The Pontiac Ventura II was introduced in 1971 as a rebadged version of the Chevy Nova. They differed little except for the front clip treatment and rear taillights. A Sprint version was added which was also akin to the Nova SS. This 1972 edition is a sharp Poncho, with a nice repaint in the original color and a replacement 350 V8 under the hood (plus the original bad engine on the side). It could even be the rare SD version marketed on the West Coast, but that’s just speculation. Located in Mandan, North Dakota. This orange Pontiac is available here on eBay. You can buy it right away for $19,999 or make an offer and see what happens.
The Ventura used the “II” suffix for a couple of years to keep it separate from the earlier Ventura which had been a full-size Pontiac in the 1960s. As the “II” was added to the line-up mid-year, all 1971 Ventura’s used Chevrolet powerplants. That would change in 1972 when a Pontiac-built 350 cubic inch V8 entered the picture. The Sprint used a 2-barrel carburetor until it disappeared in 1974 when the Ventura-based GTO debuted for just one model year.
If the seller’s auto could be proven as a Sprint SD, then it would be especially rare. It was produced only for SoCal in mid-1972 and came with “Strato” bucket seats, Rally wheels, and other Firebird touches that could otherwise be ordered in the rest of the country as part of the Sprint. Estimates are that between 250 and 500 of those cars were made. The seller goes on a lengthy series of “what if’s” as to the rarity of his/her car and why it’s a better purchase than a Nova of the same model year. But hard data beats speculation and we’re not sure what’s what with this car.
The Pontiac here looks great. The body is solid with newer paint and stripes and the amazing interior is said to be original, not a reproduction. What’s under the hood is not numbers-matching, but the seller has the original motor which the buyer is welcome to take, but it’s “damaged”. Part of the seller’s speculation is that he/she is the car’s fourth owner and only wants to sell it because an end is coming to the space it occupies. The replacement set-up has maybe 1,000 miles on it and runs great. If you’ve been looking for a 1969-72 Nova SS, this Pontiac would be a close substitute for probably less money.
Nice car. My father had a ’72 with the 350 in it and it was quite a runner. Light weight and a big engine does it every time.
This was really the kind of car the Pontiac OHC six was meant for.
Alas and alack, GM was going the other way – with corporate engines, shared platforms, and for a few years, the only differentiation between brands on shared platforms, would be the logo.
Popular Mechanics wrote of one test Ventura coming through with NOVA glued onto the dash. Not surprising at all.
For all that, this is a fine specimen of the RWD X-body in its prime. I was never a big fan of the Nova base – partly because it was my Driver’s Ed car, and a base car. Floor pan like the bottom of an oil can. Too many kids in the car, and the girls I liked, avoiding me. Nope, bad associations…I preferred the Maverick, we had one in the family.
The X-Body turned out to be more robust, if a little less light on its feet. Today, Mavericks are mostly forgotten but the demand for pre-bumper Novas is beyond belief. And there’s some reason for it.
Where are the vent windows on this one?
They were on the X-Body cars until 1973.
There are also no pictures where I can see the windows in an up position. This must be answered before making that purchase.
Probably the best way to verify if it is, in fact, a west coast SD version is to look at the PHS documentation. It should show where the car was sold initially and should show if the strato buckets was a separate line item.
Solid sharp car for sure . Worth the 20k in today’s market especially with the original #’s engine included that needs a rebuild.Red looks good on this car and I’m not a red car guy.The only thing I’d do is ditch the turn downs and put tail pipes on and some Hedman hedders.Only headers made in the U.S. anymore.Glwts.
My bad Lemons are too.
Nice – I’ve Driven Cars with 350 4 Barrel Pontiac V8’s feels a lot stronger than their cubic inches > Torque . > A 1 off 72 Ventura with a 455 HO Engine was built by PMD But not for production – Very Quick :)
That motor is a chevy 350. So it is basically a nova! He tells quite the story about how better than a nova blah blah blah, and turns out it is a nova lol. 20 grand seems a bit high for this car probably a 12000 to 15000 car.
This Ventura checks a lot of boxes for Pontiac enthusiasts.
Rally II wheels, nice color, bucket seats with shortie console and floor shifter.
350 cid v-8 that can be warmed up a bit if you want more Go to accompany the Show.
Great find, and well worth the money.
🎯 Mark0
I’ve been a Nova fan for years, have one now and had 3 in the past. Never knew this model existed! Like Just Passin Thru said, this’d be a really neat car with the OHC 4bbl 6 in it. I’d find a place for it if it were! Nice looking car, and I think well worth the price. Good luck!
I owned one of these, a 72 in the orange paint. In line 6cyl Chevy and auto trans. For the 100 I paid at the dealership,(they had lost their wholesaler), it lasted me over 3 years.
You didn’t have to be a computer genius, electrical whiz kid, and plumber, to work on these. 😂
From the way the market has been going, this one is probably a steal at 20k.
Yes without the Pontiac 350 which was a better motor vintage wise if I remember correctly rated more horsepower than the chevy from the factory which makes sense since all Pontiacs used the same block.
I took my road test on my dad’s 1971 Ventura. It had a 307 V-8 with the power glide transmission. PlaIn Jane, no A/C, power steering but no power brakes. If memory serves i over revved it and broke a valve spring.
A buddy of mine put a 455 in one of these. Motor and tranny were out of a 1973 trans am. Crazy fast car.
Interesting that the other stablemates are forgotten. The Buick Apollo and the Oldsmobile Omega accompanied the Nova and Ventura on the same platform. Now I have to look to see if the Ventura was offered with the hatchback as a few Novas were built. That would be a fun variation to own!
NOVA= Nova, Omega, Ventura and Apollo..and any of the cars could come with anyone else’s engine. It got GM in trouble and they were sued when a person bought a say, Omega and it had a Chevy 6 in it. Since then the engine bays of GM cars has a label that states “this car is equipped with an engine from various GM divisions”
Man, it was tough reading through all of seller’s useless droning drivel, but I see that it came with a V8. Seller never specifically mentions if that is a 350, so most likely a 307.
My thought was that if it came with a Pontiac 350, you could pull and sell the built Chevy engine and put that money into fixing the original engine. But if’s it a 307, forget it.
Think original engine would be a 354 Pontiac. They just called it 350 ’cause that was popular. Kinda like calling 402 BBC a 396.
I can’t imagine having a face to face conversation with this seller. I’d blow my brains out.
Russ, you call it orange but it looks red in the pics. Meh. But when you say orange it makes me think of Shannon Jones and her orange Ventura in high school. Where’s her car? And more importantly, where’s Shannon?
Cool, I owned one of these Sprint Ventura’s, a ‘72, orange, black bench, auto, Pontiac 350. The twin sport mirrors and sport steering wheels were part of the package. Was a bear without PS, my girlfriend hated it because of that. Solid car. Sold it to a buddy’s younger brother who just had to have it.
72′ sprint with a 307 and a 3 speed on the floor. pmd.