Yesterday’s CC of a 1976 Pontiac LeMans found in Canada came one day after a sighting of another Colonnade A-Body by Pontiac that has received little recognition, despite bearing a famous name: a 1973 Pontiac GTO. The 1973 version of the GTO was the sole model year when the Colonnade A-Body bore the legendary GTO name, with the GTO nameplate transferring to the Nova-based Pontiac Ventura in 1974 and then disappearing the following year. The 1973 GTO found only 4,806 buyers, the worst sales year for the GTO in 1964-74, and early Malaise Era smog controls also made the 1973 one of the lowest performers to bear the GTO name. The market in 1973 and the memories of collectors today have not judged the 1973 GTO well.
Today surviving 1973 GTOs are among the rarest GTOs of all, however, and their 400 or 455 cubic inch powerplants can be easily upgraded to make serious horsepower. This example wears an orange color not offered from the factory in 1973 that is reminiscent of the color of The Judge in 1969, indicating that it has received a non-original repaint and most likely upgrades under the hood as well. Whether a “real GTO” or not, it is a distinctive way to drive among the gray and silver CUVs and minivans that dominate today’s traffic, and a quiet and comfortable one as well, so it must be a usable and enjoyable 42 year old classic for its owner.
Related Reading:
Cohort Outtake: 1972 Pontiac GTO — The Last Real GTO
Curbside Classic: 1969 Pontiac GTO The Judge: Here Come Da Judge!
The real sin of the 73 was that it used the exact same nose as the LeMans, the first time since 1967 the GTO was only differentiated by trim. And, unlike 67, it’s not that good looking to start with (it looks like a Malibu with a beak in the center of the grille). The Grand Am is what the 73 GTO should have been.
Having said that It’s a damn sight better to see than the Honda bitch box, Acura alphanumeric, Mercury Moribund and Chief Grand Cherokee around it. Carousel Red was a cool color too, so that’s a big kudos.
Not very nice, I happen to own a Honda CR-V and like it, thank you very much. No need to call other vehicles names, people happen to own and like them.
Tom I apologize if I offended you, but I hardly singled out the CRV from that pic, nor targeted any of the owners. Bitch box is a blanket term for the CUV segment, if it were a Ford Edge I would have said the same thing.
As for talking about the featured car, I was, I essentially just said it was more interesting to look at than everything around it despite my dislike of the Collonade bodystyle, which wasn’t much different than the main article said “Whether a “real GTO” or not, it is a distinctive way to drive among the gray and silver CUVs and minivans that dominate today’s traffic“
Thanks for the reply Matt. You are a class act. Well said.
Actually, a bitch box is the intercom aboard a Navy ship. For bitching, I guess.
That’s not a Grand Cherokee. That’s a Jeep Compass.
Mercury Moribund. Priceless! 🙂
What a cool shot, the GTO between the Acura and CR-V, and with 2 suv’s behind it, such a contrast to the modern vehicles of today. There was a white ’73 GTO in my hometown for many years driven by the same older gentleman. I would see that car in the summertime only, as he must have parked it away for the winter months. It was always clean and shined up, and even as the years went on that car always looked great and really stood out. One summer I didn’t see it again and figured he must have passed away. I often wonder where that car is today?
“The market in 1973 and the memories of collectors today have not judged the 1973 GTO well.”
The collectors today can keep thinking that way too as far as I’m concerned. I’d love a 73 or 74 GTO or even better a 77 CanAm.
What is the advantage of the 77 Can Am over the 73 GTO?
Looks mostly.
Grand Prix dash and quad headlights.
Don’t forget the Shaker Hood and Duck Tail Spoiler!
In some Pontiac site, there are Can Am fans who will defend it intensely, but then couldn’t care less for the ’73 GTO.
@ Tomcat
I always thought that was weird. The Can Am is really just a flashier version of the 73.
I hear you and wonder the same thing.
Roger kinda hit it there.
The 1973 GTO has a significant performance advantage over the 1977 Can Am. The 455 still made a respectable 250 hp in 1973, and these cars were decently quick for their day.
