It’s always fun to hear from readers about their finds and what they are working on! Reader Steven C recently sent over photos of his most recent find, this 1975 Pontiac Grand Am Colonnade. He already owned a 1974 Hurst/Olds, so he thought this Grand Am would go nicely with it. It took 15 years him 15 years to finally get it, but it’s now his and on it’s way to being restored back into original shape. You can read more about it below!
From Steven – This is a real barn/garage find. It’s a 1975 Grand Am Colonnade with just 27k miles. I’ve been trying to buy it for the past 15 years. It was bought new at Kemp Motors in Cedartown, Ga. I have all the original paperwork including the window sticker. I bought it from the son of the original owner. Even has space saver spare and nitrogen canister in trunk still mounted.
It’s got a 400 2bbl V8 paired to a TH400 with the Radial Tuned Suspension. And it’s the very rare Colonnade edition. Not exactly sure of numbers, but I think they built around 1,500 or so. Produced for 2 years in that body style. $5,785 was the selling price when new. Car has tilt, AM/FM, 8 track too. I have a 1974 Hurst Olds with a similar story and they will go well together when this one is finished.
Here it is after a decent cleaning. The nose is rotted off of it but 2 companies repop those so will just buy a new one. That plastic always falls apart.
It looks like Steven has some work ahead of him, but what a cool machine! We can’t wait to see it parked next to his Hurst/Olds. Our thanks to him for sharing his find with us and we wish him luck with it! If you’ve rescued a barn find, we would love to hear about it. You can send your story to us at mail@barnfinds.com!
Happy for him! What a neat car this will be…
it was a looker in its time….
There’s no way that’s a 27,000 mile car, unless it was “stored” in a leaky, drafty outdoor carport. It’s such a shame to see cars treated like this.
I agree. The wear alone to the driver’s seat tells me 27K is impossible. The car is very saveable, but this one’s been around the block more than that. Lucky for a buyer the nose is remanufactured by 2 co’s. I didn’t know that. This is going to need a good $30K to even get close to decent shape.
One of my favorite all time bodies.
The ’73 is iconic.
Crazy how they don’t get more attention.
Which will work in our favor when the right one shows up! I am only missing three things to have one in the condition pictured- Time, Money, and Skill.
The reason they don’t get more attention is that no suppliers make parts for them. The market is there, if only some suppliers would step up to it.
It’s good to see persistence can pay off on getting the car wanted to buy! It will be a nice looker upon completion next to the Olds!
Great job on the Pontiac and awesome rescue
Fantastic find, good for you
Tapping in on a comment about not being a 27xxx mile car
Unless it’s stored in a controlled environment cars will slowly disappear and turn to dust.
Very sad right?
Glad you saved her
I just saved a 1991 Capri convertible
80xxx miles all original northern Michigan car, no rust anywhere perfect condition in out mechanically,from the auto crush yard.
Im a big muscle car fan. 2013 RS convertible ,sits in my garage .can’t wait to see the pics when finished
I had three different 1973 Grand Am’s. One two door, and two four doors. These car’s were da bomb man. One of my 4 doors had a 7.6 liter in it, and a speedo of 145 miles an hour. Had a friend drive that car once, and asked if he could step on it. He had to back off, and I asked why. He said he had the accelerator three quarters of the way down, and the car was already at 110 miles a hour. It scared the hell out of him. The car just kept pulling, and sucking us back into our seats, and no shake ether. These cars never go the credit they deserved.
Sorry. This is not the grand am to rave about. If you are to buy one or restore one; make sure it’s a matching number with a 455. I do love the grand am. The four door model is very interesting too.
Reminds me of mine. 74 loaded up with power everything including the power sunroof and the big 455.They do rust. Mine had rust under the vinyl top which had to be fixed.
Another photo of my 74. The sunroof and the 455 really transform this car into something special.
…not to mention the super rare cornering lamps. Does your car have comfortron or tach as well Nessy?
Always loved these. Had a ‘73 and can remember pieces of the nose disintegrating in the wind and flying over the windshield. I’d have another one.
