You know what a 1970s “personal luxury coupe” really is, right? That’s where the manufacturers took what was a muscle car, stuffed it with the kind of luxury they thought buyers wanted, and hoped that nobody would notice that the engine was weaker than last year’s model. With one exception…Pontiac’s Grand Prix. The GP was the true start of the personal luxury coupe, gaining that role after it downsized from it’s full-size coupe origins in 1969, creating the original G-body car (shared with the first-generation Chevrolet Monte Carlo. By the mid-1970s, the confusion between the A-body (the original “colonnade” shape) and the G-body (the upright, “formal” roofline like the Cutlass Supreme had) became blurred enough to not know the difference, but there was no mistaking that the Grand Prix still had one role: power and luxury. Looks…well, that’s subjective, and we know plenty that aren’t a fan of the shape, but in black-and-chrome, this 1976 SJ is as good as it gets.
With black leather buckets, floor shift, sunroof and the original Pontiac wire mags, it looks like a great cruiser, but under that unbelievably expansive hood lies a good reason to take a look at this car: a 1975 455 raided from a Trans-Am. It might have only made 200 horsepower from the factory, but it’s still a Pontiac mill…it’s a torque factory that just needs to be pumped up some for the proper gentleman’s hot rod. It’s not going to kill the quarter-mile in jaw-dropping times…though we do know a guy if that’s your thing…but if highway miles are your deal, you won’t do better. A hot rod is nice, but treating yourself is so much nicer!
eBay Link: 1976 Pontiac Grand Prix SJ
Sweet car! Sunroof too. I’d take it!
Used to own a ’76–loved that car. Wish I’d kept it… 🙁
They did make some good cars in the ’70’s. What the hell happened to the company that they would later come out with things such as the “Aztec”?
Reminds me of my old 1969 GP, 400 small block. $400 car thirty years ago. Rock steady on the highway and just the ticket when motorcycle weather was done in the fall