[ponchbro]

Originally Posted by Lightfoot

Good call. 1979 models. I have seen two or three of these specimins. That's what I thought this car was, (with '81 facia added) until I studied the photos.
In 1987, me and my brother looked over a black '79 Lemans coupe that had these funky quarter window louvres and a decklid spoiler. There was a faded hood bird that looked similar to T/A except it was single color pin striped, and more narrow on the hood. I remember thinking the "Sport Classic" lettering was kind of cheesy. I don't recall it having buckets/console either. Pretty sure it was a red cloth bench.
This was in a used car lot in South Haven, Michigan.
The big let down was that it had a 231 V6 from the factory (VIN code A). If my brother hadn't just purchased a '78 Grand Lemans 4-door (his 1st car), we would have bought that black Lemans Sport Classic, and looked for a Pontiac or Olds V8 to put in it.

Years later I spotted a decrepid looking black 'Sport Classic' driving down the road and wondered if it was the same one, or a different one. I had seen a white one somewhere along the line, also.

I remember my older brother looking at them new. They did have red interior's don't remember what engine's. They were at the Pontiac dealer in South Haven MI,

[S Courter]

O.K. How do I determine if this really is a Grand Am ?? 79 tail lights, 81 front fascia?? Does the vin tell me? What did the Grand Am package consist of? It is dark gray below the side moldings.
Pictures- On my trailer arriving home. After a quick wash before my wife saw it. The dash plaque. What do you think??

Steve

[Lightfoot]

The second digit of the VIN should be a G if it's a Grand Am.
F = Grand Lemans
D = Lemans

All the '80 Grand Ams came with Ontario Gray as a lower body color, unless a buyer chose to order the car without it. I would guess very, very few were built without it. I've never seen one w/o.
Only other things standard on '80 GA (verses Grand Lemans/Lemans) were 301 4bbl, automatic trans, F41 suspension, and engine gauges; along with all the various trim nuances.

Looks like someone skillfully inserted a Grand Am nameplate into a wood grain dash strip to me. And those window louvres are the same style as the ones on the '79 "Sport Classic" I looked at in 1987.
The car looks really good cleaned up. If it were me, I'd leave the '81 front facia on it.

[Lightfoot]

You should also order a PHS packet for it, unless you discover it's not a GA, but I think the lower body accent color is a pretty good indication that it is one of 1647.

I speculate that the original dash was replaced at some point and the owners took pains to fabricate the Grand Am into the replacement dash plaque.