[LandBarge]

It was a combination of factors. A friend buys a 100,000 mile + 72 Grand Prix. Its fast and reliable and he drives it for years. Another friend buys a 68 GTO ,lets me drive it one night and I cant believe how fast and torqey this car is. A girl I used to go out with has a Pontiac 6000, Ill let you guess what was so memorable about that car. I own a 83 Pontiac Parisienne that I pay $300 for and drive for 3 years in all weather , never get stuck , always starts. It sells for more than I paid for it and the people who own it drive it for 4 more years even though they are known as notorius car killers.

But I guess what got me in the GrandVille was of all things a Dodge 600. It was my first convertible and Ive been in love with them ever since. I tried a 69 Dodge Polara 500 convertible....... bad frame. Then I tried a 68 Buick Wildcat convertible...... also had a bad frame. Then a buddy of mine who is a Mopar guy tries to acquire a Chrysler 300 convertible off of a Pontiac guy. So he buys my GrandVille at an auction and tries to trade it off for the 300. A deal cant be reached . So he tells me he will sell me the Pontiac for whatever I can sell the Buick for. I sold the Buick he sold me the GrandVille and the rest as they say is history.


Dan

[bownarrow]

My dad was in the market for a 1967 gto back in '90 just about the time I was watching the movie "my science project" which featured a 1968 with a blower. We went to look at a '68 because it was there, and I must have talked my dad into paying twice what the guy was asking.

Now I'm driving a '69 lemans drop top and building an engine to beat my dad's '68.

footnote: when I was 17 I built a '69 camaro and swapped the cam out while my dad was sleeping the night before a Philadelphia Modifiers event at Atco NJ. The next week pops through a new drivetrain in his car so there would be no passing him....

[TropicDave]

Started out in a Ford family. Had a buddy in HS with a '77 LeMans that he tricked out a bit...beautiful brown metallic paint, custom decaling he'd made, nice stance, and hauled butt. Fast forward to the mid-eighties, I'm married with stepkids, and need a car. Found a '77 LeMans in a buy-here-pay-here and drove the crap out of it. Absolutely loved the styling and power in that car. Eventually blew the engine and didn't have the money or know-how to get it fixed so I sold it to my brother. A few years later I bought a new '87 Firebird, bright metallic blue with grey interior, 5-speed, and that gutless 2.8L V6. Still, a fun car to drive even though it gave me a lot of trouble. After that I needed a truck so I got a Ranger (and have had one ever since). After a divorce and return to Florida and getting remarried with kids of my own I decide I want another '77 (or '76) and eventually find my Can Am out in Oregon. Have had it for about 2 years now, took it to Norwalk in '07 (it's the one with the buckskin/saddle interior in the HPP Can Am article). Still need to get the bodywork done on it, though, but with the kids.... But it'll get done, and my son will get it once I'm gone - if he's like he is now, he'll be another classic car fan and I hope to turn him into a Pontiaddict...

[marks73ta]

OK this is long if you want to skip it. Bare with me as it all makes sense in the end. 1968 saw a beautiful redhead at the local showhouse. Followed her thru the show house and to the local kids hangout afterwards. She got into a car and I didn't see her for a long while. Forward a couple of months I meet a guy from a neighboring town hanging around down town with a broken leg. Our town was a great cruising and kids hangout. We become friends. I go to his house and wait outside while he gets something in the house. This dude comes roaring up in this big ol' '64 Catalina, 2dr sedan, light blue metalic, and slides to a stop in my friends driveway. Comes flying out of the car and asks for Tom my friend. I tell him he's in the house and this dude says he can't wait. Jumps in the '64. No starter. He jumps out with this 2 ft, long ass large blade screwdriver, raises the hood, lays up on the fender, jams the screwdriver into the starter solenoid, and the car starts. Whips the screwdriver in thru the window, jumps into the car, and peels out down the street leaving about 100 feet of one black tire mark. Tom comes out of the house and asks what that was all about. I explain and he says, "oh, that's just Kenny". Now, I'm a chevy guy, I own a '55 2dr hdtp with a plunked in tri-carb strong 348 and 3 speed. I work in a freakin' Chevy Garage, and Chevys been in my family forever. The look of that big ol' '64 coming down the street at full chat, then ripping out with that great taillight assembly of the '64s and--I---AM---HOOKED. I eventually meet "KENNY". Crazy nut. Heres the great part. I meet his siter. She's the one I was falling in love with at the theater. Long story short. I buy the '64 from Kenny. I marry his sister. I become Kennys brother-in-law. And I'm hooked on Pontiacs, forever. Eventually (remember this is 1968-1969) I jack the '64 up and add JC Pennys L-60-15 big arse tires on 10X15 chrome steelies, cutting the rear wheelwells to fit, raise the front end to match, G-60-15 front tires on 8 inch chromes, drop in a '65 GTO 360 hp 389/muncie 4 speed, and drop in a 3:90 posi rear center. Originally it turned out it was an ex-police captains car for Brookfield WI police dept. It had the big aluminum front finned brakes. Heavy handling (for the day) suspension, and the heavy duty Ford 3 speed trans. This thing rocked. The traction on that thing was impressive with the big meats, the lifted suspension, and all the weight behind the rear wheels. Never got it to the strip and never street raced it, my license and insurance was too important to me. That was my first Pontiac and I still love the '64s. Still have the beautiful girl, still have the crazy brother-in-law but miss the Pontiac. Mark L

