Quick question: Which one of General Motors’ personal luxury coupes pulled off its 1978 downsizing most successfully? The Monte Carlo (although I like it) seems to have its share of detractors, as do the Oldsmobile Cutlass and Buick Regal. Many people seem to prefer the 1981 restyling of all four, but I don’t think Pontiac did a bad job out of the gate in 1978, and the original owner of this car, who is now 97, obviously felt the same way. He’s held onto the Grand Prix for 48 years, and it’s now up for sale here on craigslist in University Place, Washington. Yes, it’s a survivor with 121,000 miles on the clock, and the asking price is a seemingly fair $6,300 or best offer. Thanks to Curvette for another nice Pacific Northwest find!
The engine compartment looks as one might expect from a 121,000-mile survivor, and although the basic Grand Prix came standard with Buick’s 3.8-liter V6, this one has Pontiac’s own 301 under the hood (probably the two-barrel). An interesting note, but perhaps not too surprising in Washington State, is that this car seems to have been ordered without air conditioning. If nothing else, that leaves a lot of room under the hood to work, something that was more and more rare as the seventies became the eighties. The seller, who is a family friend of the original owner, says that the battery is new.
The lack of air conditioning is also not surprising given the basic specification of the car, with a basic bench seat and (in the following picture) what appears to be an AM radio. The driver’s side of the seat has begun shedding its upholstery and foam, so a trip to the upholsterer (or the thrift shop for a blanket) will probably be in order as soon as the new owner signs their name on the title.
One thing that Pontiac perhaps did better than its competing GM makes was the dashboard, because even though there’s plenty of fake wood to go around, the instrumentation at the very least looks sporty. The parts store steering wheel cover, however, might have to go.
Oops, you might also need some rear bumper fillers, but even if the Grand Prix will need a little TLC, it’s a rust-free example of a car that you really don’t see much anymore (and they sold a ton of them back in 1978). It doesn’t have a vinyl top, so you won’t have to worry about hidden rust, and the paint color, which is one of about a dozen browns and dark reds offered in 1978, is appropriate for a disco-era PLC. Not a bad deal at all.
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