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Memories Of The Old GM And Its Cars

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    sgtdwesgtdwe Member Posts: 1
    Way back in '93, my Dad bought his first new car. A 1993 Chevy Silverado extended cab pickup. 5.7 Liter V8, automatic, short step side bed, the nicest interior you could get without going for leather. Captains' chairs/console, etc. That summer, Dad decided to take my Mom and I on a vacation. Camping in Northern Arkansas. Which for a kid from Dallas was interesting. We rented a cabin and drove up in the truck. Somewhere along the way, we stopped for lunch. While getting out of the back (remember when extended cabs still only had two doors?) the driver's side seat sprang forward and caused the horn to honk. Odd...but possibly normal. When we went to leave, I noticed Dad would have trouble driving because when he sat behind the wheel, he was laying horizontal with his head in the backseat. Seemed the seatback broke. So, since it was me that "broke it" meaning I was the last one to touch it, I had to support the seatback while he drove the last half of the trip. Lord, my knees and arms were killing me. Dad is a bit hefty. Once we got to the cabin, I removed the seat's cover and discovered that a couple of the bolts had snapped. I replaced them and the seat was fine. But Dad wouldn't let me live it down that I damaged his seat for a Whopper w/cheese. We got back to the Dallas area, and waiting in the two week supply of mail was a warranty notification..."Please bring your truck into the dealer as there is a possibility that the seatback frame's bolts could snap off, causing a loss of support." GREAT timing for me, GM. Dad's response? "You probably still had something to do with it." That's one of my fondest memories of a vacation now.
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    iwant12iwant12 Member Posts: 269
    Andre, is that a Grand or a Luxury LeMans? I had a white '76 Grand LeMans once, and a '73 Grand Am. Never had any problems with either. Thanks for posting the pics, brings back some good memories.

    Regards,
    Dale
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    bryan23158bryan23158 Member Posts: 2
    I'm sure this will cause some uproar with a lot of people. But GM has been nothing but Chevy for decades now. Why...because they are cheap. There are plenty of other engine platforms...BOP that are easier to work on, better designed, and lasted longer than that "corporate" engine. Not until recently has anything been much more than a re-badged Chevy...and now that there actually is some individuality coming back they are dropping the brands....Olds, Pontiac...etc.
    I hate to see it for our economy, and for the people that rely on those jobs. That's the ones I wish we could help. But GM has been dead to me for 20 years. So strap in for more look alike cars and cheap overall quality.
    I've got my '78 T/A, a '68 Firebird 400 and a '67 LeMans. Back when cars were still somewhat individualized and you actually had a choice of models, engines and styles. And yes...I know the '78 is a Camaro twin. But at least it's REAL PONTIAC POWERED. I love my OLD GM cars.
    So aside from the thousands of families it is hurting.....let GM die. Glad to see that hack company go under. And they won't really go under. They'll just find new funding and continue putting out the same drab, dull, uninspiring clone cars they have for years. Drop the GM and just call it Chevrolet. That's what it's been for 20+ years anyway.
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    andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,687
    It's a '76 Grand LeMans, although the grille is from a '77. They called the nicer trim level Luxury LeMans in 1973-74, but changed it to Grand LeMans in 1975.

    There's a website devoted to the '73-77 LeMans in particular, and A-body in general. http://www.abodysite.com. If you go there and click on the "readers rides" link, there's a bunch of pics of various '73-77 A-bodies. It hasn't been updated in awhile, though. The most recent posting is by the guy I bought my car from. He posted some pics of it, as well as some pics of a '74 Grand Am he bought. He loved the '76 LeMans, but after awhile, got hungry for more power, so he went out and found the Grand Am.

    How long did you have your '76 for? Which engine did it have?
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    andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,687
    I've got my '78 T/A, a '68 Firebird 400 and a '67 LeMans. Back when cars were still somewhat individualized and you actually had a choice of models, engines and styles. And yes...I know the '78 is a Camaro twin. But at least it's REAL PONTIAC POWERED.