Back in the late 70’s my uncle bought a 73 GTO, when his son turned 16 1988 he bought his son a 73 Grand Am. It was white/red vinyl. Who ever his dad bought it from had put on a dual exhaust, 255 60 15 Dunlop GT Qualifiers and a bad ass stereo. I remember cruising around in it listening to the Alpine cassette player blaring B96. He ended up totaling that car and finding another one in the early 90’s sitting on a Pontiac dealers lot that someone traded in. It was a mint all original car with low miles. It was brown/beige, 400 2bbl, with rally II’s ridding on white walls. After about a month he had thrown on 255 60 15’s BFG’s on the back had the white walls flipped to the black wall side on the front, dual exhaust and put on some high lift coils. It looked and sounded sweet. He sold it 6 months later and bought a 1989 fox body Mustang. Till this day I have a soft spot for these Grand Am’s/GTO’s especially the 1973’s.
Congratulations Steven, you must be thrilled after waiting 15 years! Good luck with your restoration, you will be rewarded. These are truly amazing cars to drive, the other Collonades don’t begin to compare!!!
Hey Tom,
I’m the guy that bought the other car that Phil in Indy was selling. Looks like you ended up with the other one that he had up for sale. It looks great, how are you liking it so far. I would love to get your e-mail or FB so that we can talk about Grand Ams.
If you are on FB, check out this group. We are a group for 1st and 2nd generation G/A’s only:
http://www.thegrandamregistry.com
I really wanted that car as well. Especially for that sunroof. I just didn’t have the money for 2 cars in one transaction.
Very jealous of that beauty. Come over to the FB group and tell us about it.
-Jeremy
Tom, (I had an entire post written out and it vanished when I posted it)
It looks as if we both bought cars off of Phil in Indy. I think you got yours from a dealer that Phil sold it to, and you bought it about 2 months after that. I bought the other Grand Am that he was selling at the same time as yours. I even have photos of them together. Mine is a full Pontiac Grand Am conversion from an El Camino. It’s a really cool car/truck. It’s strange calling a Grand Am a truck, and everyone seems to call it something different. I’d like to chat with you on FB or something about our cars. They both came from a really unique guy.
I’m going to try posting this message now and see if it actually works this time.
Hey Jeremy, great to hear from you and to see the pics of the 2 cars together! It’s been an exciting adventure, at first, the car was bit too much of a beast, loved to burn tires, but not always pleasant on the road. Well, I fixed all that. I wasn’t crazy about the tri-power, so I replaced that with a quadrajet which did wonders…much more streetable and well mannered. That’s when I discovered the car had a 1971 455 HO motor in it, round port heads and all. The distributor needed re-curving, did that and added a new exhaust and this motor is nothing but sweet! The car drove kind of funny, so I discovered it had a couple blown body mounts, which is also why the nose was slightly kicked upward. With the mounts done and new tires, it was like night and day. I love driving it, and always take the long way home.
I’ll ck out the FB page, look for me there :)
Growing up my dad worked for GM in Dayton Ohio. When he first started my mom needed a car to drive with us kids while he was at work, and he got her a 73 Grand Am. She loved that car and drove it till he got her a Caddy. The car sat as a backup vehicle till my sister turned 16, then she got it. She hated it and whined till my dad bought her a Trans Am. It sat for 4 more years till I turned !6, then I got her. I loved that car, but I had a lead foot so mom would not let me drive it. It sat while I had to drive a 1980 Sunbird with a 4 banger. (UGH) It sat in the barnyard and rusted away till it was hauled out to the shredder. Sad Ending!!!!
Sorry, having trouble with my posts not showing up.
Here is my FB:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100007527733528
I included another picture of our two vehicles together.
Cheers.
Thanks Jeremy, your car looks awesome! I cant believe I didn’t know about the GA registry FB page….I’ve applied, and hopefully I’ll be accepted soon. I did track down the original owner Phil, and I only wish I had bought from him instead of the flipper, but that’s ok. I look forward to hearing more about your experience buying the El Grand Am!
Tom