What turned you on to Grand Prix's
 

Before I got my license at 15 a friend had a 69 428 h.o. triple black Grand Prix. I couldn't believe how quick it was. It had so much torque! Loved the looks of it. Then next year my buddy Bob's dad (gave) him a 72 hurst SSJ. 455 h.o. blueprinted by hurst. 1 of 60! Which we didn't know at the time. What's your memories and good times with Grand Prix's:usa2:

I saw one in the dealers showroom back in '67 and just thought it was the most amazing car I had ever seen. Now 40+ years later I am finally driving one.

I had a string of full size Pontiac convertibles once I started driving so after I got all the go fast cars out of my system it was inevitable that I would end up with another one.

-Harry

That's a real nice 67 Coach! My dad gave me a green 67 convertible when I was 15. Should have kept that one. Didn't know it was the only year convertible.:(

I think it kind of sneaked up on me. Before I knew it I had five GP's in my yard. So often this top notch ride is overlooked.

In 69 my father and his business partner bought two 69 SJ , when i turned fifteen in 75 , after years of riding in the back seat , i bought his mint GP for $850 , Had a hell of a lot of fun in that car . Wish i still had it .

My mom actully got me started with Grand Prixs. She traded a Dodge Dart in on a 69 J to the man that later became my step-father. He owned a used car lot back in the day. After they were married, I was given the GP. I SO loved that car! Wish I still had it. Some jerk in a rusty Ford Mustang (probably why I hate :censored: Fords) hit it and totalled it. I sold it in 1987. They also bought me a 72 GP J model that was blue with a black interior. Loved that car as well, but prefer the 69-70 models. Both of those cars are long gone, but I have since replaced them with serveral others. I have tried to find my first 69 several times with no luck. Would buy it back in a heartbeat no matter the condition. Once these car get in your blood, there in NO CURE!!!!!!! Except for more GP's, but that only last for a little while. Lol. ;)

As a kid growing up with my best friend Gene that lived down the street, his parents had a '70 GP J that they bought new. I remember riding in the back seat of that car as a kid and listening to the sound of the dual exhaust while staring up the long console to that beautiful cockpit dash. I thought it was such a cool car, especially having such boring cars in my family growing up. Years later Gene was given the car for his first car in high school. We had a lot of fun in that car and surprised a few Mustangs! After driving his GP for the first time I had to get me one! A few months later (this was 1980) I bought a '70 GP J, Pepper Green with a white top and green interior from the original owner for $750. I got my first bank loan and bought the car with my own money. It was a great feeling and little did I know that many more GP's would follow!

From plastic model kits, car magazines, to repairing cars, i was always a BIG musclecar fan. Just before I graduated high school, my cousin bought a run down black 72 GP with Cragar SS wheels. We cruised the high schools checkin out girls, and makin noise & right then and there I was HOOKED!

I loved mechanical stuff. Grew up on the farm so it was easier to hand in the garage and fix stuff rather than pick fruits and veggies. GOt hooked on vehicles with a 66 Chev truck, which I was driving at age 9. At 14 I had to have a car, saved up $$$ to get something by cutting grass, farm work and selling firewood.

Missed out on a $125 66 Le Mans convert but hen found a 66 GP 421 HO 4 sp car. Opened the hood and I was hooked. $200 Still have that car. Still needs work since it rusted from the bottom up to the beltline. Sat on a dirt floor barn.

69 GP iterest came in college, when HPP reprinted the Cars magazine article on the 69 HO 4 sp Royal car. And it was all downhill from there....

My first experience with GP's was in high school. A friend of mine had access to his dad's70 J plain jane but it had the 455 engine and ran top notch. This car had the bench seat, hubcaps, nothing to tip off how powerful it was. We took a ride along the expressway-long straightaway- and he floored it at around 40. I remember the car hunkering down into second gear (auto-trans) and just taking off! He stayed on it until we hit about 100 mph and I couldn't believe how fast it was. My friend (Mike) told me his dad had taken him on the same ride to show him how powerful the car was so he would be careful. My first job during high school was at a gas station and my first GP was a warwick blue J. I've never been without one (GP) for the last 32 years!