    Well be glad you didn't get a California/High-Altitude model '78 TA, or you would've ended up with an Olds 403 instead of a Pontiac 400! :P

    I know what you mean, though...I miss the old days when the different divisions had more identity, and I prefer a Pontiac car to have a Pontiac engine. Heck, I passed on a '79 Bonneville once, and one of the reasons was because it had a Buick 350 rather than a Pontiac 350. However, that might not be Pontiac's fault. I've heard conflicting stories, but the Pontiac 350 might have been discontinued by that time, so they would've had to use Buick or Olds 350's in its place. For 1980 I think they were down to the Olds 350.

    I was also leery of that Buick 350 because I had an '82 Cutlass Supreme with a Buick 231 V-6 that grenaded at an early age. Well, that Buick 350 looked an awful lot like the 231, just with two extra cylinders, and it brought back bad memories and spooked me a bit, I guess. At that time, I had my grandmother's '85 LeSabre, which had a 307, and I was disappointed that the 350 Bonneville felt slower than the LeSabre. However, the LeSabre had a 4-speed automatic and a 2.73 axle, while that Bonneville probably had a 2.41. So that probably made a difference. Plus, by 1985 they really improved the driveability of these cars, even if the peak hp numbers didn't seem like anything to brag about.
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    iwant12iwant12 Member Posts: 269
    I owned the '76 for a couple years; it had the 350. My Grand Am had a 400. My father had a '76 Luxury LeMans similar to mine but his had wheel skirts. He gave the car to my older sister and that's the first thing she did, got rid of the wheel skirts. Those were good cars, can't remember anything going out on them, perhaps a thermostat once.
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    roadburnerroadburner Member Posts: 17,362
    The most recent posting is by the guy I bought my car from. He posted some pics of it, as well as some pics of a '74 Grand Am he bought. He loved the '76 LeMans, but after awhile, got hungry for more power, so he went out and found the Grand Am.

    I was thumbing through the book GTO: Pontiac's Great One and learned that the 1973 Grand Am coupe was originally going to be the GTO. Never knew that. I'd still take a '73 or '74 Grand Am...

    Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport; 2020 C43; 2021 Sahara 4xe 1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i Son's: 2009 328i; 2018 330i xDrive

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    andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,687
    I was thumbing through the book GTO: Pontiac's Great One and learned that the 1973 Grand Am coupe was originally going to be the GTO. Never knew that. I'd still take a '73 or '74 Grand Am...

    At one time, the Grand Am was supposed to get a 310 hp SuperDuty 455, an engine that the Trans Am did get. Damn shame it never came to be...I'm sure that an SD Grand Am would've been a car to be proud of!

    As it stands, I think the strongest engine you could get in a '73 Grand Am or GTO was a 250 hp 455.

    I guess if they really wanted to, they could have just called the Grand Am "GTO", but I guess they wanted the magic of a new name. Plus, GTO's never were really all that luxurious, and luxury was becoming all the rage in the 70's. The Grand Am was supposed to be the mating of Grand Prix luxury with Trans Am performance...although it only came with a 170 hp 400-2bbl standard.

    I wouldn't mind getting ahold of one of those "1977.5" Can Ams. They only ran off like 1377 of them. They had the 200 hp 400 out of the Trans Am. I know that sounds lame, but the regular 400 only had 180 hp! They also had a 3.23:1 rear, and would scoot from 0-60 in about 8.8 seconds. Which sadly, is about the most you can hope for in a two-ton 70's domestic. But at least they look good. :shades:
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    blh7068blh7068 Member Posts: 375
    "I was thumbing through the book GTO: Pontiac's Great One and learned that the 1973 Grand Am coupe was originally going to be the GTO."

    Starting in 72, the GTO was an option as opposed to being offered as as separate model(65-71...64 it was an option, too)

    Yes, in the development stages the 73 G/A it was supposed to be the GTO, but it was decided to continue to offer that as an option on the Le Mans as they did the prior model year.

