Unicorn: 1973 Pontiac Grand Am 4-door 4-speed Bucket Seats. 12 made in 1973

[alsancle]

Here is something you don't see every day.   Who knows what the gauge is in front of the shifter?

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/204449629892

 

1973 Pontiac Grand Am Rarest of the Rare!

Factory 4-door, 4-speed, 400 CI engine, Bucket Seats.  Very rare!  Only 12 Pontiac factory made in 1973…how is that for rare!

 

Rarest of the rare made one of its most attractive sports touring cars was the Pontiac Grand Am.  The 2-door hardtop was an immediate hit and was designed John DeLorean.  

 

While most people do not realize that the Grand Am was also made in a very limited 4-door sedan, 4-speed Bucket Seats with the 400 c.i. engine and dual exhaust.  We were told that only 12 4-door, 4-speed with Bucket Seats were made in 1973.  For those who want a super rare car for their collection, any General Motors car that they made less than one hundred of falls into the super rare category.

 

Again, this particular car is a 1973 Pontiac Grand Am 400,

4-speed, four door sedan with bucket seats.  The engine is a 400 cubic inch (6.5 liters) and the carburetor is a four barrel.  Everything about this car has a “4” in it.

 

The car has been repainted the original white with the original style blue and red pin striping.  Of course the dual exhaust sounds great (listen to the video to hear the exhaust notes). 

 

This car even has the Build Sheet! (see photo).

 

In addition to the car being equipped with bucket seats and a 4-speed manual transmission mounted on the floor as it came from the factory.

 

The car also has factory air conditioning (needs a charge).  The radio is AM/FM.  The car is 99% rust free.  Starts and stops and runs and it should be able to make a trip of hundreds of miles without concern.  The interior is original with only very slight wear.  

 

The car is currently under 20 year ownership and was purchased from the original owner.  (2nd owner car!) It is unlikely that you will ever have another chance to buy another one.

 

Not only is it a great car for local shows, national Pontiac shows and also for touring but it would also make a wonderful museum piece as it is a once in a life time opportunity for collectors/viewers to see one of the rarest Pontiac muscle car.

 

When going to a Muscle Car show or Pontiac national meet there is a near zero chance of seeing another one.  Many collectors love the word Rare! Rare! Rare! and this car fits the definition.  

 

Serious inquiries please call 872-222-3223 as I do not text.  Thanks for looking! 

 

 

[TexRiv_63]

Cool rare car, wonder what the reserve is. Yet another example of a factory A/C car that "needs a charge". The value would go up substantially if the seller got it working.

[George Smolinski]

51 minutes ago, alsancle said:

Who knows what the gauge is in front of the shifter?

My guess would be vacuum.

[Marty Roth]

3 hours ago, TexRiv_63 said:

Cool rare car, wonder what the reserve is. Yet another example of a factory A/C car that "needs a charge". The value would go up substantially if the seller got it working.

We are supposed to "ASSUME" that $50 worth of R-12 would solve everything,

BUT .......

There is a reason the Freon leaked in the first place,

and likely it would have been very expensive to properly repair, even back the when correct parts, such as the Evaporator core might have been readily available -

and of course that means disassembling the dash and breaking little brittle plastic things along the way.

 

I like the idea of it, but everything in our stable is, and likely will remain Open Cars.

 

I believe the gauge in the console is engine vacuum -

sometimes proffered as helping economy-

as in "Keep your foot out of the Loud Pedal"-

 

Yeah, Sure, with the 400 block, 4 barrel, 4-speed-

and by that year

the compression was reduced,

smog controls resulted in poor driveability,

fuel mileage took a dump,

and the new models resulted in a diminished  joy of driving!

[rocketraider]

In a Hurst/Olds the gage is called a "Moto-Minder" aka vacuum gage. But that one looks like someone added it. Curious about that paddle switch beside it too. I've known a few 73-75 GrandAMs in my time and never seen those in another one.

 

GrandAMs are a cool car especially with the 4-speed. These, the Oldsmobile Salon and to a lesser extent Laguna S3 and Century Luxus were designed to beat the German sport sedans at their own game but, as is typical of GM, they did not promote them to the market they were aimed at.

 

In road tests the Salon equaled or surpassed the Mercedes 450SE it was up against in every category. Even notoriously anti-American-car Car and Driver had to admit it, and the GrandAM was the equal of Salon.

 

Shame GM didn't know how to market their excellent sport sedans.

[cudaman]

I had no idea that Pontiac even made a four door Grand Am!  😮

[RansomEli]

Such a wonderful car with all sorts of gauges... except a tach.

Edited September 9, 2023 by RansomEli (see edit history)

[avgwarhawk]

This is really an oddball of a car. 4 doors. 4 speed manual. It's a Olds 442 Pontiac style. 

[Ed Luddy]

Aftermarket gauge looks like it's for rear air shock pressure to me.

[rocketraider]

2 hours ago, cudaman said:

I had no idea that Pontiac even made a four door Grand Am!  😮

1973: 2d 34445, 4d 8691

1974: 2d 13961, 4d 3122

1975: 2d 8786, 4d 1893

 

4 speed available all 3 years.

[TAKerry]

I would bet its a vacuum gauge, any ones guess on the switch? The rarity is that it has bucket seats, not that its a 4 door.  Interesting car but I wouldnt spend any more than the current bid if not less. Curious why its badged a 6.5 litre. Will have to look into that. And yes, non working A/C most likely means more than a can of juice.  A/C is non working in my T/A but that translates to at least $1k!! (hence why its not working, LOL). 

