The “personal luxury coupe” that became prevalent in the 1970s sought to do two things. One, it was a way to extend out the price range of an intermediate coupe by allowing an already-existing platform to spawn a high-feature example that manufacturers (rightly) guessed people would eat up. Who doesn’t want a bit of luxury in their ride, right? The second part of that program wasn’t to do so much with the car, but instead was to stimulate a little bit of class warfare. Take this 1971 Pontiac Grand Prix, the original personal luxury coupe. If your dad rolled up in a 1971 Pontiac T-37 sedan in a nearly vulgar shade of brown back in the day, all anybody cared about was that he had just bought a new car.
But if he rolled up in a gleaming black Grand Prix, however…he didn’t just buy a new car. He went above and beyond. Was this to celebrate a promotion? Had he finally decided to treat himself after limping that absolutely battered ’54 Chieftain around for years longer than he should have? Did an uncle pass on and leave a substantial chunk of change? Suddenly your family was the talk at dinner tables of the whole neighborhood, all because of a car.
We don’t need to sell you on this car. In fact, other than the fact that the same owner has held onto this gorgeous example since the mid-1980s, it’s all about what you can see and what you would expect: 400ci Pontiac, automatic, all the options, plus a custom dual exhaust, upgraded brakes and 17-inch Pontiac “Snowflake” wheels. Just imagine the commotion that would be caused if you pulled this into your driveway today: the neighborhood Karen would be on the phone to the HOA folks in five seconds flat while a wave of jealousy would sweep the block. Kids would lose their minds.
Erase all of that with a twist of a key, the feeling of that shifter dropping into Drive, and a cruise on a wide-open road.
Mecum Auctions’ Orlando 2022: Lot F160.1 – 1971 Pontiac Grand Prix Model J
C’mon guys to be the super cool GP Dad you had to get the SJ which in ‘70 you could still get with a 455 4bbl 4 speed in ‘71 you still needed the SJ to be top dog but manuals were axed during that year I believe so only a few early cars had 3 pedals and I don’t think any were SJ’s but I’m no Poncho historian. This is a nice ride and I’d sure drive it everywhere but it isn’t the Baller’s GP.
Yeah , exactly what I was thinking
Beautiful automobile. I had a Black Pontiac Lemans and I love it back in the day.