[poison heart]

That's great Mark. I've never heard that part of the story

[muscle_collector]

when i was born, my dad had a 59 catalina with a tri power, sold it in 68 and bought a new bonneville with a 428-ho. fell in love with the firebird when it came out. in 69 a neighbor bought a carousel red ra4 bird and another neighbor bought a 69 t/a (which i own both of them) and then when the 70 t/a came out, it was all over. there would never be a cooler car than the t/a. next thing you know i am an addict.

[mike nixon]

I was born into it.

There's been a Pontiac in my family's driveway since 1955 when my mom bought her first new one. I came home from the hosiptal in a 61 Tempest, Spent 100k of seat time in a 69 Cat, Fell in love with hidden headlights on a GTO at the age of 3 in 1969 when my parents were shopping for the Cat.The first car I drove was a 67 Cat[Dad's work car] My first Car was a 72 Cat. I should say it was the 66 GTO tripower 3 speed car I bought that my dad made me return to the seller after he found out [I was 15] but since I never drove it the Cat wins.


I told him once if he'd have left me keep that car I wouldn't own all of them that I do now. Boy did that piss him off!

Mike

[R68GTO]

I bought a 68 GTO in 1983 shortly after getting my license. My parents were "pi$$ed off"! I did a lot of local street racing with that car. At that time I was the only GTO hanging out on the street scene. I've always like muscle cars that you don't see dozens of them at every car show, Pontiacs in general fit that criteria. I had a 66 Fairlane GTA conv. for a few years but returned to owning a GTO with my current car. The same thing still applies, most local shows I go to today may have 1 or 2 68-71 GTO's at most.

[goatman65]

I was born in 1961 while my dad was in the army,stationed in Ft.Carson,Colorado.I was brought home in my parents 55 Teal/white Pontiac in an October blizzard.He was discharged in '62 and we came back to Pa.I don't know what happened to the '55 but remember that the engine sat in the back yard for years covered with grease.When I was very young I would climb on top of it and pretend I was driving the engine.My dad bought a new '65 LeMans,Burgandy/Parch.interior,326 and 3 on the tree.In Nov. of '66 he traded the LeMans in on a new '66 GTO in Montero Red/Parch. interior.Tripower,4-speed,3:90 posi.Still have it in VERY nice unrestored cond.This is the car that hooked me on muscle cars,especially Pontiacs.It was our only family car until the early '70s.My cousin also bought a Teal/Teal '65 GTO new which I barely remember.He totaled it when he hit a 'cow',yes a cow,in '67.Anyway,the '65 GTO has always been my favorite car.I bought mine in April 1983 for $1400.I'll stop here as this post is getting kinda long.

[Judas]

Maybe it was destiny since my Dad had 82?, 84, and 85 Trans Am's. The 82 was a dead-ringer for "Knight Rider". The 85 was really something special for that era. It had the 5.0 with the Corvette-style Tuned Port Injection when most cars I saw still had the throttle body setup. He had every option on that car except for leather seats (preference). The T-Tops even stayed nice and dry. Sadly, the 84 was so lackluster in every way, it was hard to believe it was 1 year away from the 85. I believe (but cannot recall) it had the carb. 305 which...sucked honestly.