    74 saw the platform changed to X-body( Ventura) but was again offered as an option.
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    andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,687
    74 saw the platform changed to X-body( Ventura) but was again offered as an option.

    I know the '74 is seen as an insult to the GTO name, but considering the timeframe, I wonder how bad of a car it really was? They managed to get 200 hp out of the 350 that went into it. I wonder how it would've compared to a Duster/Dart Sport 360?

    Honestly though, they should have just retired the GTO name with some dignity. The package on the Ventura could have just been called Ventura Sprint or Ventura GTO or something similar. But then, at the time, I don't think the marketing types in Detroit could have ever imagined the nostalgia we'd have for these cars, and the insult we'd ultimately take the '74 GTO to be. Around that timeframe, my Dad bought a '64 GTO for the princely sum of $400. So it's not like they were sought-after high-dollar collectibles at the time.
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    blh7068blh7068 Member Posts: 375
    "At one time, the Grand Am was supposed to get a 310 hp SuperDuty 455, an engine that the Trans Am did get. Damn shame it never came to be...I'm sure that an SD Grand Am would've been a car to be proud of!"

    Yes, I recall reading it was a possibility. Dont forget that 43 Firebird Formulas received the SD motor. Have you ever seen one of those? They dont have the twin scoops on the front of the hood( as all other formulas), but instead have the TA shaker scoop.

    "As it stands, I think the strongest engine you could get in a '73 Grand Am or GTO was a 250 hp 455."

    I believe that is correct.

    "I guess if they really wanted to, they could have just called the Grand Am "GTO", but I guess they wanted the magic of a new name. Plus, GTO's never were really all that luxurious, and luxury was becoming all the rage in the 70's. The Grand Am was supposed to be the mating of Grand Am luxury with Trans Am performance."

    They offered it as Le Mans option, as they did in 72.

    "I wouldn't mind getting ahold of one of those "1977.5" Can Ams. They only ran off like 1377 of them. They had the 200 hp 400 out of the Trans Am. I know that sounds lame, but the regular 400 only had 180 hp! They also had a 3.23:1 rear, and would scoot from 0-60 in about 8.8 seconds. Which sadly, is about the most you can hope for in a two-ton 70's domestic. But at least they look good"

    You know, there really isnt much market for those cars, despite the rarity.
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    blh7068blh7068 Member Posts: 375
    "I know the '74 is seen as an insult to the GTO name, but considering the timeframe, I wonder how bad of a car it really was? They managed to get 200 hp out of the 350 that went into it."

    Another guy in my club had one of those for a little while. They werent all that bad. 4 bbl carb with factory functional scoop...not too bad. It was yellow with a saddle interior

    "Around that timeframe, my Dad bought a '64 GTO for the princely sum of $400. So it's not like they were sought-after high-dollar collectibles at the time."

    The same guy also still has a 64 convert with a 4 speed, with a tri power conversion.

    I havent posted for quite awhile...some of the old timers might remember me...but this is a great thread that has gotten me going again.
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    lemkolemko Member Posts: 15,261
    The '74 GTO was a slap in the face of a once -great name, but hardly a slap as nasty as this one:

    image

    Maybe we should start a topic "Memory of Old Mopar?"
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    blh7068blh7068 Member Posts: 375
    Whew...if the 74 GTO is a slap in the face, that Mopar is a flat out sucker punch!

    I think my eyes hurt. :)
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    andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,687
    You know, there really isnt much market for those cars, despite the rarity.

    I think they had a pretty high survival rate. At least, I see them pop up on eBay pretty frequently. There was one at the Carlisle GM Nats in 2005, which was the first show I took my '76 to. Here's a pic...
    image

    The other white car is a '73 LeMans, but I think it was something a bit above base. Maybe a Sport Coupe? Or did they have something called a LeMans GT that year?

