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.
Supposedly Golden Olive (46) was only offered on the GTO and Firebird. Those models and other Pontiacs were also offered Slate Green (44). This car has been repainted so none of it matters.
I was just about to post that I’d never seen one this color before…. AND I LIKE IT. Very sharp!
I think it is a great color! Always liked it when it was new.
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.
In 1982 I pulled a silver 73 grand am out of a garage for a 100 dollars. It had no motor but everything else about it was perfect. I changed the frame mounts and stuck a 400 chevy motor in it because it was what I had laying around. The motor lost oil pressure and quit on me after a few months so I parked it. I ended up buying a 75 chevelle and a fullsize pontiac as a package deal later the next year and I drove the chevelle. My little brother asked me about the pontiacs that I had parked and I told him if he wanted to put the motor out of the full size pontiac into the grand am to have at it. He got that thing running, put duals and big tires with the required airshocks and had it looking good, I was kinda thinking maybe I shoudn’t have gave it to him like I did. He didn’t have it too long as he got drunked up and was doing donuts on a city street and hit a sewer opening with the rear tire and bent the axle and the frame along with it, we could not get another rear end to fit on the control arms as everything was shoved to one side. He gave it back to me after that and I ended up trading it for a 63 Impala SS. I had way more energy than money when I was in my early 20’s. We lost our little brother last July 17th. RIP Jimmy
I heard those back window slats made the car 10% faster.
This looks nicely re-done, the Cragar 5-spokes suit it IMO. Had no idea they’d been offered with a manwell, that would spice up the cruising experience. For some reason, I thought these had captain’s chairs that rotated to make entry/exit easier.
I’d drive it.
Only the Malibu, Cutlass, and Monte Carlo of the Colonnade era cars came with swivel buckets.
(Former owner of one.)
Green is my favourite colour..except that shade…blech,..and the Grand Am is my favourite Pontiac..except in that shade of green LOL..a repaint and this is a jewel .
1973 was a good year to own a Pontiac as that 400 still had good heads & crank just needs someone to wake it up but it’s on the left coast for me
i never saw this color on any poncho. man is it ugly looking and the mag wheels make the color look even worse and a tan gut. needs a lot for 19k starting with new paint
That color was never offered on the 1973 Grand Am. The front seats are probably in need of repair, so why cover them up?
Especially when you’re asking an over the moon price in a weird color with non factory wheels. Worth about $6K-$8K in a popular color, IMO
Is/was this really a factory color? Thank God for the Cragars!
I still don’t understand why Pontiac didn’t make this car the 1973 GTO. The nose looks more like a Goat than the bland LeMans front clip. The GTO badge probably would have made it at least another two years, and called the Grand Am the decal packaged Ventura. I love the color but I always had Verdoro Green GTOs so I’m biased. Honeycombs would really make this car badass.
One man’s olive green is another man’s baby diarrhea….
best
bt
Had a burgundy with red interior ’73 coupe with the 400/4bbl and Turbo 400. What a great car! Could cruise in triple digit territory on I-95 between Richmond and D.C. with just a wave from VHP to slow it down. No gas miser, but a smooth cruise.
I have seen a Grand Am with rotating chairs. Does anyone remember the #69 Grand Am run by privateers in Nascar – a fun exercise.
@Retrogreg, Thanks for bringing that up. I was the suspension/brakes engineer on the NASCAR Grand Am, and the only non-Pontiac employee. Jerry Thompson, Chevy engineer/Corvette racer drove it. After a few days at Willow Springs tuning the car, we entered the first of the season race at Riverside. NASCAR refused to tech the car until after the close of qualifying the first half of the field. Ringleader, Herb Adams, was called to the NASCAR trailer where an official told him we would have an easier time if we would replace Jerry with a NASCAR regular. They gave us a long list of things to change. After a late night, we were the 2nd fastest qualifier on the second day. Jerry ran as high as 7th before a flexing front wheel ground off a caliper bleeder screw. Jerry wanted to continue with no front brakes. We were catching the car during the remaining pit stops. We finished just out of the top 15. We went to Daytona for the 500, and they had a new longer list, like 25 things, we had to change before they would let us on the track. We went through three engines trying to qualify. With only one car, which wasn’t optimized for aero, we were in over our heads, and by the end, out of money. An intermediary asked NASCAR after the race how come they we were being so hard on us. He was told somebody high up had told NASCAR they never wanted to see that car in a race. We sold it to a short track racer who, I recall, converted it to a Chevy.
The car has a small but loyal fan base. One made a very accurate model of it. You can find pics on one of the model car magazines message board.
I have a fondness for these cars, and every time one shows up for sale I muse about building a black, red interior restomod.
Thank you for the history lesson! Always thought these GA’s should have done well in NASCAR.
And here’s the real one.
I think I took that picture. Herb Adams, me, and John Lamm from Motor Trend we’re all taking pictures at the end of our test session at Willow Springs late afternoon. On the website bangshift.com you can find a copy of Motor Trend’s article on the car.