At the time I was young in the eighties these hot engine colonades got noting but snears. I don’t people understood net horsepower. These were down like 20 percent in power from the glory years not 50 percent like we would have guessed. Pontiac wasn’t talking hp in their ads either because 225 or 250 in going to sound slow to the public still used to 60s numbers. How do you sell a GTO without talking hp? you don’t. Hey check out a Grand Am, it’s got euro inspired handling. Er sure…
Torque was the reason to drive one of these suckers.
It’s down on power, and those huge bumpers are obnoxious, but on the upside, roadholding, steering and general solidity are most likely a good deal better than in the 60s models – the Colonnades were much improved in those departments.
If only the fuel crisis and clean air/tax/safety crackdown had been delayed by a few years – we could have had high-compression, hi-po muscle cars with radial tires and suspension improvements to match, as well as other niceties like proper bucket seats and reasonably quick and precise power steering. Cars that truly delivered what the ads of the day promised the prospective buyers of such “supercars”.
There is one other factor to consider. Insurance. By the early to mid ’70’s muscle cars were obscenely expensive to insure, especially for the target market, young go fast gearheads. If a guy in his early 20’s with a spotty driving record visited an agent to insure one of these the agent would only show him the door! Thus was born the “Mylar GT”. It looked cool but was easier to insure.
Bob
It sure stands out amongst the modern bland rubbish, easy enough to release the latent hp those engines had all the smog junk could be removed here with no penalties none of the cars sold or assembled here had it.
I can’t find a writeup on the 1973 Grand Am in the index. Sure would be great if one of the writers here would do one.
I don’t know if you found this one below but Paul posted some pics and brief comments a couple years back. Between these and the numerous reader comments (including from Keith Thelen who was thinking about doing a write-up on the 73 Grand Am, alas), you can find some additional background. Would be nice to have a full CC writeup on the 73-75 Grand Am.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cohort-sighting-the-elusive-grand-am-caught-in-traffic/
Former Saturn Owner: Not having covered one is simply a matter of us not having found one and then having the opportunity to write it up. There are a number of GM cars – as well as plenty of others – that haven’t been covered here yet.
I am one of those who would love to do an early Grand Am writeup. I first learned about them in the early 1990s and have been intrigued by them ever since. Not having seen one since the early 1990s, though, there has not been any opportunity to take a photograph of one or accumulate any first-hand knowledge of them.
It could be worse. It could be the ’74 GTO which was based upon the Nova-clone Ventura. Pontiac should have allowed the GTO to die after 1973.
I’d argue that the 1974 GTO was a better GTO than the 1973 model. It was closer in size to the original, and the overall styling was better than the Colonnade-based GTO.
Novas are hugely popular at drag strips, since they are a lot lighter than mid/full size Chevys.
Also, the ’74 Goat was aimed at the Dart/Duster 340, which were also popular due to light weight and V8.
Unfortunately, the ’74 GTO couldn’t hold a candle to the Duster/Dart Sport 360 in performance. It beat the still-hot A-body Mopars in looks, though, which was actually more in line with the GTO tradition from the beginning.
I think that the 74 was a car that was right for the times. It was the right size, looks were o.K., good enough power in a light weight body, sort of back to basics like the original. The 73 just wasn’t fully cooked. These years can’t be discussed in automotive circles without mentioning the Arab oil embargo. The Arabs turned off the oil tap. Gas prices soared. There was rationing, and lines at the pump that clogged traffic in the streets. Gas guzzlers sat unsold on dealers lots while Americans bought fuel efficient cars. The 73 was on sale before this happened and while this was happening, and most of the 73’s sales likely occurred before the embargo. The embargo lasted into 74, but the fact that the 74 GTO nearly doubled in sales over 73 tells me that Pontiac had a better idea with the 74 over the 73. 74 was the year that Ford sold every 4 and 6 cylinder Mustang 2 that it could build. There was a new sheriff in town, for a while anyway.
The big problem with the 74 is the same problem the 73 had – it was clearly a Ventura with a black grille and a hood scoop. The Ventura was already clearly a tarted up Nova itself so it’s really hard to take it seriously, especially when you see how left feild it was putting a well known decade old nameplate on something completely different. Think Cougar Villager.