Gp's
 

The first Gp I drove was my parents Firecoral color??? '74 with a 400 4bbl and duals, learned to drive with that car. The day came that I got my license (good until 9pm) and I had the opportunity to drive some friends to football practice without a parent present, after dropping them off I unleashed something that I had no idea that car could do, it lit up and smoked the one wheel from one end of the parking lot to the other, at least 150 ft. I was hooked and could not beleive my parents would let me drive something with that much power. The car fit me to a "T" with all the power I wanted, a driver cockpit surrounding me and seats that seemed engulf you not to mention a great ride and handling too.
Sadly, I wound up totaling that car before I had my full license, but the seed was planted. I later bought my own '74 that I found way in the back of a used car lot in Denver where I was attending school in 1983 for $350. This one seemed to have less power until I drove back east with it and it came to life with the altitude drop. That car later served duty as my bracket car, the 400 was pulled and 455 dropped in putting me down close to 13 seconds flat in full dress! I've owned from '64 to '77 vintage and there hasn't been a day since '83 without a Gp (or two) in the barn.

my reason for being into Pontiac's isn't exactly about GP's, i guess for myself, its something which started with my father. back when he was about my age ( Im 21) he would often be the driver of one of his good friends car, a 64 GTO which worked out to be the car brought to Australia for the 1964 Sydney motor show, i think its a factory right hand drive car, which would have had originally a 389 ? also had a 4 spd. the thing was just a non stop torque beast, and being a chevy man in particular, really showed him about pontiacs as a first experience, ive heard dozens of stories involving racing up a hill from a standing stop to hit 90mph at the top, racing and just having fun in general, then when the car was sold without him knowing of it, it was gone, out of his life, and he moved back into chevy's.

the guy who ended up buying the car back then still has it to this day, hes actually a good friend of mine and my fathers, and the car now has a 412 fitted in the engine bay, if people are interested enough of pics of a RHD 64 GTO il be happily be able to get some pics for the site

when i got the opportunity to be able to purchase my GP, i couldnt resist, when they would drive around in the goat, no one knew what on earth the car was, alot of people thought it was a customised EH Holden. yet theres alot more imported cars in australia today then back then, still there is hardly any GPs, to date i think i know of/seen less then 15 cars including mine.

i love the fact of how pontiac just built a car with not only the power of a decent muscle car, but the luxury of a higher end car, with striking looks, that distinctive pontiac v8 rumble, it does the excitement division proud!

A GP is a better GTO :D

same as some of you guys......My friends dad on the street had a 71' J. We tooled around in that car terrorizing the town. A case of genesee in the trunk, Doors or Zepplin tunes. It was a very fast car, the orig mtr was replaced with a 455. Ended up totaling it in Maine during summer at Lake Sabago (sp). He came home really bummed!! The speedo was buried on numerous occasions, once in the park doing donuts in the soccor field. His dad was pissed the next am, x NJ State Trooper & truant officer at our HS. Mud was everywhere, the back bumper was FULL. He was cleaning it the next day and the driveway & curb down the street was brown. It was bronze w/tan top sandalwood int in the cloth material. I bought my first after my 18th B-day!! I already was into Pontiacs by 12, had my first Nunzi catalog at 16. Dave K.

Bought my first G/P for 65.00 [that's right] from a dopehead needing a stereo payment. car was a 74 455 th400 SJ with a 3:23 12 bolt. After a little freshening the car ran well, really well.
2cnd was the 72 that turned into a 12 second street racer. have had several since then from 65-90 models.

Mike

When I was 18 I had a '70 Monte Carlo..... I went out with a girl that had a '72 GP.... after I drove that GP I was ready to trade....


The list of past and present GP's

1 - '64
1 - '65
2- '67's
1 - '69
2 - '71's
1 - '77

.... thats all that I can remember

On leave after boot camp, bought a '71 from my uncle. Wrecked on the rt side, missing the rad and carb, put it back togethet with junkyard parts and drove it for 20 days. Threw a rod on my last night home. Re-upped in '88, found a dark blue with white top '72, for 1800. out of my bonus. Drove it till my wife called from alongside the road, holding the phone to the engine telling me to listen. Almost rebuilt the car and dropped the wife....Almost. didn't make enough money to rebuild, then landlord caught the property on fire, and the fire dept wiped out the frt end...

I always loved the 1967 GP the first time I seen the front end with the hidden headlights. :)

Had a thought on the simple answer for this question.