    Oh, here's a shot of my car from the 2006 GM show, hanging out with Lemko's '89 Brougham. :shades:
    image
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    andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,687
    Oh, it gets better...
    image

    Although in their defense, I think these could be pretty quick with the 195 hp 360-4bbl. And again, consider the timeframe.
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    lemkolemko Member Posts: 15,261
    ...here's a really nice shot of it from the 2008 Cadillac-LaSalle Club's Grand National meet held in Cherry Hill, NJ:

    image
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    lemkolemko Member Posts: 15,261
    image
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    iwant12iwant12 Member Posts: 269
    The one in the center, shaker hood scoop, is a Grand Am, correct? Nice!
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    andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,687
    Yeah, but at least if you put Farrah Fawcett or Jaclyn Smith behind the wheel, it would look good! And poor Kate Jackson...always getting stuck with the Pinto! Was that an open invitation to rear end her?
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    blh7068blh7068 Member Posts: 375
    Actually, its called a Can/Am

    Nice Caddy, Lemko. Nice to see one that is mod free.
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    andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,687
    No, that middle one was a 1977.5 Can Am. However, while driving around that evening, sitting in front of a repair shop on the main drag, I did spot a Can Am and took this pic...
    image

    Here's another Grand Am that I took a pic of at the 2007 GM show (pic is too big to post here without screwing up the page margins)
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    fezofezo Member Posts: 10,384
    It's great seeing lemko's Brougham. Shows real evidence of a man who will never buy a Toyota.

    Andre's a different story. Eventually he'll own at least one of everything...
    2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
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    andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,687
    Andre's a different story. Eventually he'll own at least one of everything...

    Well so far I've stuck mainly with GM and Mopar. On the Mopar front I've had one Plymouth, three Dodges, one DeSoto, and five Chryslers. On the GM front it's been three Chevies, three Pontiacs, one Olds, and one Buick. No Cadillacs or Imperials...yet!

    And I do own some Toyota....stock, that is! :P It's worth about what I paid for it 4 years ago, which in this economy, I guess is something to brag about!
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    iwant12iwant12 Member Posts: 269
    You know, I was thinking (not again!) after my last post that it was a Can Am and not a Grand Am. Thanks for clarifying. I used to think they (and the T/A) were the most beautiful looking cars at that time. They still do something for me, but not like they once did. My first ride was a 73 Firebird we called the Brown Cow. Just like Jim Rockford's! Back in '98 I bought a new T/A that was a total POC, had to get rid of it after 15 months.
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    iwant12iwant12 Member Posts: 269
    Did you catch the asking price on that sign on the windshield, andre? It looks like it's got a mini lift kit. Nice looking Pontiac, though. Thanks for posting the great pics.

    Regards,
    Dale
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    andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,687
    I think the asking price on that Grand Am was around $4-5K, but I can't remember now. That was back in June of 2005, so it's been awhile! ;) I do remember though, that the car was a bit rough looking up close, although it did photograph pretty well. White hides a lot of flaws!

    Glad you like the pics. If you want to see more, I have a photobucket website. There's a bunch of album links down the side, starting with "1957 DeSoto", "1967 Catalina", etc. Scroll further down, and there's a bunch of pics I took at various car shows, like Carlisle, a local show in Rockville MD, another show in Macungie PA (near Allentown), and various other junk.
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    tlongtlong Member Posts: 5,194
    I went to high school in the early 70's.

    One of my friends (who had relatively "rich" parents) bought one friend a powder blue Vega wagon. I remember riding with him in it in my senior year. It seemed like a pretty nice car.

    Another friend worked at Micky D's his senior year - he was a year older than me. He saved up $4K and paid cash for a brand new 1974 Vega (GT?). It had the newer front slotted grill (which I still think looks a lot better). When I graduated from HS in 1974, he was already going to UCLA and I was going to go there. So we carpooled for a couple of years. I drove a 1966 used VW bug (since I was poor :P ).

