Sometimes you will find yourself looking at a car thinking, “how did I get myself into this?” There is so much to be done that it just leaves you bitter with defeat. What do you do? You purchase this formerly green, 1972 Pontiac Le Mans with unlisted miles, located near Stanford, Kentucky for a firm asking price of $3,800, and you run with it. Thank you Adam Clarke for the tip. You can view more on Craigslist.
You do not except defeat. Even though this might still have the factory 350 V8 in it, which does not currently run, and is connected to a floor shifted, automatic transmission, you take this Le Mans, and you make it the most awesome ride you can. The seller seems to think that you could make a Judge clone out of it. You can be the jury of that option, but first you have to get started on the restoration.
There is no windshield to protect the non-original front seats. The rear seats are the original beige, but are cracked, torn, and not in place. Without detailed pictures of the interior, it is hard to determine what the dashboard is like. With parts like the seats missing or replaced, it is possible things are missing on the dash as well. It had a beige vinyl roof at one time as well, but that is not in adequate condition.
Overall, the seller does say the car has a clean title and in their name, ready to let it go. It will be a curious trip, because the task of figuring out how to get the car out of the barn it currently resides in, will prove interesting. That is probably the first of many lemons the Le Mans will hand out to you over the course of restoring it. But, don’t worry, in the end, you can cruise around, proud you stuck with it.
It looks like there is a significant amount of rust. The interior looks incomplete. To be safe, it would be wise to value it as a parts car. It would be hard to pay more than $1,000 to $1,500, depending on the condition of the front bumper/nose assembly and console.
Steve R
Well here in ct I would pay 1000 just for that hood
Unfortunately, steel repros of the 71/72 GTO are not currently available. I feel the pain… I have a GTO judge clone my late brother was working on. He already rebuilt the leading edge of the hood. I am left with the unenviable task of trying to figure out what to do with the non-existent inner structure…
From the looks of the engine bay it looks like a flood car.
By now, there must be a few million ‘flood cars’ drying out, waiting to be relocated into barns to get sold. Need someone to quickly build enough barns.
You do not except defeat? You mean ACCEPT.
We are for the most part car guys. Take your spelling check ass somewhere else
*spellcheck
Time to make lemonade out of that lemans
Is this a “field car sitting for 10 years with no hood find” or a “lake find?” Once again, hard to tell from the photos provided. I have seen worse things listed for more money but they were usually Camaros. Sadly, cars like this seldom make it back from project car status. It is inspiring when you thumb through someone’s photo album of a resto that started this way though. Would be cool if someone followed up on a few of these cars showcased on Barn Finds.
Cars are like Doritos chips, there are always more on the shelf.
They already badged it as a GTO clone. It needs both GTO and Tempest badges!
We didnt know then(50 years ago) and we may still be missing part of the picture, thank God this stuff keeps coming out of the woodwork. Imagine the last edition of barn finds when the last rotted hulk slides thru our emails. The Registry confirms the last unaccounted for Hemi car has been found, cash for clunkers snd another steel run flushes out the last of the big 3 pig iron……. ok enough of that. We ste in yhr world of plenty here, the cup is half full, and by the looks of the pictures its half full of rust( technically a part of steel) part rat turds ect. What do want for almost 50 years old? What do you want for 3800? Ok so he starts at 38 with a 2500 in mind. Im with the guy from ct willing to pay 1000$ for the hood. A good title has to be worth 500-1000 bucks , a good frame, i dont have a crystal ball but my guess would be its gutta be worth 2500$ if i was selling it.
A/c parts missing and it has a 2bl carb which seems odd!
Asking $3,800.00 FIRM
Asking or Firm?
I can only imagine what the frame looks like. This car is for a first timer young kid who has a shop and skill set to learn as he goes. The fact that it’s not a GTO, I’ll agree with Steve. It’s a parts car.
How can an asking price be “firm”?
I was watching a video on you tube about creepy videos, I know, curiosity got the best of me. But there’s a man exploring an old farmstead that is total state of decay with overgrown weeds and ruffage. It looks totally untouched seems like for decades. The man approaches the window and pans left briefly before a creature scares him away, it was instantaneous before the guy runs off, but that’s not the story I’m telling, the real story is as he panned inside that building I got a glimpse of a 66 or 67 corvette, I recognized the hood, I froze the video and it is clearly a corvette, silver cover in decades of dust. The hood is the one with the center bump that starts narrow in the front and gets wide to the back with the vents on the sides. I don’t where that video was taken but looks like upper Midwest states. If someone gets a chance lol it up. It’s a quick view. Sorry if I went off base, but I was excited about it. The creature migh have just been a man in a mask scaring respecters away from that car.