I have always thought that this era Pontiac was pretty mean looking, sort of like a shark with those two round, emotionless eyes. Maybe with that front bumper, it’s more of a hammerhead shark but a shark nonetheless. This 1974 Pontiac LeMans Sport Coupe is listed on eBay in New Franken, Wisconsin – in the Green Bay area – with bids of just over $3,000 and there is no reserve.
There’s that mean front end. I think that a car like this looks so much better than a new vehicle does. It’s both friendly and mean at the same time and it’s certainly meaner than the pretentious, angry-eyes frowning front-end treatments on every stinkin’ modern vehicle. I know, you’re right behind me even though I’m in the right lane doing 5 mph over the speed limit and the left lane is wide open, your car is scaring me it’s so angry with its frowning headlights.. zzzzzz.. ugh. Give me an emotionless shark front clip like this Pontiac any day of the week. How do car makers get onto these ridiculous trends with the angry headlights and electric shaver grills?! COME ON! Sorry, it had to be said. Ok, back to this sweet Pontiac.
This particular LeMans has had a bit of a restoration as you can tell in some of the photos but hopefully, it isn’t magnet-proof. It does look a little wavy in spots, though. This is a fourth-generation LeMans and 1974 was the first year with the huge 5 mph bumpers on the rear to match the front bumpers. The rear side opera windows were one of two optional rear side window treatments that came on the Sport Coupe. The other option would have been louvered openings which I think would give have given a sportier look.
The interior looks good and the front seats were replaced with brown velour examples as opposed to the original white vinyl back seat and door panels, which the seller mentions in the listing. The seller has included a YouTube video showing the car which is nice.
This 350 cubic-inch V8 has an optional 4-barrel carburetor and it sure looks clean in there! If all engine compartments looked this great it would be a better world. This one would have had 185 hp which isn’t a lot but the 2-barrel version had 155 hp. The seller says “I’M TOLD THE LEMANS DRIVETRAIN WAS ALL REBUILT ABOUT 3 YEARS AGO INCLUDING ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION, BUT I DON’T HAVE ANY PAPERWORK TO BACK UP THAT CLAIM ( I CAN TELL YOU THE CAR DRIVES AMAZING AND DOES NOT HAVE ANY FLUID LEAKS ).” Sorry for yelling. Have any of you owned a 1974 LeMans? And more importantly: do you like old grilles like this Pontiac or do you prefer the new frowning, angry-eye electric-razor-grille cars? (how’s that for a loaded question!)
I’ve never heard of that description for the front of one of these style Pontiacs before. It definitely ri HS true once you look at it. To me the real winner was the 73 Grand Am !! That was a winner but it never seemed to catch on. I remember my neighbor came home with a brand new one Black Red interior 455. Nothing more to say. I think it was too close to a Grand Prix so Pontiac didn’t push it much.
My first car was a 73 Grand Am. Silver with red interior. 400 with auto. Parents bought it new and had it semi restored when they gave it to me. Loved that car. Only bad part was the endura nose section. It was prone to cracking. I was on my tire guys Christmas card list as I frequently visited him.
The Grand Am was the most beautiful
Those diving board bumpers
I was going to comment on the bumpers but you said it well.
How come nobody trims up these bumpers the way Chip Foose does on the older small/regular bumper cars.
Chris, I wondered about that same thing. It also made me wonder if the ’73 or earlier bumpers would bolt right up as replacements, and save all the labor of “Foose-trimming” them these ’74 bumpers.
I know a lot of people don’t like big bumpers, but I like the fact that they protect the body. I would rather replace a bumper than take the car to a body shop for a small tap at the rear.
Since these cars have always had these bumpers I decide if I like them with what they have and what they look like instead of what they might have with other parts installed.
There are a lot of stupid drivers out there that don’t pay attention.
A small hit from the back on a small bumper car can damage the quarter panel and total the car. No thanks.
Great car which looks to be in nice shape. Have owned many cars in my life, and had one like this except 4dr, same motor w/2 bbl. Did several trips NY to Fla.extremely, reliable, good MPG, and comfortable also. One of the best I’VE owned.
Ugliest color on a car ever. Original paint or not, a nice slick black paint job would do wonders.
Horrible. And the mis-matched interior only adds to the conundrum. You’d have to change one or the other but then there goes the ‘original’ part.
love the word conundrum !!
