Not-so-Grand Prix vs Little Italy

NOT SO GRAND PRIX VS LITTLE ITALY

This is the 3rd and final installment of my Grand Prix triptych. We started strong but soon fell off a cliff in condition if not style. Finally the style has devolved too into this forlorn slab. Without further ado I present the following:

Ugh. This is a 1982 Pontiac Grand Prix LJ in two-tone Cameo White over Light Redwood. Some cars just look tired. This one looks to me as if it's lived a full, hard life and is now content to be roosting in a pasture. Nature agrees as you can see the ivy starting to consume it like the further car.

The LJ was the middle trim level between the base model and the overly plush Brougham. In literature it was listed as "the sportiest Grand Prix", mentioning incidentals like the body colored side mirrors as proof. 

Alright I have to give it up for an '80s ride that has T-Tops (called the Hatch Roof in their brochure). In addition this GP has optional bucket seats and full console with floor shifter. Whoever ordered this originally definitely checked a lot of pricey option boxes on the form.

It's slightly unnerving looking this thing in the face with its cataracts and bleak expression. That little chrome stripe down the middle of the hood pinpoints the year for us though. Both the '82 and '83 models are identical except for the fact that this '82 had a hood ornament while the '83 had no hood trim whatsoever. You have to squint but the remnants of the trademark Pontiac split grill is on display here in those double bumper openings.

I have no idea what causes this rust pattern. Perhaps this had an aftermarket bra on the front and wet leaves had gathered on the hood?

Under that hood was the tail end of Malaise-Era drivetrains. 1982 was arguably the low water mark for GM engines. This, the Sporty Grand Prix, wasn't available with a gas powered V8. There were 2 Buick V6 choices and an underpowered and expensive Oldsmobile diesel V8. No matter how many luxury do-dads you add to these rides they are SLOW.

Well we'll leave that slumped disaster as it sinks into the earth. However I couldn't help but notice the frugal little Italian sedan sitting next to it.

This is a Fiat 128 from somewhere between 1975-1980 in either Dark Blue or Black. These were produced without too much change from 1969-1985. Despite being older it looks more eager to drive off the lot than the dormant GP next to it.

This is a front engine front-wheel-drive car meant for the masses. Due to its smart design, reliability, and economy it is considered the grandfather of the modern small car.
*We know it's a North American model due to those massive front bumpers.

This car was so popular that it was licensed for production all over the world. Perhaps the most infamous was that of the Zastava Automobiles company. Zastava made the tiny Koral which was essentially a cheapened Fiat 128. A charlatan named Malcolm Bricklin brought them to the United States, called it the Yugo, and history was made!

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.

Sunfire Red beauty in Red Hook

SUNFIRE RED BEAUTY IN RED HOOK

I was strolling aimlessly through Red Hook recently when I stumbled upon this majestic brute:

Yowza! This is a 1964 Pontiac Grand Prix in the outstanding color Sunfire Red. This car represents an extinct category of automobiles; the full size luxury hot rod.

The Grand Prix was introduced in 1962 as an amalgamation of the Catalina and high end Bonneville. The Catalina had a more sparse exterior without too much chrome or flash. The interiors got the Bonneville luxury treatment albeit with bucket seats and a console.
That GP grill emblem was new for '64.

1960s Pontiacs represent my favorite overall decade for a car company. The trademark split grill, stacked headlights, and gun sight turn signals all come together for me in a big way.

This is a big car with nice proportions. All GPs were hardtop coupes until the 1973 model year (the only exception being a 1967-only convertible).

The G R A N D  P R I X font is pretty assertive. This pic is fuzzy but that shape under the words is a stylized GP emblem. Those are the correct and original 39 rib De Luxe hubcaps for '64.

I see an antenna on the rear fender so I'm guessing this has the Super De Luxe transistor radio option. Few things are as colorful as the verbiage in sales brochures. Radio? Pfft. SUPER DE LUXE!

The original owner didn't bother with the optional reverse lights or they would be located in the bumper between the taillights and license plate. The taillights are described as "hidden" because the aren't red until used but they are these vertical delta openings on the sides.

The mid '60s were the high point for putting a faux grill on the rear of a car too as seen here.

The Bonneville was very similar to the Grand Prix with a couple of noticeable exceptions. The slim chrome trim along the rocker panel was a massive striped chrome band on the Bonneville. In addition the rear roof was rounded with a faux convertible look.

This concave rear window is Grand Prix only.

The steering wheel rim is clear around the top and bottom with just the sides matching the interior body color. There is a round gauge where the console meets the dashboard. This is a tachometer in one of the least useful placements ever! Imagine having to look down to the ashtray area to monitor your revs. Perhaps it was an overreaching response that Pontiac came out with the hood mounted tach 3 years later.

The paint loss on the hood makes me believe this could be an original paint car. If so it is in truly phenomenal condition! The fact that it is parked on the street is surprising.