How do you get hooked on Grand Prixs?

DRIVE ONE!

Nothing else compares.

I was about to say that, my first 69 GP was purchased in order to get the 428 in it but driving it impressed me, I remember thinking at the time how much better and tighter it felt compared to a GTO.

I always liked the profile of the car and the interior (especially the leather seat ones) but never thought much of the front.

The cars are bad-a$$ period.
My gf's mom had a '70 GP 455 and let me drive it all the time. Comfortable, roomy, and a tire shredder!


She had a V8 Vega too...:D

same ol story...dad bought a new '70 J car when i was about 14. loved that thing and couldnt wait to drive it. later sold it without telling me which forced me to get my own, a triple white '72 J car that i wish i still had. great body style

bought my first grand prix in 78 when i was 15. didnt even have a liscenes till i was 16. it was a 69 with a 400. i thought that car was the fastest thing there was back then. i have had faster cars since then. but i loved that car. i have a 65 gp now that's much faster. but i still kinda liked the 69 better. may be just because it was my first car. ive had many different makes over the yearsncluding 67 camaro and 70 camaro. but still love the big pontiacs the best.

It was my dad's fault.He always wanted one, but Mom kept harping "It's NOT a family car". He (Dad) had picked up the brochures for the '77 GP and the Can-Am. One look at the GP and I was hooked. I NEVER wanted a 69' Charger with a 440 after that!! I've owned a '76 J and a '72 J. I still can't decide which one I liked better.

Well my Grand Prix Passion started at 14 when my dad had two, a 75 and a 77. Loved those cars, on my 16 bday my dad bought me a triple black 73, was decent but didn't run at $100. I was told if I figured it out and get it running hede pay insurance and get my tags, well my dad was an ase certified mechanic so I was basically being tested after years of watching and listening. Found timing chain was slack and had jumped a tooth. In one week I was driving :) oh what memories, she had a 400 w a 400 turbo, and I couldn't keep a right rear on her. But all the years growing up my dad let me watch and try my hand on a lady down the streets 72 sj when he would service it or rebuild anything on it. it was a 455, 400 turbo 12 bolt car, the 455 was the first motor I ever saw apart when dad rebuilt it in 88, he let me help and put it together with him. I always wanted the car and so did my dad but she wouldn't sell it, years passed and dads health begin to fade and I lost him to diabetes 3 years ago at age 60. I was and still am devastated on losing my best friend, I was lost and didn't want to fool w cars anymore, at the time I had a 65 Chevy 2 small block 4 speed car and just didn't wanna look at it. Then the next fathers day my wife knew it would be tough on me so she said let's go out to eat, midway thru our meal she said why don't I sell my nova and I thought yeah prob not a bad idea but then she said.......because you need to make room for your new car and handed me a pair of GM keys, I was like huh? My wife had went out and got a loan on her own and went and talked the new owner of Mrs Peters 72 SJ that I was taught on and told me I needed to rebuild the car for me and my dad as a tribute to him, and that this was how I can stay connected with him. Everytime I get in the car I can't stop smiling knowing dads with me and his hands have been all over that car. I now own my dream car and without a doubt have the best wife ever.

That's a great story!

Jesus MJohnson23, your story made me tear up!

My story has been on the internet since about 1998, when I was finally going "digital".
Short story - late 1978, neighbor bought a new 79 GP. He has this strange looking 69 Grand Prix - I barely recognized it because it had plain bottlecap hubcaps, caps that supposedly were NOT shipped on/with a GP in 69. He wanted it gone, so my Dad bought it for $400. He was the orignal owner; wanted something fast and different and this is what Mont Claire Motors in Chicago came up with:

It was a 69' 428 HO, 3spd on the floor, Model J.

I helped my Dad (ASE Certified and also an instructor) rebuild the carb, overhaul the master cylinder, and swap out that strange transmission (with FoMoCo embossed on the side) for a 4sdp out of a 69' Camaro. I learned to drive stick on this car, but I only drove it twice. It's probably a good thing - would you give a 428 HO, 3.55 posi equipped, 4spd, MANUAL STEERING, non-tachometer 69' GP to a 17 yearold?!? This was 1984.
We just didn't have room to keep it, and I didn't fight hard enough to keep it.
(I thought I would track it down and buy it back.)