[deac]

I like this set-up; 4 spd, 4 door with a 400 ci engine.  The seller is a little overly exuberant about how rare this car is!  Saying in one sentence that the AC system needs a charge is way too simplistic for an old R12 system The gauge under the stereo is a vacuum gauge. Me, personally never saw the value of a vacuum gauge as most people wouldn't understand what it's actually reading and it's placed in such an awkward spot the driver wouldn't be able to accurately read it while driving.  After 70-71 model years the engine performance went progressively down every year.  In 73 the SD motor came out and one can argue the performance of the engine up; but this is not a SD 400 V8.

[EmTee]

Originally, the plan was to offer the SD-455 in the Grand Am also.  Too bad it never happened.  A '73 SD-455 Grand Am 4 speed coupe would blow my mind! 

[Glen Andrews]

20 hours ago, Ed Luddy said:

Aftermarket gauge looks like it's for rear air shock pressure to me.

Ed: Initially I thought vacuum gauge, but after looking and thinking about the comments, I think you're correct that it is for rear air shock pressure and the toggle switch to the right of the gauge was added to run an added air pump to pressure up the shocks. It was probably added back in the 70's as air shocks were a popular add on back then. It appears the gauge goes to 30 pounds which could be a vacuum gauge, but I'm going with air pressure gauge and toggle switch for an air pump for the rear shocks.

[TAKerry]

I doubt that switch is for air shocks, and still suspect its a vacuum gauge. Rear of the car looks high and if the shocks still work they very will may be air. But, I would think it would be quite a task setting up an air pump with an electric switch to turn on and off to adjust the rear shocks when every gas station at the time had free air via a pump between the bay doors. That is more than likely where the air would have been added IF there were air shocks present. They were very popular right before and when I started to drive. Going to the gas station was the norm. 

Switch may have been for a stereo, fog lights, alarm? etc. All of this kind of crap was added to cars in the 70's. I took about a mile of excess wire for said stuff out of my car when I restored it.

For performance, I would be surprised if this car was listed as anything more than 200hp.

[deac]

Sorry guys I ain't buying that gauge is for the rear air shocks, I can almost read the printed V-A-C-U-U-M letters right under the dial itself. As posted directly above by TAKERRY to install a shock gauge and everything that would go with it would be quite an undertaking! Besides that gauge and the installation looks like a factor job.  The toggle switch switch is a home job that controls who knows what?

[TAKerry]

After looking back at the pics of the car, there is no provision for any kind of air compressor in the engine bay or the trunk! So I would be willing to bet that the pump as you go air shock theory is just that. Gauge looks like it has the Hg in the bottom around the 5 o clock position which is vacuum, also looks like a SW on the top. I also would doubt that gauge is stock, it doesnt match the rest of them in the dash. 4 speed, 4 door sedan from 1973 has the earmarks of a bootlegger in the south, the switch may turn off the tailights! But then again I would think the car would have had the *^*^*& run out of it if that was the case.

Edited September 11, 2023 by TAKerry (see edit history)

[rocketraider]

1 hour ago, TAKerry said:

4 speed, 4 door sedan from 1973 has the earmarks of a bootlegger in the south, the switch may turn off the tailights! But then again I would think the car would have had the *^*^*& run out of it if that was the case.

Now Kerry- what would make you think any of us would have ever done something like that?

 

My 66 442 had such a switch. You must remember that even as a long haired skinny redneck teenager (and descended from one of the original 1728 Byrd Line surveyors between NC and VA) I was obsessed with maps, wiring diagrams, plumbing layout etc. And that toggle switch for the taillights was easily concealed behind the Oldsmobile's dash.

 

It also had a Delco air shock compressor and gage setup scarfed from a Cadillac.

 

Local fuzz were pretty tight on "altered suspension" and rear bumper height and they all had a stainless steel yardstick in their cars. One in particular was murder on us.

 

Get pulled over, quickly dial the air shock pressure down to where bumper height was legal. After Fife scratched his head muttering "I know that damn car is too high, I just know it!" and let us go, dial the pressure back up and rumble along a little longer. 

 

I don't think they ever caught on to us.

[Glen Andrews]

 Maybe it is a plain faced vacuum gauge, my computer and eyes (even with cheaters on) can't make out the letters on the face of the gauge. And yes back in the day when adding air shocks was popular there was typically a valve added somewhere on the rear panel near the bumper where free air was pumped in at a gas station. There is not a good picture of the lower rear of the car to spot such a valve, the only hint I got was from the one trunk picture where there is what appears to be a red plastic line just barely showing on the left side just inside the trunk, maybe for the air shocks?? Twenty years ago I had an '85 Cadillac Eldorado and the automatic leveling sensor for the air ride was bad, no easy replacement part to be found and I didn't have a lot of money in the car, so underneath the dash on the driver side I wired a toggle switch to the under hood air pump so I could raise/level up the back end of the car.

 

[EmTee]

Maybe the owner trying to emulate the vacuum gauge installation on his old '63 GP...?

 

[deac]

I have looked at the picture, enlarged it and used a magnifying glass and am convinced of 2 things: it does say vacuum on the gauge face and the area around the gauge itself is molded into the console; there are no signs of a manually cutout for an aftermarket gauge.  Furthermore I have seen aftermarket brand gauges installed at the factory and the brand name is left on the gauge face!

[TerryB]

My feeble eyes think it has a Stewart-Warner SW emblem on the gauge face an Hg for inches of mercury on the face too.

Edited September 12, 2023 by TerryB (see edit history)

[jimkf]

Sold...$23K. No doubt the four speed generated most of the bid dollars.

[EmTee]

Seems like good money for that car.  Hopefully the new owner gives it the attention it needs and doesn't just immediately attempt to flip it...

[ericmac]

Today I saw this car on the back of an open car hauler outside Cleveland,  OH heading west. Clearly someone bought it and is having it shipped to them as we speak.  Hope they have fun with it.