Plus the 64 was a revelation in performance when it came out, it gets credit for launching the Muscle car era for good reason. The 74, while being a natural progression(performance getting smaller and lighter as the 64 did), wasn’t exactly new in a compact platform by 1974. I mean wouldn’t a 396 Nova in the same body from 5 years earlier just wipe the floor with one of these? Dare I say a V8 Astre would have been more appropriate. That would have been the next step.
One of the slickest things about the Ventura GTO was the interchangeability between the 350-400-455 engines. Theoretically, a 400 or 455 would have been an easy, bolt-in swap and definitely would have given the little Goat some much needed teeth.
The most ironic aspect of the ’74 GTO IMHO is that it actually had a functional shaker, while big brother Trans-Am’s was sealed.
True, the ’73-74 X-bodies were a superficial facelift of an old design; contemporary reports describe the ’75s which brought over the F-body front suspension (what took them so long?) as much improved.
I’d agree IF Pontiac had offered the 400 in it. I’ll never understand why they didn’t…probably bean counters not wanting to emissions-certify the 400 in an X-body car. Party Poopers.
In what way was the ’74 worse than the ’73? I agree Pontiac should have just let the GTO die. I think the Colonade cars were just awful looking, and the Nova/Ventura/ETC was one of the only decent looking GM cars remaining except for the F-Bodies. It was a sad time, both for power and for styling.
A very disappointing almost desperate era for new cars while I was in college…. we all went for pre 1970 European as best we could.
I`ve been a Pontiac colonnade ( especially the 73 Grand Am) fan since they were new. Back about 1999 while looking for a 73 Grand Am I stumbled across a 37K 4-speed 73 GTO. Of course the fellow who owned it thought he really had something because it was ‘rare’. I explained to him the`re ‘rare’ because nobody wanted them and made him an offer he bulked at. After three more months he finally got sick of selling it and took my offer. Having owned one I can tell you that outside of the Pontiac community, very few people even car people are ever aware these exist. When ever I showed it I would always get folks telling they never knew they made a GTO in that body style. The craziest thing that happened when I had it was, While at a swap meet a fellow had a ’74’ GTO for sale, as I read the description it said 73 GTO clone. I told him ‘You mean 74 GTO clone’ I says to me , NO! GTOs were built out of Ventures in 73 & 74.This fellow owned a ’73 GTO’ and did not know that in 73 GTOs were A-bodys. BTW, what became the 73 Grand Am was originally intended to be the new 73 GTO but that`s another story.
Ah, memories of rare cars past. The colonnades were everywhere, and now, not anywhere. I have always liked them, and owned a ’74 luxury LeMans coupe, with fender skirts yet! A great driving car, but brutal on gas compared to all the other barges I drove then, with the exception of my ’74 Gran Torino. THAT was a hog…but I digress, the rare colonnades….I remember drooling several times over a gents ’73 Grand Am, with the ducted hood and, the SD 455 decal on
the fenders. You think, naw, they didn’t exist, but there it was, white, with its owner tooling around in it and it’s Royal Pontiac badge on the trunk. Royal Pontiac in West Vancouver was flattened in the eighties to make room for a large tower, but in those years of the late seventies and early eighties you could see all the lacquer painted glory you could stand. But that Grand Am…no one, probably except my bud and I, and the owner, knew what it was, and it was probably flattened into dust years ago. But the sound…these kids with straight pipes on their new diesels, or the ” enhanced sound ” enthusiasts cars, they don’t know jack about what a cool time that was, and how it spoke to your senses…yes the cars may have been a bit crappy and slow to today’s standards, but give me a 455 colonnade any day! Speaking of sounds of the oldies, anyone remember the cool sounds of the heat riser valve in a ‘340 A body Mopar when cold? That was music!
Woo! Good times!
I agree that the ’73 Goat should have got the Grand Am nose, as originally intended. Collectible Automobile posted pics of prototype “1972 GTO” with an ‘Endura’ nose in a feature of ’73-’77 A body Pontiacs.
The Colonnades were delayed, and would have had no 5 mph bumpers, for ’72. They were penned during the height of ‘muscle car mania’, hence the wild fastbacks on some.
Once DeLorean was gone from Pontiac, the new bosses moved away from Supercars, and tried to be “another Buick”. But also, the 1969 Grand Prix was a huge hit and by mid 70’s it overshadowed the LeMans line.
