The Grand Am was born in 1973 as a way to compete with the growing influence of European sport sedans. The name was a hybrid of the Grand Prix and Trans Am, so both luxury and performance met somewhere in the middle. The car ran for three years, and low sales caused its demise in 1975, though the name would be revived later. This 1973 Grand Am appears to be in better shape than the seller suggests, as they say it needs “some” work. The Olive Green Poncho, located in Ramona, California, is available here on eBay for $19,700.
For 1973-75, the Grand Am was built on the LeMans platform, so it was a mid-size automobile. It was also based on the Colonnade design, which meant frameless glass in the doors, but no hardtops (both 2 and 4-door versions were sold). The standard V8 displaced 400 cubic inches, and the 455 was optional, so the Grand Am was not an economy car and the OPEC oil embargo hurt sales of the first generation. Most of them were fitted with TH-400 automatic transmissions, including the seller’s car. No under-the-hood photos are provided, so we assume a 400 still lives there.
This Pontiac is one of 34,400 coupes assembled in 1973, the Grand Am’s best year. It has traveled 79,000 miles in 53 years, so some downtime is likely during its time on Planet Earth. The seller has owned it for a year and chose what looks like a Home Depot parking lot for the photos (which seem to capture more of the inventory than the car). As you might expect, the Grand Am has bucket seats and a floor shifter.
The body and paint seem up to snuff, but a cover over the driver’s seat suggests maybe the interior needs attention. We’re told the car needs some work, but only the gas tank is mentioned on a to-do list. Yet, it’s said to be a strong runner engine-wise, so perhaps the fix-it stuff doesn’t comprise materials and labor that require a bankroll to finance. Not many of these Pontiacs are left, so this one could be an interesting novelty.
UGH! – Who would pick such an ugly color to paint a car?
Not the one to pick,especially if you’re going to be selling it.
Look at this,& then look at the Can Am model of it – it’s
like night & day.And there’s the optimistic price on this.
Careful now, angliagt, Olive Drab is very popular among the military set,,I just never thought I’d see it on a car like this. It was actually called “Golden Olive Green” code #46, and being so close to Olive Drab, I doubt many were sold. I never saw one.
I was just about to post that I’d never seen one this color before…. AND I LIKE IT. Very sharp!
I had similar thoughts Russ: cool car in its day, very odd color, terrible place to take pics.
When these came out, many of us wondered what GM was thinking, and then just looked the other way. All these years later, pretty much the same but maybe to a slightly lesser degree.
I bought a 1975 Grand Am used in 1977 when i was 17. Was black with a red interior buckets and console only difference was tail lights were vertical on the 75. Loved that car had it for 5 years trouble free sold it to my brother.