Cohort poster Chris shot this very pristine 1975 Ventura Sprint in Palm Springs. It was not exactly a very common car in its time, and now it’s quite a find. The Sprint option package, available from 1971 through 1975, was one of so many mostly tape-based packages designed to spiff up what would otherwise be just another economy car. In addition to the tape, there were the Rally II wheels, a choice of bench or bucket seats, and a floor shifter for the standard three-speed manual. Sadly, there was no OHC Sprint six under the hood.
Befitting its Nova origins, standard power was the Chevy 250 CID six, rated at 105 net hp when this ’75 model was built. That year the Olds 260 V8, packing all of 110 hp was the first step-up option. The Pontiac 350 (5.7 L) V8, in either 145 or 165 hp versions, was the only way to make the Sprint live up to its name.
In 1974 only, the Ventura pretended to be a GTO. Despite it being a reasonably brisk car for that year, with its 200 hp Pontiac 350 and shaker hood, it just wasn’t worthy of that storied name, and was given the hook.
The 1975 was substantially revised, with a completely new front end suspension borrowed from the F-Body Camaro and Firebird. Essentially, these were F-Body sedans. That made these X-Bodies, especially with the optional F41 suspension or whatever Pontiac called it the best handling cars of their class, by a healthy margin. Ford may have had the right recipe for massive sales success with its Granada and Monarch, but the difference in handling was day and night. We can only speculate what a four-barrel Sprint OHC six backed by a five-speed transmission would have been like in one of these.
More: 1967 Firebird Sprint
I have to agree. The OHC six and 5 speed would have been killer. But, nobody cared enough. Did know a guy who had one of these, and he put a Poncho 455 in it with a 4 speed. Pretty fun car, cracked the windshield once on acceleration, had no subframe connectors on it.
Always considered the ’74 the underrated GTO. Remove the smog plumbing and put the engine back to ’72 specs and it would have been close to the best GTO of all, due to a weight paring that would have taken it back to ’64 specs.
Instead, it’s considered an insult to the name.
And that Trans Am styled nose looks pretty good on the Nova body too.
@Syke – With the technology of today, why bother with just removing the smog plumbing from the 1974 GTO’s original engine? You can just remove the entire engine and replace it with GM’s E-Rod crate engine, which is high performance and emissions legal. A similar swap would be fitting for this 1975 Ventura Sprint, as well.
Yup, that solves all the problems: you get a cleaner, more powerful and economical ride, that is 50 state legal
In high school I had a friend who had a mint 1975 Nova GTO what a pooch. I would leave it in the dust in my ratted out 100K+ mile 1979 Plymouth TC3 with a 1.7L VW engine and 4 speed manual.
Wow, a 1975 Nova GTO! That was a rare one!
giggle.
I and my buddies all called them “Nova GTOs” because that’s what they looked like. A Nova with a GTO sticker.
Yeah, I had friend in HS who had a Ford Escort Z28 COPO, what a joke it was. I ran circles around it in my mom’s Grandma’s Vega wagon.
I really don’t now why people pick on the 74 GTO–I don’t think it was an embarrasement at all–you got a real Pontiac 350 in a small car with HD suspension (rear sway bar included) Hurst shifter, shaker hood and available bucket seats. I commend Pontiac for trying to offer a performance car at an affordable price–The gas crissis probably didn’t help with sales. As for the Ventura Sprint every manufacturer offered sticker cars back then. Anyone ever see a Buick with the “Free Spirit” decals covering the whole car?
I concur-and 200 HP SAE net from a 350 wasn’t shabby at all for the day, although it fall short of the 245 HP 340 Mopar A-bodies.
That kind of power, and especially the torque that goes with it, would make a light car like this go very well indeed. These cars also handled very well, and the really were F Body sedans. And extra power was very, very cheap to add, too!
Most people don’t pick on it,, they aren”t even aware it existed. I’ve always thought they were cool looking cars myself. My dad had a 1974 Nova so I’ve always like that body style.
I saw a “project” 74 GTO on Ebay last year, it was in pieces and the guy still wanted a few thousand for it. If I had the ability and tools an space I would love to get one and resto-mod it. You certainly don’t ever see them around like you do the other GTO’s
They picked on it because it was a Nova with a GTO sticker on it.
With the age of both cars, it would be easy enough to replace the stock drivetrain with something more befitting the decals, and in the case of the GTO, the name.
