Crazed Robot Falcon from outer space!

SAM THE EAGLE AS A CAR

My last post was a Grand Prix so I figured I'd feature 2 more GPs as a follow-up. Here's the first; cover your eyes!

What we have here is a 1967 Pontiac Grand Prix that at one point in its life was the color Champagne Poly. Those days are long gone! Rust and filth have ravaged this wreck. However I love the design this year so dearly that I want to feature it regardless.

First of all dig these covered headlights! Every other Pontiac had exposed stacked headlights in '67 except for the GP. The turn signals are awesomely subtle behind those three horizontal slits above the headlight door.

That Pontiac beak had never been so prominent! I always think of these pointy-nosed cars as birds. Check out the resemblance:

Sam the Eagle has never been more needed than today!

This ride is so thoroughly rusted that it seems to be made out of powdered cocoa. Somehow the chrome remains proud and lovely.
The engine choices for this car when new were few and mighty. The standard was a 400 V8 good for 350 horsepower. Optional was a crushingly powerful 428 V8 good for either 360 or 376 hp for the high output version. All GPs had a 4 barrel carb and dual exhaust. With no emissions regulations and the muscle car craze still ramping up these are free breathing healthy engines.

This is the ultimate F.U. of towing; just drag the dead car up onto the flatbed with a winch regardless of if the wheel is jammed up. For whatever reason they dragged this beast up on the truck and parked both where I found them.
You can see the more pronounced for 1967 Coke Bottle styling in this pic.

Zero chrome on the sides and just this one raised style line running the length of the car made for a very clean look. This is a huge car and they weren't trying to hide that fact back then.

These wide horizontal taillights were 1967 only and mimic those on the Firebird. On the lower right corner you can see the now-standard reverse light.

Why is the back panel black? Who knows? What I can tell you is that the *"You've got a friend in Pennsylvania" license plate was issued between 1983-1985. However it was legal to keep this plate on your car while updating your little registration sticker through 2001. Regardless this thing hasn't moved under it's own power in 16 years at the bare minimum and most likely more than that.
*Wikipedia calls this slogan out for being grammatically incorrect.

All these little holes perplexed me when I snapped this pic. At first I thought it was the result of some quick and dirty bodywork where you drill small holes to pull out a dent. Recently I saw detailed photos of a '67 GP restoration and the freshly painted car had the exact same pattern. It turns out that this is where the two emblems spelling GRAND PRIX were mounted.

As with the earlier '60s GPs the rear window was concave while the rest of the Pontiac lineup wasn't.

Anyone attempting to restore this is a maniac.
It was a beautiful Pennsylvania Summer day when I pulled over to ask some gruff mechanics if they minded if I snapped a couple pics. After too long a silence one of them uttered "go ahead" and they turned their backs on me. Thanks bros.
I've always love this year GP and as I detailed in my last post the one-yer-only '67 convertible was my One That Got Away. Some day I'll have one hopefully.