    I always thought that Vega was a pretty nice car, certainly a lot more refined than my bug. I had about 85K miles on my bug and he had this brand new Vega. After about a year he started getting a lot of rust around his front and rear windows, near the corners especially. He was kind of pissed. But the car still ran nice. After he had the car about two years holes developed in those rusty areas. Pretty soon there were pretty large holes around his front and rear windows. This car still had only about 30 or 40K miles on it! This is in very dry Southern California - little rain, no salted roads.

    I remember him telling me that when he had gone to tune up the car himself he found out that he could not buy an air cleaner element by itself, he had to buy the entire metal casing for the air cleaner (the old round style, where usually there was a wing nut to unscrew to take the top off). He told me he had to pay a bunch more for the air filter because it was a sealed metal unit with the air cleaner element inside. He was really pissed about that, too. He started to rant that he was never going to buy another GM car. But we continued to carpool, switching between my old bug and his relatively new Vega.

    By about 1977 we quite carpooling together but we stayed in touch. He lasted about 55K miles on his engine, then he had corrosion from the coolant leak into one of the cylinders. I believe at that time that he actually got a rebuilt engine and replaced it and kept driving the car. He told me that he was never going to buy another American car after that. He used to always joke that he would keep driving his Vega until it became a convertible (due to the rusting top half of the car).

    I actually thought the Vega was a pretty nice car for its day - drove well, sporty, pretty good looking. But the body and mechanicals were crap. It amazes me that GM held out for so long given what they became. I hope that they can be successful, as I'd love to be proud of a US branded manufacturer.

    I drove my bug until it had 235K miles on it. It still didn't have any rust when I sold it. :blush:
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    cadillacmikecadillacmike Member Posts: 543
    I wasn't talking about Centurys, but rather LeSabres, Park Aveneus, Bonnevilles, Northstar Cadillacs and the 94-96 Fleetwoods.
    Northstars can go 50 miles at 50 MPH after a total coolant loss with no engine damage- The [non-permissible content removed] still haven't been able to make an engine that can do that - at least not that i know of or on a car that i care to buy.

    Is somebody moving posts around part of an earlier post of mine not from this thread is quotes in thisa thread??

    Anyway, I'm getting another 1995 or 96 Fleetwood when i get out of this hellhole.

    Lemko, nice Brogugham, I don't care for the color, but i like the car. I'm looking for a 1992 Brougham, darker color, but they just aren't showing up for sale, plus it has to have the 5.7L and trailering package.

    I'll try to add a pic of my DeVille Convertible:
    guess it didn't work...
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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Pic Posting FAQ.

    Or maybe it's that network you're on. ;)
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    hpmctorquehpmctorque Member Posts: 4,600
    Very interesting story, but what engine and other repairs did your bug require to last 235,000 miles?
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    bumpybumpy Member Posts: 4,425
    Northstars can go 50 miles at 50 MPH after a total coolant loss with no engine damage

    Um, why would you want to? That effort would have been better spent on ruggedizing the cooling system to minimize failure in the first place. One of the reasons GM went bankrupt was throwing away staggering sums of money on that sort of useless gimmickry.
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    isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    The Northstars have a nasty habit of developing an oil leak that is about a 4000.00 fix. they have to pull the engine and split it in half. This is called the "Northstar Leak" and on an older Cadillac the costs of repair will exceed the value of the car.

    Fantastic engine otherwise.
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    Karen_SKaren_S Member Posts: 5,092
    My grandfather had a Chevy Bel Air. I and my three cousins would spend several weeks during the summer at our grandparents farm. After a long day of working in the field and garden, Grandpa would take us into town to the Tastee Treat for ice cream. The only thing I remember about the Bel Air was the back seat seemed like a cavern and all four of us fit. However no one wanted to sit by the window behind the driver's seat. Grandpa chewed tobacco and would spit the juice out the window. Even if you had the back window up, there was always residual that would hit the unfortunate passenger behind him. The other memory was the song my cousins and I created. We would sing this at the top of our lungs as we cruised to Tastee Treat.