While purists would have preferred the ’73 Grand Am to be a GTO, much like the Chevrolet Laguna S3 stole all of the Malibu SS’ thunder, truth be told, GM played it correctly. By 1973, the writing was on the wall and GM clearly had more of a grasp on the market (back when they still had that ability). In effect, musclecar marques that had sold so well in the sixties had, for various reasons, become a dirty word in the automotive world by 1973. GTOs and SS Malibus were no longer selling, but if they called them Grand Ams and Lagunas, maybe they could move them a whole lot better (even though they were essentially identical to their musclecar predecessors) and that’s precisely what happened.
In fact, the reason the 1973 GTO existed was likely just to be able to transition the new front end look to the upcoming 1974 Ventura GTO. If not for the Hail Mary downsized GTO, I dare say the 1973 Goat likely wouldn’t have been produced, at all.
I think you’re onto something here. I could never understand why the’73 Grand Am wasn’t simply called a GTO. It would have made perfect sense, but thinking back to this era, it’s hard to now fathom how unpopular (fairly or not) muscle cars had become by ’73-’74. Engine power was down due to new emissions standards and worries increased over impending gas crises. Insurance rates were the big killer, with monthly premiums often exceeding the monthly payment, fatal for the target market of young males with limited disposable incomes. The name GTO, once so iconic and revered, now scared people. A new name was needed for Pontiac’s performance sedan and Grand Am it was.
Although I now know the reason for the Gran Am, I still don’t know why they made a ’73 GTO. It seemed like a lot of expense just to transition the new front end.
As for the ’74, the less said the better. It was inferior to the Gen 1 and 2 GTO’s in every respect, and maybe even the Gen 3. Those GTO’s were all based on a stylish, mid-level intermediate, the Pontiac Tempest/Lemans. The ’74 monstrosity was basically a striped Nova.
Some folks had made some “Phantom” GTO over the years giving us some interesting “what if?” about what if the GTO continued after 1974?
http://ultimategto.com/cgi-bin/showcar.cgi?type=lot&pic=/pasture/75judge2
http://ultimategto.com/cgi-bin/showcar.cgi?type=lot&pic=/pasture/76_gtowish_01
http://ultimategto.com/cgi-bin/showcar.cgi?type=lot&pic=/pasture/80napoli1
More on the table, there a guy who transformed and converted a 1995 Pontiac Sunfire into a GTO. http://www.hotrod.com/cars/featured/hppp-1303-1995-pontiac-sunfire/
I didn’t mind the first CRVs but the last 2 generations are just butt-ugly. Good thing they are reliable, apart from that they’ve got nothing.
They should hire Pininfarina.
The 64 GTO was beautiful. Very expensive in Canada but well worth the price. These 73 models were about as ugly as AMC Pacers or 61 Plymouth Savoys. an insult to the nameplate.
The 1973 GTO could quite possibly be the best road handling example of the muscle car era.
Then there’s this… an unusually understated Victory.
Put me down as a Can Am fan, especially the downsized 78.
You might be thinking of the downsized Grand-Am, as the Can-Am was one year only (’77) and produced only for a couple of months.
I owned a ’64 GTO, my first car purchase… bought it in June ’71 for $550. Just one of the cars I wish I’d held on to. Regrets aside, I always liked the looks of the ’73. weak-suck V8 and all.
My late 2 cents. Here is what I don’t get about the 73 GTO. All of the purists whine about the reduced power. But everyone loves (or at least likes) 73 Corvettes, 73 Camaros and Firebirds, 73 (and even 74) Mopar A B and E bodies. You can even find fans of the 73 Mustang and 73 Javelin or Hornet. It’s not about the power because (as has been said) that Pontiac big block was capable of a lot of easy improvement.
My opinion is that GTO partisans are just spoiled. Every single one from 64 to 70 was an icon. Even the 71 and 72 are revered. But the colonnade version is just not cool, and the GTO faithful want to drown it like an unwanted kitten. Had Pontiac kept selling it for another year or two, they would probably have found a following. But a single year of this style was not enough to get the job done.
Part of the problem was that, during most of the 1960s, the Pontiac A-bodies set the pace for the entire segment, and the GTO was the most desirable Pontiac intermediate.
