Without even knowing what was hiding under the hood of this 1972 Catalina at first, I had already gotten initially intrigued just by how good the car looked on the outside. The Pontiac Catalina had gotten a total restyling for the previous year, so not a whole lot of changes were made for ’72 other than a tougher front bumper a full year ahead of when the 5 MPH crash standards went into effect. These cars were popular too, with over 228,000 rolling off the assembly line for the 1072 model, but of that number, only 2,399 were convertibles, so the droptops accounted for only a little over 1% of production and are kind of rare. If you’ve been in the market for an early seventies Pontiac and like open-air driving, this one would definitely be worth checking out. It’s located in Turner, Oregon, and can be found here on Craigslist, with an asking price of $24,900.
The car is being sold by West Coast Collector Cars, and can also be seen here on their website. A good deal of work has already been put into this one, including what appears to be a high-quality and nice-looking new paint job, with a base coat in the factory color of Cardinal Red followed by a clear coating. We’re also treated to a 10+ minute YouTube video of the car, which shows excellent panel fitting and by all accounts a solid body. The top is also new and power-assisted, with those Pontiac wheels wearing a new set of whitewall tires all the way around.
Things inside are looking equally as good, with the Ivory colored seats and door panels stated to be original. All of the gauges are said to be working properly, even the clock, and the dash itself is in very nicely preserved condition. The car is not equipped with air conditioning, so you’ll just have to put the top down instead on warm days. One aftermarket component inside is the Stereo, a JL unit with both Bluetooth and USB capability, with a nice surprise sub-woofer speaker box in the trunk.
An even better surprise can be found by lifting the hood. Gone is the original 400 2-Barrel and in its place now is a 455. But the fun doesn’t stop here, as on top is a GM tri-power manifold with a trio of Rochester 2-Barrels! The seller says the motor has about 30,000 miles, and it starts right up in his video and seems to run nicely. The Turbo 400 is the original transmission, which has had a rebuild, and out back is Pontiac’s Saf-T-Track limited-slip differential, also factory. The underside is said to be clean and original, plus there’s also a dual exhaust system down there. I’m finding very little here not to like, how about you?
I actually want one of these.The only thing I don’t like and this is just me is red paint.It’s also a stripper with no options.The 455 with tri power gives it a 10 in the coolness factor. Very tempting though .Nice car! Glwts.
I had this same car in dark green. The most I ever got was 8 mpg. Awesome car to drive and ride in though.
I agree, that red wouldn’t be my first pick, but it does look overall pretty clean. In college I had a 72 Grandville convertible, factory 455 with ac and power everything. Kind of a sea foam green with a white top. Man the green upholstery would cook your behind in the summertime! Absolutely great car, and I too have wanted to get another one, if I could find the right one. They don’t come up for sale too often, especially since they were made in limited production in 72 because of the auto workers strike. I would love to get my hands on a clean 71 Grandville convertible!
The GM strike was in the fall of 1970 which meant that 1971 GM cars were in short supply during the first months of the model year. It did not affect 1972 vehicles in any way.
What a beauty! Just missing A/C. I know, I know “but it’s convertible”. As a convertible owner I can tell you, it helps!
99% of this era’s cars have non-working ac. I’d rather have no AC than non-working AC. But to have working AC in a car like this, is no big deal–just install “Vintage Air”. Probably be cheaper than trying to get an original AC to work again!
The best looking front end is on the 1971 Bonneville (just my opinion)
wow
For some reason these cars conjure up images of the 70’s game show Split Second. It seemed they always had a Catlina as one of the cars. It sounded exotic to a 9 year old.
I have a 72 Catalina convertible that needs to be restored if someone is interested