[Alvin]

"...a brand new car!"

[gto4door]

Alvin....nice! That wagon reminds me of a similar one that was given away as the winning prize on the TV game show called "Split Second". Split Second, which aired on ABC in the early to mid-1970s was hosted by Tom Kennedy and produced by Monty Hall Productions.

Enjoy this little video of a guy winning a Lemans Safari Wagon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSfZMKY9oUc

[se428bandit]

Here is a video with the SW on Let's make a deal @6:25.
http://youtu.be/mhJ6baUjXQs

[muscle_collector]

being a monte hall production, it might very well be the same car.

[Lightfoot]

I could tell a lot of those Pontiacs in the LM-a-D clip were repeated appearances of the same Ventura II, Firebird, GP, etc.

Interesting how they say "this sells for $$$$ but we're going to load it up with options",
as if they have their own assembly line in the back lot.

Anyone notice how Jay said the pair of Firebirds at the end of that clip were "Formula Firebirds" with "engine compartment extractors". I didn't see any air extractors. I wonder if the cars shown were just stage props, and the lady got two badass Formulas after cameras stopped rolling.
{edit} Combined price for the pair was $9306. So was the average price of a '71-72 Formula around $4600?

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by gto4door

Alvin....nice! That wagon reminds me of a similar one that was given away as the winning prize on the TV game show called "Split Second". Split Second, which aired on ABC in the early to mid-1970s was hosted by Tom Kennedy and produced by Monty Hall Productions.

Enjoy this little video of a guy winning a Lemans Safari Wagon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSfZMKY9oUc

Cool & Thxs 4DoorGto!

I knew a local guy in the 1980s that had won a grand prize on a game show; and he told us that the cars, gifts, furniture, electronics, etc. were at that time, stage props.

The actual prizes he had to choose from a limited "take it or leave it" pool of the mfg's "simular" color and specification products.

The kicker was that the "Gift tax" IIRC was @ approx. 50% of the "stated value" of the winnings due to the IRS at the time of the prize award! Sooo....IIRC, he "donated" back 1/2 of his winnings to the show to pay for the Grand Prizes he won and chose to keep. Was pretty cool.

And BTT of the OP - no doubt in my mind that those Car Prize Props were rotated among the many Monte Hall et al productions - including this 1974 LeMans Safari!

[BR57]

Is it just me or is there something funny about a lot of those front bumpers, especially one of the Ventura's, is the lower plastic or painted argent

[robertf]

I was at Jules Meyers Pontiac in Westwood Ca. one day -- probably1974 and there was a guy trying to get them to buy a Ventura that he'd just won on one of those shows. he was explaining that he could not afford the tax and license for the car. He was wanting the dealer to pay him sticker price for the car since he had not yet signed any paperwork and it was "new". The dealer was telling him it was a used car and they could only give him 1500 bucks. There was a red 74 GTO in the showroom and the guy kept pointing at it and saying it looks like that one.

[chicagoland]

"Split Second" alternated between Pontiacs and Chevys as prizes. If someone won the day before, they would reveal a 'non-starter' car for better odds. 1 of 4 vs. 1 of 5. One show, somebody won a 1975 Gran Ville convertible.

One week they had Buicks, but never saw any other brands.