The sky was darkening fast so I'm lucky I came across this ride when I did. Out of all the cars I've longed for and thought about acquiring it was a Grand Prix that I regret letting slip away. When I was about to turn 18 in high school I looked at a red 1967 GP convertible (!) that the guy was asking something like $1,500 for. Keep in mind this is 1992 and huge '60s cars were for the most part undervalued. Still it was the only year for a GP drop top and the seller fired up the mighty V8 for me to hear. I passed and bought a '63 Beetle instead, the engine of which I promptly blew up.
That is the only car I genuinely regret not buying. Sitting here in my 40s I think I know what to do.

The transitional car from the bloated '70s to the squared-off '80s

  SOMEWHERE BETWEEN QUAALUDES AND COCAINE   

I was biking along the industrial waterfront of red Hook in Brooklyn when this gently colored ride presented itself:

This is a 1978 Pontiac Grand Prix in Dresden Blue with a creamy white landau roof. This is a car with one foot planted firmly in the tired past and one in the uncertain future. Amazingly the result is better than it sounds!

This color scheme is so Leisure Suit '70s but the dimensions are leaning towards the '80s. The Grand Prix from its inception in 1962 through this vintage was always a 2 door coupe in the Personal Luxury style. 1978 introduced the 5th generation for the Grand Prix with more squared-off, angular body lines than its predecessor.

The '78 GP was a foot shorter and 600 lbs lighter than the '77 so even in this era of strangled low horsepower engines the performance was decent. This was the first year in the models history that a 6 cylinder was standard equipment. Technically a 3 speed manual transmission was standard as well but finding a 6 cylinder 3 speed GP would be a rarity.

The surefire way to identify a 1978 model is the grill; the 5 vertical bars on each side were 1 year only. 1979 brought a crosshatched grill. 1980 went back to a similar grill design but there were 9 vertical grill bars on either side.
That gentle V shape going from the corner of the grill back to the lower corner of the windshield is a shadow of what once was. In the earlier '70s Grand Prix the center portion would be raised in a full length hood bulge. The spaces directly behind the headlights were sunken down between that center V and the raised edges of the fenders.

If you look at the relatively enormous 1977 GP you see headlights in a rectangular box with the turn signal in the center just like this. The main differences in the overall width can be found the the extra space between the headlight pods and grill in '77 as well as a wide body colored section in the center of the split grill.

Besides that swooping line from the front fender point, under the side windows, and down the top of the quarter panel this is very much a squared-off design. You could carve this car out of a block of cream cheese.

Just look at the point where the fender, hood, and front connect; it is a perfect corner. This is a premonition of the next decade of styling.
Incidentally this bumper looks so much more integrated into the overall look than the mid-'70s version. Having a car that weighs so much less means not as much bumper is needed for the 5mph crash requirements.

The padded rear landau roof would stick around for another several years though not so puffy as this. The GP was available with T-Tops, the rear of which lines up right where this vinyl roof begins.

This car was ordered for a family as opposed to someone trying to look as cool as possible. The bench seat and column shift could just as easily been bucket seats and a console with floor mounted shifter.
There are a full compliment of gauges in the dash as well as what looks to be a/c and power windows.  That steering wheel is a holdover from the larger mid-'70s models. The year after this brought a real bro-edition tough guy wheel that I think looks kinda goofy.

That trunk lid is ridiculously square!

The previous generation had a large V shape on the trunk lid mirroring the hood. It was raised up in the middle like the hood as well, with the taillights set into indentations. Likewise the bumper used to jut out in the middle to accommodate the trunk shape.

Pontiac had a history of taillights being split into individual bars going back to the mid-'60s, most notably in the Firebirds and older Grand Prix. This is the final moment for this multifaceted taillight before they move onto a huge square slab of red plastic with a gaudy GP medallion in the center.

Being a body-on-frame rear wheel drive American car from the '70s the gas cap is located behind the license plate.

That gap between the rear quarter panel and the bumper was originally filled with a body colored plastic filler piece. These are notorious for hardening over time and cracking to smithereens on all GM models of this era (you'll often see Cadillacs with the metal ends to the quarter panels standing alone like tombstones with the plastic supports long gone).

These are original Pontiac faux-wire wheels that snap on just like any old hubcap. The red center had the Pontiac arrowhead logo reminding folks that this automaker is named after War Chief Pontiac of the Odawa tribe in the Great Lakes region.  

Boo hiss! From this angle you can see that those gauges are blanks! Looks like nobody opted for the optional full gauges so we have plain dials in their place. This is even more demeaning than having a blank stretch of dashboard. Every time the driver looks into those empty sockets it's like the missing gauges are saying "why didn't you order us?"

Well we'll leave this swooping square powder blue brick against a brick wall in Industrial Red Hook. This is the closest sibling to my very first car - a 2 door 1983 Oldsmobile Cutlass Brougham in burgundy with a burgundy landau vinyl roof. I bought that car for $225 and it had a brand new $250 Alpine tape deck in it. I grabbed a couple of mismatched license plates off of 2 different friends wrecked cars, a registration sticker out of a wrecked Subaru, and drew my own inspection sticker with some markers before enjoying months of carefree driving. Life was great until I attempted a u-turn on a muddy field, sinking in up to the rocker panels in the process. I later got cornered by sheriffs while getting it towed out by a friend. That's a much longer story but suffice it to say this unglamorous body style has a lot of nostalgia for me.
Looking good at age 38 GP! Keep up the good work.