years. Typical GM name shuffle
My wife ordered a new 73 Ventura Sprint Hatchback, red with black bench seat as we could not get the buckets in black if I remember right. Those stripes on this 73 for sale here sure aren’t what we had on hers. Doesn’t look bad but I don’t think those are correct for a 73? A stick shift has to be really rare on a Sprint. Good memories of that car. Kept it quite a while till some bubbles started to show up in the paint. 350/2 was no performance motor though. Hers looked great with Cragar SS and BFG Radial T/As.