1978 lemans ??
 

so i'm kinda thinking about looking for a 78 lemans.. had one years ago and think i want another one. searching craigslist they don't seem to pop up very often for some reason.. any suggestions on where to look? is a 78 lemans considered a G body?

thanks for the help..



i had this one in the early 90's. rode and drove so nice.. not much on power though with the v6..

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i1...ars/img081.jpg

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i1...ars/img082.jpg

They were just a normal everyday car, and since they were not normally kept as collector machines, most have been recycled after almost 40 years. The same era Grand Am is a rare sight too, since so few were made. Nice thing about them is the floor shift manual trans option.

i know they were every day daily drivers but so was a 70 dodge dart with a 6 cyl and they are pretty easy to find still..lol

maybe a grand prix from the same period? i see decent examples from time to time and some are even time capsules with low mileage. i had a '78 while in college - handed down from my dad.

You must not be in the rust belt...1970 Darts were pretty much all gone up here by 1980. All the 1978 Lemans suffered the same fate.

Kind of an unusual car to see...with the Grand Prix being so similar, and available at the same time, it makes you wonder why they even made the Lemans

They make a great platform being a G Body , lots of bolt ons to make it what u need.
Seen them listed in the south but .not too often..as mentioned they suffered the rust demons. Getting specific trim parts etc may be a small challenge.
I had a 78 Grand Am black with red guts....really wish I had it now.....rare.

i'm in south jersey.. no doubt part of the rust belt.. i see way more darts pop up for sale then a 78 lemans. its nuts..

there was just a 79 grand am for sale locally.. looked clean..

Drive to Chicago?
https://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/cto/6143987245.html

or maybe a Safari?

https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/...158450013.html

There's a guy down here in Maryville who has like half a dozen he's been selling off, some with 4 speeds. Not all perfect bodies but still decent drivers and his prices haven't been stratospheric.

thats a good looking wagon.. that poor red one is all butchered...lol

No picture.
https://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/6133196536.html

wonder why that doesn't come up in my search.. its not that far from me..

Sent you a PM.

Technically, the Lemans, Grand Am and Malibu are A bodies BUT share most under the surface parts with the G body (Monte Carlo, Regal, Cutlass, Grand Prix).

-Dave

I thought the Malibu and Lemans where A body, and the Monte Carlo and Gran Prix are G. There's other Gs, and maybe other As. They're closely related, and generally referred to as the Metric chassis.

Ok, so I'm gathering that wiki is correct because my 78 body manual seems to list them both as A, but my 78 mechanical manual list a G but doesn't say what it is. So I guess they're all A, until they're all G

This is correct. I have a peeve about everybody calling Lemans/Malibu G bodies on all the websites (including this one).
78-80 'humpback' Buick Century and Olds Cutlass Salon were the other A bodies.
There are still scads of nice 78-79 Grand Prix survivors to be found. They made a ton more of them than Lemans/Grand Am.

The GPs are nice but I way more prefer the Lemans coupe body style.
That '78 Safari in the CL ad is my favorite 1978 color. I had a Seafoam green '78 Grand Am. He is asking too much probably to recoupe for the new paint job.

The red Lemans looks like a fair deal if it is truly 42,000 actual miles. The headliner looks good enough to confirm it, and since he rounded UP I tend to think he is honest. I would just want to eyeball the rear frame horns to make sure they're solid, before I pulled the trigger.

ok so a 78 lemans is an "A" body? does it share the suspension parts of a "G" body?

if one was to be listed in this forums classifieds section where would it be posted? under "
Big Pontiacs(including G-body) FOR SALE" ?

here's a 'time capsule' grand prix. the G/Ps seem to be maintained to a higher degree than similar lemans.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1977-Pontiac...JZAg9p&vxp=mtr

yea that year is too big for me.. i do like the 78 style gran prix but i prefer the more basic looking le mans. plus the lemans is what i had years ago..

Yes, the A body and G body are basically the same under the skin, including suspension.

As for your other question, and with all due respect to the great Forum, the 78-87 A & G bodies are kind of orphans here, so they are usually listed in the Big Pontiacs section. That's not to say there is NO interest, there are a lot of knowledgeable and helpful folks here, but (and I hope I'm not stepping on any toes here), the G Body Forums (https://gbodyforum.com/) are strictly for those cars. I spend time on both forums, and have had a lot of great input on both.

-Dave

oh ok.. thanks for the info..

Love the looks of that black LeMans. I had a black 78 Grand prix, same rims and honestly I believe the same tires. Loved that car as it was in awesome shape. It had a 301 and I could usually beat my friends 81 Camaro with a 305.

the tires were pep boy specials..lol

I've seen metric A body Lemans with Pontiac 400s swapped in them a few times.

I was told that those cars are lighter than my second gen F body, which I don't have a hard time believing.

There is no other 1978 Pontiac LeMans or Grand Am around these parts anymore. Like someone indicated...........they weren't considered desirable like the Trans Ams ........so most stuff went to the crusher. This is my 78 Grand Am. I bought 15 years ago.........did a body off ........dropped in a 76 400 out of a Trans Am.........changed the rear gears from 2:29 to 3:08. Had my interior redone in original material. It's not fast..........but it runs nice. I'll try to post some pictures.

I think it looks great. And ... with a 400 and 3:08 I'm sure it gets out of it's own way no problem.

Nice ride!

Nice car, and today there has to be very few of them left on the road.

Beautiful car! A black/red interior '79 Grand Am caught my eye as a teenager, but they were hard to find even back then.

Nice G/A! I bet it is a fun combo compared to the 301 it came with. Those 2nd Gen G/A's were never very common.