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Back when I was a kid, a couple of my BIL’s had variations of these when they were dating my sister’s - I remember thinking they were pretty neat cars from the “personal luxury” era! This one is in remarkable original condition, although I suspect some of the unprotected finishes have likely been touched up somewhere along the line:
My secretary bought a new one in 1971. She had it until 1994. It was a metallic blue with a white vinyl top. The 350 2 barrel would really make that puppy move. Got decent gas mileage too. It ended up with a bad crankshaft so she sold it for pennies and bought a Taurus. The Taurus turned out to be a major POS and never ran right. LOTS of electrical issues too. She regretted getting rid of the Monte. I found the car a few years later. A kid bought it and did a total restoration on the car with the exception of wider tires. He still owns it and I see it once in a while.
While the same basic body, I've always liked the Grand Prix. I had a bud that had one in a golden tan color with a tan vinyl top. I don't recall the package ID but it had the Super Duty 421 and all of the performance factory parts. It was a screamer back then. Looked like you could have a football game on the hood from the drivers seat.
Never even thought of the Grand Prix as being the same platform - I guess that means THREE of my BIL’s had variations of that car, since one of them had a ‘69 GP - silver with a black vinyl roof!
I’m a Ford guy, but have always thought GM kicked the Blue Oval’s behind with their two-door passenger cars in this era. All Ford really had was the Torino and later the LTD II, but neither seemed as stylish as the GM’s of this period. So many of the Fords fell on the obese side of the scale and were over-styled in kind of a gaudy way - and the government mandated bumpers from around ‘75+ didn’t help matters.....
The 2 door Ford Galaxie 500 wasn't a bad looking car. Dad had a 69 with a 390 2 barrel.
Front bumpers had to be 2.5 mph in 73, then both ends had to be 5 mph in 74.
My mom bought a new Grand Prix in 1970, kept it for 16 years, and gave it to me in 1986. It had 186k miles on it when I got it. Very reliable car and built like a tank. Transmission (TH400) had never had anything done except fluid changes, and the only engine work that had been done was a timing set, pushrods, and lifters at 120k. It was the last year for the high compression 400 4 barrel, 350hp.
The first generation monte and the GP were built on the same frame as the GM "A" bodies from the same years. The monte was basically a more luxurious version of the chevelle/malibu.
You be kinda right. I called my bud last night. Spent a lot of time catching up since we haven't chatted in a decade or so. His GP was a 69 with the 428 Super Duty. Before you say there was no Super Duty in 69 as such, his Super Duty package came thru the dealership here from Royal Pontiac in Royal Oaks Michigan. Seems that the dealership was the core of the Super Duty performance package. His dealer here installed all of the goodies. His had the cam, headers, high flow heads, tri-power that was no longer available from GM, a 4 speed manual, and 4:88 gears. Advertized HP was supposed to be in the 500 range. Otherwise, looks the same as the car I posted. His best time at the drags was in the low 13's. Pretty quick for such a big car and the times. Wouldn't be much against some of the store bought performance cars today but it was impressive back then.
Speaking of the Galixie 500, my FIL had a 67 with the 390. Drove that car like he stole it. Made many a trip to the coast at 100+ mph. Seems he only knew one way to drive it- at idle at a red light or on the floor. He put over 100,000 miles on that car driving it like that. His was a 2 door, light blue with a white vinyl top. Pretty car. His looked a lot like this:
My Dad bought one just like this in '71...Buick Riviera. Same color and it had the 455 engine and was a gas guzzler. I ended up buying it in 1976...nice car but 9 mpg in the city and 13 on the hwy. Ended up selling it in the early 80's. Now the demand for these boat tail Riviera's is high.
In 1967, Pontiac replaced the 389 and 421 with the 400 and 428. In 1970 they replaced the 428 with the 455. In 1971, all engines went low compression for regular gas GM-wide.
In 1967, Pontiac replaced the 389 and 421 with the 400 and 428. In 1970 they replaced the 428 with the 455. In 1971, all engines went low compression for regular gas GM-wide.
Sad day when they went to smog pumps and lowered compression!
01-13-2019, 10:28 AM