    *To the tune of Jingle Bells*

    Tastee Treat! Tastee Treat!
    Singing all the way!
    Oh what fun it is to ride in Grandpa's Chevrolet.
    Hit a bump.
    Kill a skunk.
    Smell it all the way.
    Oh what fun it is to ride in Grandpa's Chevrolet!
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    lemkolemko Member Posts: 15,261
    I think you're talking about the lower engine block seal on older Northstars. It's a $44 part, but the labor involved is around $2,100. Still a high figure. This seal was redesigned around 1998. If you want to talk about $4,000 repairs, my co-worker's boyfriend got a quote to repair the transmission on his 2002 Acura TL for $4K!
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    tomcatt630tomcatt630 Member Posts: 124
    The Duster 340/360 was a huge seller and Pontiac wanted the 74 Ventura GTO to compete with them, along with matching the Nova SS's success. Also to have a halo car for Ventura. Problem was it didnt have enough unique sheet metal, which GM couldnt afford for X bodies as the bigger cars.

    Compact cars [Nova, Duster, Maverick] had caught on with 'tuners' in the mid 70's, since they were lighter. The Colonnade cars had gotten huge. But, I still like the 442, GS and CanAm versions. And love the 74 Goat! :)
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    andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,687
    The Colonnade cars had gotten huge.

    Yeah, tell me about it. I looked up some weights in my auto encyclopedia, and I think the base weight of my '76 Grand LeMans coupe is around 3870 pounds, while the base weight of my '67 Catalina convertible is only around 3910! My book also says that the '76 Grand LeMans came with a 400 standard, which I guess would make the 350 a credit option. I feel kinda jipped, since mine just has a 350! Could be worse, I guess, as the following year a lot of them got 301's.
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    tomcatt630tomcatt630 Member Posts: 124
    Regarding the 73 Grand Am with 455SD, there was a white prototype that was given to car magazines for preview tests. Sadly, per Pontiac historians, said car was scrapped. I have an old Motor Trend with a 'driving impression' of this GA and they loved it.

    Also, the '73 Colonnades were meant for 1972 model year, but the fall 1970 strike delayed them from the fall 1971 intro. Imagine the oringinal idea for the "all new 1972 GTO" was a Grand Am look, without a 5 mph bumper, and 455HO.
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    lemkolemko Member Posts: 15,261
    Wow, sounds familiar! Grandpop always took us kids out for ice cream and it's one of my fondest memories. Grandpop smoked Phillies Tips cigars in lieu of chewing tobacco. Most people hate the smell of cigars but I like it because it reminds me of Grandpop. I smoke cigars occassionally myself these days, but a much better brand than Phillies! Macanudo Portofinos are my current favorite.

    My Grandpop had two Chevrolets when we were little: a black 1964 Chevrolet Biscayne 4-door sedan, which was primarily used by my Grandmom, and a gold 1967 Chevrolet Bel Air 4-door sedan. It had a black cloth and vinyl interior and a HUGE dashboard that looked like it was a mile wide and went all the way to the floor.

    Grandpop followed up with three more Chevrolets until he passed away last September at 87 - a green 1974 Impala, a black 1980 Impala, and a two-tone maroon 1989 Caprice Classic Brougham.
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    hpmctorquehpmctorque Member Posts: 4,600
    "Fantastic engine otherwise."

    Hmmm, isn't that kind of like saying the Pinto's fuel tank explodes upon moderate impact, but it's a phenomenal car otherwise? Or, the Vega... Well, you get my point.
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    lemkolemko Member Posts: 15,261
    Well, I'm on my second Cadillac with a Northstar V-8 and it IS a fantastic engine! So is the 3.8 V-6 in my Buick Park Avenue and girlfriend's LaCrosse!
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    tomcatt630tomcatt630 Member Posts: 124
    Yeah, Colonnades are more of a cruiser than a drag strip warrior. Only lately are they catching on with collectors. "Hemmings Muscle Machines" magazine has had a few good articles on them, such as a 73 Cutlass Supreme with factory 455 and 4 speed.