Chevrolet did it right on their “new” Nova. The F41 suspension and a 350CID V8 made for a potent package in the late 1970s. It might have looked like a plain-Jane Nova but it could give a BMW 5-series all that it could handle, and often more. The Sheriff’s deputies in my county had the police package Nova when we had the 1980 Dodge St. Regis, and proved it more than just a few times. A civilian could get the same performance parts as Regular Production Options, on order from Chevrolet.
I don’t know the stats, but Nova police cars were everywhere in So. Cal. during that period, enough to force a double-take when one saw any Nova, same as with Crown Vics today.
I remember the RCMP in Saskatoon had just one, a 4 door in full livery for highway patrol. They must have been just testing it, and found it wanting in prairie duty. I could see that, a large car would have been better for that environment. Now, as a 2-door undercover unit for mostly city use, that was a different story, and they used those extensively.
I built an MPC model kit of this with GTO decals and a shaker. I have read reports that they did plan a ’75 GTO based on this body and dropped it before production, but the scale model got made.
I think this is a sharp looking car, and reminds me a lot of the ’76 Omega with a 260 and 5 speed I bought from the original owner in the fall of ’80,when he replaced it with a ’79 Cutlass Hurst Olds. He was a GM fanboi who wanted an Omega SX without the side stripe, and ordered every SX item a-la-carte. Solid black with white vinyl guts and AC. In retrospect, it wasn’t that well built. I remember removing the chrome wheel-lip moldings and finding the start of rust already, despite the PO babying it with frequent washes and waxes. It looked better without them anyway. At around 60,000 miles, the rear suspension went soft, the idler arm loosened and ruined the steering tightness, and the very weak BW T-50 5-speed began to give trouble, and there was no parts support for it as early as 1982. Apparently they had a very low torque rating,
and even the feeble 260 V8 was too much for it.
I traded it for a new VW Rabbit.
I posted on GMInsidenews forums, some scans from a recent issue of Collectible Automobile of a 1975 GTO prototype then GM did with Hurst
http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f77/another-1975-gto-proposal-never-168265/
According to some, the ’75 GTO was dropped since it would have had a Buick 350 with 4bbl, instead of the Pontiac, due to emissions tests. And, they didn’t want a Buick powered Goat, not due being “unworthy of that storied name”. If so, why did Ponitac build 301 v8 powered Trans Ams?
I agree that the ’74 GTO was a good attempt to compete with Duster/Dart 360’s and Nova SS 350. The compact V8’s were the popular package for ‘street cred’, but Poncho purists wanted 400-455 ci motors.
I got the same ’75 GTO MPC model kit in Oct. 1974, and thought that maybe the GTO was coming after all? But the kit was based on the early protoypes.
Guilty ’70s pleasure right here: I love it!
+1
I drove a ’73 Nova for a couple of years in the mid-seventies and was not disappointed. Mine had a factory 350 with four barrel carb, four speed and a 3.73 posi rear end. It was at least as quick as my buddy’s 340 Duster, likely because the Plymouth only had a three speed transmission instead of a four speed. I remember being impressed by the new generation X bodies (the ones from 1975-79) when they came out and one made the short list when it came time to move on from the ’73. It was virtually impossible to find an X body with a manual transmission and that took it out of final consideration, as I was still in my shift it myself mode then.
My dad bought a 75 Ventura with a 260 V8 and automatic in the 80s in 1977, which I learned to drive on in the 80s. It was an very good car, drove well, and never felt cheap, and extremely reliable.
While it could have benefitted from more acceleration (a 350!–but would it have been as troublefree as the (admittedly emasculated) Olds 260?) or better economy (would the extra 1-2 mpg of the base 250 Six really be worth the loss of smoothness?), it was a well balanced car, and with it’s smooth auto and good power steering, a fine example of why GM had 50% of the market.
The sad truth is, most American cars of the era didn’t make for happy marriages with manual transmissions, even though that’s what most of us enthusiasts prefer.
The 1975 Pontiac Ventura has the ugliest the ugliest looking nose of any car made by General Motors. The Oldsmobile Omega and the Chevy Nova are better looking than this.
The ’76 Ventura was an improvement, but then the ’77 was wild looking. The Phoenix replaced it for 1978-79.
The 75 Ventura Sprint featured here is my car. I used to agree with you about the front end of the 75 Ventura, especially when it came out, but over the years its nose, not unlike mine, has grown on me.