With that interior, they would have been much better to have painted the car white, beige/gold or a metallic darker brown.
Just shows, those 5 spoke mags look good on just about anything. Never cared for this style, but this one looks good.
The panel fit between the drivers door and the front fender is awful. I wonder if it’s been hit hard?
Emotionless expression and emotionless performance. The cars behind this boat are angry, get that behemoth off the road.
Baby poop yellow
Yep. Rated NG for Not Good.
Again, why couldn’t people put away cars in better colors? I know “they were a popular color at the time”. What at Red & Blue & others were not?
Cool car though. Terrible what happened to the bumpers in this era. The filler panels for the bumpers are probably really hard to restore or find these days.
Ever since they went to rectangular and composite headlights, the front ends have gone to crap.
I always thought these would get great gas mileage as they are so sleek cutting through the wind.
If they made the front end a bit more aerodynamic, they would have had a real mileage winner.
Agree with Scotty about the angry look of the toilets they call cars today and the overuse of harsh LED lighting. Agree with Howard too, those wheels look good on everything.
I would look closely at this one. WI car means potential for a LOT of rust. If painted recently, no telling the amount of filler in it. Most all cars have filler in them so that is to be expected. Car looks pretty straight BUT again, the photos can be deceiving. The photos are not good enough to tell me if it is a bad paint job and/or a good filler job.
No photos (at least I don’t think there were) of the underbody which I know are not easy to take but they really do tell the tale of the overall rust condition of what the car is/was.
One photo of the RF fender, shot from the front of the car, seems to show a LOT of orange peel…..which unfortunately GM cars are known for, but it doesn’t make it a “good thing”. Someone mentioned the LF fender to door fit, along with the hood, which is terrible.
Recent paint jobs are wolves in sheeps clothing. Beware.
Anticipating the worst, Pontiac stamped the door dents at the factory.
I’d have to find the original type front bench seat and have it covered in off white vinyl as best I could to match the rear seat again. The mis-matched brown buckets does nothing for this one imho.
Yall say what ya want bout these old cars…I had a ’73 Chevelle laguna in the early 90s…350 ci with 4 barrel carb 350 trans. People knew exactly what that car was at a glance. The sound of the carb at wot was amazing!
I had a 1975 LeMans sports coupe in about 1985. Mine was a Canadian edition in red and white. Looked really good and had 2 scoops from the factory in the hood.Only kept it a year or so and it was awful on fuel. but fun to drive.
I’m with you Scotty. New cars are not cool
What’s so ever weird design,lack of everything….nothing beats a classic!😎
Awesome lookin lemans!
Hate the look of the angry-faced new cars, which ALL look the same! Is that a Kia, or a Lexus? They’re all one of several shades of silver/grey, or white, with the occasional black car. But enough of my soapbox.
I am a GM lover, tried and true, 50’s and 60’s, and certain early 70’s models. Pontiac being my favorite, I haven’t ever given these much thought. Like others have said, you can see panel-fit issues and orange-peel paint, but they came from the factory that way by 74. The huge bumpers were a sign of the times, but would be interesting to see what it’d look like shaved down? Certainly would look better in a different color than mustard yellow, but it’s also a sign of the times. I suppose you could do a few things to bring extra power to the party (EFI & EI), paint it, fix any hidden bondo blunders, replace the front seats or reupholster them to match, shave the bumpers…. Wow, I’m already (at least!) $20 grand into fixes without even taking the cost of the car into mind! Forget it. I’ll keep the wheels and move on….
I remember as a kid always viewing cars that looked sad/happy or shy/proud in their looks. I especially remember my mother’s 1959 Chevrolet, shy in front, proud in back, same for her 1963 Ford.
A grand prix center console with floor shift and white vinyl covers for the swivel buckets and any other body color would do wonders for this big poncho
It was 1974….these were better than the shapes to come….like it.
Something that surprised me back in the day. When GM put those small rear windows in with the vinyl top, the actual glass was like in the 73’s, the large triangular glass and they just put a panel over the inside and the vinyl top on the outside. That’s what they did to my Chevelle and it had the same roofline to it.
I have a 75 LeMans Sport Coupe that I have owned for over 30 years. My childhood dream car. I would buy this in a heartbeat if it were closer to me.
Love it… Great to see other colours than the same black and red in a field of 50’s and 60’s. Some of us see classics beyond the swath of two colours and an age of classics swelling into the 70’s and beyond.