But...I was perfectly happy with my 454, 79 Camaro. After I sold it (mistake!) I started looking for an A-body since I like them all. A friend of mine had a fully restored Chevelle and it was great. Then again though...where I lived I saw Chevelles pretty regularly and wanted something different. Well, I liked the GTO's looks even better anyhow so thats what I got: a 69 GTO.

[PONTIAC LARRY]

My first car (mid 1980's) was a 68 Lemans 2 dr hardtop , 350 4-spd , White / Red buckets , Cragar wheels. Needless to say , those body lines had me hooked ever since

[blown455]

The year was 1978 and my mother took me to see Smokey and the Bandit in the drive in therter as soon as heard the black T/A rumble out of that trailer I was hooked there is nothing like the sound of a pontiac, I am sure it helped that our family car at the time was a 72 lemans with a 350, 2v , that had dual exhuast pretty cool for a 4dr. The 2nd generation T/a's and firebirds where a work of art, I was lucky enough in Highschool to own 2 a 1976 black se 400 car and a 1970 FB with a 400-th400 . one of those cars is still own by my older brother to this day. I now have 2 ao the later model car a 79 T/A and an 80 fire bird both with build motor . and I know that the tradition will continue because my 11 year old daughter think one of them should be her first car.

[FHummel]

Early days of my driving experience started with a 1940 LaSalle 4 door sedan. 346 cubic inches of cast iron V8 and 3 on the tree. I'm a car guy already being exposed to the early performance of the Cadillac-LaSalle opera coupes of 1937 vintage - my dad loved those cars because of their performance. We're talking post-war (WWII) and new cars were not readily available to the average person because of struggling to make a living after the war ended. But dad came upon a couple of the '37s which I rode in. 1954 and with a fresh driver's license and newly purchased 1940 LaSalle I began my own car saga. This was a beautiful black 4 door and only had 37,000 miles on it - however it had an underlying problem that caused me to wreck it in the spring of 1955 (I'm leaving out details to keep this moving). Next came a 1948 Ford coupe followed by a 1951 Mercury coupe until I went into the Air Force in 1956. No cars allowed for airmen basics so the car stayed at home and my parents ended up selling it while I was gone. No problem. I met my wife (still married after 52 years) while on permanent base in Mississippi where I remained as a radar instructor until I exited the AF in 1960. I know, where is the Pontiac? Be patient, it's almost here. I went home on leave and bought a 1951 Olds 4 door - that thing really ran good especially after I swapped an old man even for his 4 barrel for my 2 barrel (he wanted better gas mileage). I came out better on both scores - better performance and better gas mileage to boot - that thing got 20 MPG on the highway on regular gas! The best I ever got was 17 MPG with the 2 barrel.
Traded that car off for a 1952 Caddy 4 door which I traded on a 1955 T-Bird in 1959 - now we're getting somewhere! That was one of the best cars I ever owned (the fun-factor) - installed lakes pipes and a tripower setup and ran B-Sport at the drags. I don't remember the times for the 1/4 mile but it went through the traps at 96 miles/hour. This was good enough to make the early Corvettes shy away when they saw me register and I often had to make by-runs (the 'vette guys decided not to run me). I still have a trophy for New Orleans Day at the dragstrip in the spring of 1960. Moving on - my wife and I moved back to NJ (my home state) in late 1960. Finally (here comes the first Pontiac) in the spring of 1962 I decided it was time to part with the T-Bird and began a search for the next car. I found a beautiful 1961 Pontiac Ventura hardtop - black with tri-blue interior, bench seat, 4 speed, 348HP, tripower, Saf-T-Track rear - with 12,000 miles on it. THAT ONE I really do wish I could have kept (who knew they would become one of the most sought after Pontiacs ever?) and had the best time beating up on one of my buddies who spent a wad of cash on a new 1962 Ford 406 with tripower and a 4 speed - beautiful hardtop car in black with red interior. Bill could not understand how I always beat him (I'm talking 'sanctioned' street racing here). I finally pointed out to him that his gorgeous '62 406 was much heavier than my '61 and the power to weight ratio was the key.
Well I'll cut this short with a summary of Pontiacs owned since then: 1958 Catalina convertible (sold the '61 to get money for a down payment to buy our first house and replaced the '61 with the '58). Next Pontiac was a new 1967 GTO, 4 speed hdtp, then a new 1971 GTO hdtp 4 speed, 455HO (wish I still had that one also). Then a long drought for Pontiacs until I retired, then had the time and money to start collecting and acquired a beautiful 1967 Firebird 400 coupe, then a 1961 Bonneville, which I modified, then a 1962 Grand Prix factory 4 speed - added a tripower to that one, then a 1964 Grand Prix factory tripower. Sold off most of the cars back in 2006 and acquired a 2005 (leftover) GTO with 6 speed stick which has since been traded on a 2007 (leftover) Solstice GXP with 5 speed stick - love it!! I still also have a 1970 GTO, 455 HO, 4 speed hdtp that my son and I did a frame-off for him about 7 years ago and since have taken it over from him. It just sits in the garage.
Well, that's the 'short' story of Pontiacs in my history. Hope you weren't too bored.
Frank