Jamie
Oh yeah! An OHC 250 and manual tranny would be my retrofit choice also!
I just noticed that nice little bug in the background.
The 68+ Nova is one of my favorite cars no matter what name it uses.
The 75 GTO might have been “killed” to make way for or because it competed with a model of the Le Mans….Grand Am/Can Am?
I guess the market for GTO-type cars (temporarily) dried up thanks to rising gas and insurance prices. Too bad Pontiac couldn’t have made the 74 and later models work by going with the original GTO’s concept….a sort of high performance engine and trim package instead of a separate model that shouted “I’m a possible speeding ticket collector”.
As for the Sprint: I came close to buying a 77 Phoenix with an Olds 260 in 1979 with the idea of transplanting an OHC 6 into it. I changed my mind and bought a “similar” Nova that already had the 6 cylinder engine.
There is the EXACT same one running around in Sacramento. I see it maybe once every week or so, sometimes more often.
I use to own a brown ’77 Ventura. Nothing special about it other than 2 doors. It had a small V8 and automatic. Traded it for a ’79 Z28 Camaro.
I really like that ’72 GTO. Put an LS1 in that thing and it would go fast AND look good. I also liked the Plymouth Volare Roadrunner. It too could be made to go very fast with a modern engine.
Of course I don’t really think I would like the idea of making modifications to such cars. They may not have been fast, but they are extremely rare, which is more important to me.
I could be wrong, but isn’t the only thing separating the 350-400-455 Pontiac V8s is different bore and stroke? Is so, it would be quite a simple procedure to swap out that 350 from a ’74 GTO or ’75 Sprint for something a bit more…substantial.
With that said, the ’74 GTO was so poorly timed it could have been released by Chrysler. Ironically, it might have had a chance except for that pesky 360 Duster that was still the hottest, cheapest musclecar around, for much less coin. Too bad, because like others have said, that Ventura GTO was otherwise okay.
It’s a damn shame Pontiac couldn’t call the 74 GTO what truly would have been fitting: GTX!
Plymouth already used it. And Castrol GTX was a popular motor oil in the 70s. I would have already associated GTX with the Plymouth and the motor oil. 🙂
Yes that was the joke lol
Wow ~ a Super DeLuxe Nova Coupe ! .
I like it .
-Nate
I think it was about 1972 when Pontiac introduced the Ventura II Sprint-apparently to compete against the super coupes-Vega GT, Opal Manta, etc. They were trying to promote it as a perfortmance car-with the Chevy stovebolt six, three speed manual and a Hurst Shifter…”We Build Performance”….not! Pontiac’s advertising must have been for naught, as I don’t recall ever seeing one of these.
In 1973 my dad purchased a Ventura, it was a terrible vehicle, it leaked water like a sieve and it’s fuel economy(with the 350 2bbl) was terrible-on a good day you might get 13 miles per gallon. After his death I drove it briefly and then sold it. If it had been available with the OHC six I might have seriously considered one, unfortunately the engine was cancelled after the 1969 model year which was a shame, I think that engine was ahead of its time.
That Ventura is needing some trim rings on those nice wheels.
I agree Daniel M.!!! I am looking! Beautiful 75 Grandville. I have a 73 Grand Safari with Rally II’s.
73 Grand Safari with 95,000 miles.
I always thought the 1977 nose was the best looking of the 1975-77 Ventura’s, I was never aware Pontiac had a Sprint model for the Ventura, I always thought the 1975-77 Ventura’s were the least seen of the mid to late 70’s X-cars, I definitely prefer the 1975-77 Ventura noses over the Phoenix noses (I never thought squared headlights looked good on the late 70’s X-cars).
I have to side with the ’77 as well since I’ve had mine since ’96, but then again it was my first car. I do think the ’76 is a huge improvement over the busy four grille ’75 front end. The ’75-’79 X body still is a very well thought out and packaged body style that is still completely overlooked. Seems everyone wants a ’74 or earlier Nova or an ’80s Monte Carlo.
We had one F-41, 350 4bbl 1975 Nova in our taxi fleet, circa 1982 or so. At this point, you couldn’t give any V-8 away, so we got the Nova in Nanaimo for all of $1000. It was a vinyl seat stripper, the only options being radio, full wheel covers THM350, F-41 and the 350. It was a Canada only model, so it basically had a catcon and a bit EGR to pass emissions and no timing compromises. It really was a four door Camaro; the car when like snot, and it was the fastest car I had ever driven up to that time. Dad and I did a very unscientific 0-60 time of 8 seconds, which was very fast for the time. I drove it down to Victoria and it was a real pleasure to drive, just an excellent car all around and shows want GM could do when it made up its mind to do something good.