In the early 1970s, that mantle had clearly passed to the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, while the Grand Prix had usurped the GTO’s role within the division’s intermediate line-up, and was now the most desirable intermediate-size Pontiac. The GTO ended up looking like an afterthought. The collapse of the muscle car market after 1970 certainly didn’t help.
You and Matt make a good point about the GP. I only have to look at my next door neighbors. The Mom next door drove 3 new GTO’s in a row (66 and 68 4 speeds, and a 71 automatic.) Her next new car was a 73 Grand Prix.
I tried to make a distinction, though, between popularity when new and popularity as the cars have aged. Most of my examples may not have been huge sellers when new, but they have picked up a pretty devoted following in the decades since. But not the 73 GTO. Jeez, Mopar people even adopted the Fury and Volare Roadrunners and the Dodge Magnum. But I guess Mopar people are willing to love some less than loveable cars, a trait that I don’t really see in GTO fans.
Remember the Colonade Cutlass still had a 442 and even a Hurst Olds that could still have big blocks. The 442 could even have a 260 with 5 speed, perhaps should have called it a 521, 5sp 2brl, 1 exhaust. These aren’t revered either. The time had past.
Good point, My Dad briefly had a Buick V6 powered 76 or 77 442. You almost never see or hear about those at all. The Buick Grand Sport (GS) soldiered on with the colonnade body as well.
Good point, the 1873 GTO should had desserved some love like these Fury and Volare Roadrunners. Even the 1974-76 Ford Torino 2-door (the basic one without the opera windows) got some love thanks to the tv series Starsky & Hutch when it became a “car star”.
Well every car you mentioned that’s considered more desirable in 1973 was a mild update of a late 60s or 1971 at the latest design, arguably the peak few years for domestic car design in general. The Collonades were just overstyled, fussy, bloated looking and had very little added substance to redeem them besides somewhat improved handling characteristics, which, lets face it, matters not at all at a stoplight on a boulevard where GTOs lived back then. They’re kind of cool looking but there’s some glaring compromise in them, much of which because of the shift in priority to personal luxury.
Geeber is spot on though, I never looked at it that way but the GP really did take a lot of wind out of the GTO’s sails. It’s so easy to look back and think the GTO was an all out muscle car but in reality it was a very top of the line LeMans, with all the trimmings and piles of extra stuff, in addition to having the big motor. It was an appealing car even if you weren’t drag racing it every weekend, then the downsized Grand Prix comes out, with all the trimmings and power a GTO has, but now in a totally distinctive body.
Interestingly, the rubber nose on the Grand Am had originally been developed for the goat. However an 11th hour change by GM management placed all their bets on the new Grand Am. Loosing its signature rubber bumper, in conjunction with the demise of the SD-455 engine program basically sealed the fate of the GTO.
First ever reply, hope picture link works:
[img] http://www.montecarlo-restoration.com/advertsm/73pontiacheritage_15.jpg%5B/img%5D
Pontiac accurately read which way the wind was blowing and all out performance cars were fading fast. I actually owned two different 1970 GTO’s when I attended community college in the early 1980’s. I sold them (both for around 2k!) when I could no longer afford to feed them, as 8-12 mpg was the max. They sure would eat up the miles though.
Funny how the bright orange 40 year old car is the one that looks bold and cutting edge next to those bland, blobby things.
I don’t know how many remember, but Hi-Performance Cars Magazine declared the 1973 GTO as their car of the year. Joe Oldham tested an early prototype fitted with a 455 SD, the same engine that want into the well known 1973 Trans Am 455 SD. They published the article before Pontiac announced that they weren’t going to make the 455 SD available in the 1973 GTO and ended up with a bit of egg on their face.
I often wondered if Pontiac had produced such a beast if this GTO would have got more respect in the “muscle car” crowd than this car did. That said, the 455 that was available with “only” 250 hp (SAE net) was pretty good for 1973.
Over the long term, I think all the hot engine colonades will gain respect. 400 and 455 engines were no more after these and this combined with how much they stand apart from modern rubbish will see the survivors being cherished. When a legendary name like GTO or 442 or even one like Laguna Type S3, that will have to be explained, it will only add.