    Also, had stories on 73 GS, 73 Chevelle SS, 73 Goat, and 77 442.
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    tomcatt630tomcatt630 Member Posts: 124
    IMO, the Vega was the root of GM's decline. :P Sold in big #'s to young buyers of the 70's, and when they had issues, GM lost them forever.

    My parents bought a 75 Skyhawk as a 2nd car, and it wasn't as bad as the horror stories of Vegas, but wasnt as durable as the 70 Monte Carlo it replaced.
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    hpmctorquehpmctorque Member Posts: 4,600
    I really have no experience with the Northstar, so you could well be right. My comment was prompted by isellhondas' remark. I couldn't tell whether he intended it to be cynical or not.

    As far as the 3.8 goes, although some were plagued by the dreaded intake manifold gasket problem, most delivered legendary durability and reliability.

    I had an '85 Olds 98 Brougham with the predecessor to your Park Avenue's engine, and it went ~154,000 miles with no problem. I would have kept it if the third transmission hadn't gone out (the first one was replaced under warranty), but I paid for the second one. The car also had other needs by the time I donated it, such as torn CV boots, and a severe case of the "morning sickness" that afflicted the power steering of those cars after they were miled up. But, heck, I liked the car. Anyhow, as far as I know, the 3.8 in the LaCrosse has an improved intake manifold, so that problem should be resolved. The engine in you girl friend's LaCrosse should be bullet proof.
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    roadburnerroadburner Member Posts: 17,362
    Regarding the 73 Grand Am with 455SD, there was a white prototype that was given to car magazines for preview tests.

    I think that there was a 455SD GTO press car and a 455SD Grand Prix as well. The old High Performance Cars magazine had a 1973 "New Cars" edition and I think that they drag tested all four.

    Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport; 2020 C43; 2021 Sahara 4xe 1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i Son's: 2009 328i; 2018 330i xDrive

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    imidazol97imidazol97 Member Posts: 27,154
    >some were plagued by the dreaded intake manifold gasket problem, most delivered legendary durability and reliability.

    Just treat the gaskets and upper intake manifold as service items like belts on overhead cam motors and it comes into the real perspective. $100 for parts plus $45 if you do lower gaskets which weren't really needed. Add labor of $200 for a 5-hour job. The dependability and great performance and mileage of the Series I and Series II versions are superb. Have two of them.

    Had an 85 Skyhawk with 1.8 overhead cam motor. Loved that car. Good mileage and great ride for car of its size. Loved to travel in it. Needed more room in one of our cars so it was traded.

    2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,

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    tomcatt630tomcatt630 Member Posts: 124
    Even the '73 Grand Prix was slated to have 455SD as an option! Too bad none were built. :cry:
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    blh7068blh7068 Member Posts: 375
    Still exists and I saw it close up at a regional car show that my 'bird was in last February. Its actually a 73,( nose and tail long gone) but as of today wears a 76 nose( last promoted for the 50th anniversary TA) and the 74 tail. Its been untouched from that point on, and it shows. The amount of clearcoat on that car is incredible given the visible cracking due to the age. Just amazing how some of these one offs slip by the crusher.

    image
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    isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    Don't mean to be picky but that Buick Wagon is a 1960. Not a '61.
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    isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    Well, in my neck of the woods shop labor is over 100.00/hr so 2100.00 isn't going to cut it.

    And, besides the 44.00 part, there are always the things that should be replaced while you are "in there". You know, things like motor mounts, hoses etc.

    My buddy was about to approve these repairs to his beautiful 1994 Deville with only 70,000 miles. The well respected shop that gave him the 3500-4000 quote told him "They all do this..some sooner than later"

    But, a guy ran a stop sign and broadsided the Cadillac the day before it was scheduled for the work. The insurance check was less than the repairs would have been.

    So, I guess you could say that if/when that seal fails on an older Cadillac, the car is basically totalled.

    Cadillac transmissions go bad too and I'm sure the repair costs are about what the Acuras are.
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