We sold the car in the fall of 84' for $850. The car was driven for a year, the drivetrain pulled and the car scrapped. Even at the time we were selling it I estimated it was one of a dozen or less built.

I found out in 1990 that the car was 1 of 3. Thanks to Keith V, after a 12 year hunt (from 1990 to 2002), I have an original block/head/intake (etc.) 69 J M20 428 HO 4spd car.

(O.K. so this story does run long!)
At least we kept the VIN. Car was Midnight Green with Parchment interior, no vinyl top.
Options on invoice: HO engine, posi, AM/FM Stereo (which was functional when we sold the car), Rally Gauge w/clock (doh!), tinted glass, ride and handling pkg, underhood lamp and G78x14 WW tires - that's it.
Needless to say I love these cars!

joegpho, that '69 is one of 277 (out of over 112,000 built)!

I got into GPs in the late 80s while looking thru the Dallas auto trader for a '71 or '72 GP when a female coworker asked what I was searching for...I told her a Pontiac Grand Prix...she said, "we have an old one for sale." I said, "yeah, what, a 1981?" She replied, "No, like a '63 or something...looks like the Batmobile." ...23 years later I still have that '62. And now also a '69 J 3 speed stick car.

To drive one is love one. Nuff said.

Right - total 3spds in 69' were 277; I forgot how many had the regular 428.

ill prob get flamed but everyone knows the best GPs were '69-'72

ANY G/P is a great car!

like one of the members' signatures here (and I am paraphrasing): "Grand Prix: a world class athlete in a tuxedo."

My first car when I turned 16 was a 75 GP with a 455 .

Then I bought my uncles 69 GP (beater 400 car) .

BTW MY 69 beater was faster than all the rich kids new IROC camaros and Monte SS's

Got me another 69 now... 428 HO loaded "J" with leather and power eveything .

11.59 @ 116
http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x...8/byronbop.jpg

X 2...

Like it!

Damn that's a beautiful GP cutrone!

Gorgeous GP!!
 

Would love to see that car in person! Is this the same Cutrone that had an article in Pontiac Enthusiast (Jan/Feb of 2004) about a ram air 3 400 built for street use in a 68 firebird?

Thanks Grant and MRGPHO .

Yes, that was an article about my 67 Bird conv. I no longer have it though ,sold it a few years ago .

Your welcome to stop by my house anytime your in my area , I'll take you for a ride .

Here is some video my wife took racing it yesterday at Cordova dragway BOP event .
Won the street tire class . $400 & nice trophy .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNpZy9QpNS4

Nice color on that GP, CONGRATS for the track win. Pontiac representing!:jumping:

Fast and pretty GP
 

Great action footage indeed! That GP hauls a**. I live in Elmhurst - You must be close to Harlem and 135th street? Would love to know who built the motor and all the specifics. Just got a liberty blue 69 SJ w/ black leather interior and its going to need a lot of work. (my cell = 1-312-823-8035 Jim)

Vey cool.
 

I can't tell by the lights, are you deep staging? Nice runs.

And it runs as good as it looks! Awesome...

Thanks guys !


Not intentionally , My 12 yr old was giving me crap about so many red lights . ha ..

I was trying to raise my launch rpm to about 1600 and kept going red :(

MRGPHO , Yep , I live at 127th & harlem .

Wayne Schicateck from East Troy Wi. did the motor
428 block with a 4.25 crank dished pistons, 10.6 comp
KRE alum D ports, Northwind intake, holley 850 ,mech fuel pump ,1/2' lines
1 3/4 hedman headers,
Comp Xtreame street roller 254/260 dur. 620 lift on 112 lsa
ATI 8" 4000 converter 3.73 12 bolt

Although it might not sound like it ..
The car is totally street friendly , my wife likes driving it around .

Streetable GP that hauls
 

I do want to see your car - should show you mine as well, all stock but still cool. Sounds like a lot of cam to still be streetable-do you use a vacuum canister for the brakes? Thanks for the info - I love how your car sounds and runs!!

Yes , I'm using a vacuum can .
video at idle >
http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x...P/th_gp462.jpg
Let me know if your ever in my area , i'm usually put-zing around on the weekends or home after 5 during the week .
I would love to check out your car too .

Bernie 708-220-6562