[Kitch428m21]

Bored? heh! Nah, love those short stories. Yours is a good one. Your timing with cars/driving was spot on back then.

[poison heart]

Agreed, I love this stuff

[goatmanmitch]

FHummel, great read!

[MikeCio1]

My first car was the family hand me down...
1968 Grand Prix, awesome car.
No one dared race me. I could take a 77 T/A any day as a matter of fact anything that was produced 73 or later was toast.
That car was alot of fun, good times, great memories. Stories, oh man...
I had those red glass packs on it... wop, wop, wop, wop.
It sounded excellant. My friends called it the wop-mobile.
Because of the sound and my Italian heritage...

[GT182]

First Pontiac I remember was my dad's 49 Streamliner DeLuxe Sedan Coupe. That body style from 47 is what I call the forerunner of the fastbacks. Last photo in that bunch from 26 to 49 is the one he had..... http://oldcarandtruckpictures.com/Pontiac/

Mark... chrome reverse wheels, not chrome steelies. That steelies name makes my skin crawl. Just as it would for anyone else from back in the 50, 60s and 70s that ran them. Not jumpin on ya, just a friendly enlightenment of a name.

[Gator67]

One of my first memories. Going to the Pontiac dealer and leaving in a brand new 1966 Tempest Wagon. I was three at the time. It was white with a red interior. I'll never forget getting in the car with my sister that day, and my mom turning around yelling at us because we kept unbuckling the seat belts. I'll also never forget my dads sad face as we left his 62 Impala Super Sport behind (his traded in, it was also white with red interior). We stopped to get soft serve ice cream. I dropped mine on the floor and it stained the carpet. Funny thing is every time I got into that car for the next 20 years I saw the spot on the floor and it reminded me of that day. For some reason, though, I got hooked on the looks of the Pontiac. My first car was a 66 Ventura with a 421, then a 66 Grand Prix, 67 Lemans, 64 LeMans, 67 Lemans, 68 GTO etc. Some of my fondest memories were when my dad and I worked on these cars together. I bought my 67 GTO a few months ago to restore, and I'm hoping my two kids (5 & 7) have the same types of memories with it.

[marks73ta]

Hey GT182, no problem. They were chrome and they were steel--AND THEY WERE HEAVY-- but so was the Cat, heh. They were all I could afford back then making $1.52 an hour as a part time mechanic after school and on th eweekend. I had the first set of wide ovals in town then. The tire guy came around during th e day while I was in school and the head mechanic (good ol' Elmer Scmidt, really, no kidding) asked the tire guy to leave them off for me to see my reaction. I almost fell over when I saw them, G-60-15s, 8 inches tread,9 inches side wall. I had just bought that '64 Cat and didn't have a penny to piss on, and I guess I looked so sad that I had to send them back. Elmer talked the boss into letting me get them and th emoney would be taken out of my checks (for months, heh). But I started noticing that the money was never being taken out so I approached the bookkeeper to remind her and she said all the guys in the shop and the owner thru in the money and paid them off. First time anyone had ever done anything so selflessly for me. Still makes me smile when I think of the guys. Anywho, the tires went on the back until the JC pennies biggys came along, then they went on the front on some ansens. With those G-60s on the front and the big aluminum cop front brakes that thing stopped on a dime. Good memories. I'll have to tell about the lift springs sometime. I think the spring is still in the gas station garage attic. 8^) Mark L