If you believed the naysayers back in 1975, cars like this Pontiac Grand Ville convertible were about to be relegated to the history books. It was too big, especially after the first Arab oil embargo had come and gone. It was too long, too wide, too much and too unsafe, and the government was going to make sure that this automotive dinosaur was going to die. You almost have to appreciate the amount of dark cloud speech that preceded the death of the convertibles in 1975, so could you blame General Motors for going all-in on making one final batch of the biggest and best? The Grand Ville was the top-tier Pontiac, having knocked the Bonneville nameplate down a peg in 1971, and for the convertibles, the company threw the options catalog at them, churning out just over 4,500 examples before the ragtops were killed off. With summer winding down and the hint of fall on the air, doesn’t a bit of a cruise in a big barge like this sound great? Find a day that isn’t broiling, find a destination, and find yourself sinking into the great big bench seat. The convertible may have returned, but it didn’t come back quite like this.

eBay Link: 1975 Pontiac Grand Ville convertible