Unfortunately, giving hot cars to taxi drivers is never much of an idea, since they love gunning somebody else’s car on somebody else’s gas. A hippie-loser reprobate driver gunned it at a stop light in the wet, lost control and crashed into a phone pole. The car was totaled and had driven two complete shifts. This was our LAST hot car that we didn’t drive ourselves. From that point on, my brother and I got the fast cars, and everything else was neutered if necessary.
If I remember correctly Pontiac sold both the Ventura and Phoenix in 1977 and only the Phoenix carried on for 1978 & 1979. My Mom had a 1979 Phoenix 2 door with the Buick V6 and automatic. It was a fairly basic vehicle – column mounted shift, cloth bench seats, no power options or air conditioning. It did have an am/fm radio with 8 track player and rear speakers, window antenna, rear defrost and sport mirrors. To this day she says that car was the most reliable and inexpensive vehicle to own and operate that she ever had. She traded it in 1987 for a Grand Am V6 and then traded the Grand Am for a 1994 Sunbird which she kept until 2007 – which she states is the 2nd best car she ever owned.
A family friend had a 1976 Phoenix with the Olds 260 and THM 350 trans. It was light blue with a white bucket seat interior. She said it was the most reliable vehicles she ever owned up until her passing in the late 90’s.
I was surprised to see this 75 Pontiac Ventura Sprint posted on Curbside Classics. I bought this car for my stepson. It is the Canadian model, so a lot of paperwork was required to get it to Palm Springs, CA, where it resides now.
The car now has approximately 22,500 original miles. It has the 350 Buick motor with a 4 barrel. It drives and handles amazingly well. Its acceleration is good, but I doubt it would not outrun my 73 Pontiac Grand Safari 455 4 barrel, especially off-the-line. I had the carburetor rebuilt by Kennard’s in Palm Springs. It is smooth as silk, but guzzles gas. I actually logged 11.9 MPG. I generally get 12-13 on my Grand Safari. Something must be out of adjustment, right? The car has dual exhaust, or Pontiac’s 1975 version of dual exhaust. The rear sway bar and front suspension make for a terrific drive…better than my newer car which is a Ridgeline truck. I am trying to locate original Rally II trim rings (the car was not optioned with them), but I don’t know whether the wheels are 14×6 or 14×7. Does anyone know? I also have another 75 Ventura Sprint Custom hatchback. Love that car. It has the Olds 260. It is very smooth, but certainly has to be the slowest V-8 that I’ve ever driven. I think my 79 Chevette was faster…maybe not. I wonder how the 301 Pontiac V-8 performed in these cars…I assume that engine may have been offered in later model Phoenix’s. This 75 Ventura Sprint has a perfect interior (plaid cloth bench seat). The trunk is also perfect.
My 75 Ventura Sprint hatchback. It has 93,000 miles.
I have no idea why, but Pontiac didn’t use its own 350 V8 in its 75 Ventura line; the Buick 350 V8 was other offering if a 350 was desired. 74 was the last year the Pontiac 350 was used in the Ventura series. Anyone know why Pontiac didn’t use its own 350, emissions?
I just came across this post, but my Mom had one new when I was a kid. She hated her ’73 Grand Prix and asked my Dad to trade it in on something. She didn’t care what it was, as long as it was yellow! So he came home with this yellow ’75 Sprint with black racing stripes and a black cloth interior. It had a 350 with dual exhausts, and everyone thought it was super cool. Michigan winters saw him fixing rust spots on the rear fender lips within 2 years, and he sold it to my uncle, who drove it for another 10 years before giving it to my cousin, who lost it to a police impound yard in the late 80’s when the fine was more than the car’s value. Around 1992 I saw it parked in a hotel’s lot in Troy, MI, and recognized it as ours because of the Realistic-brand stereo still in it my Dad had installed when it was new. It was rusted beyond repair, with threadbare seats by then, or I would’ve left a note to buy it back. Sadly it’s probably been recycled by now, but I’d like to think someone has it and it’ll get restored someday, if not already.
Better late than never! My ’75 Ventura 2dr coupe with a trunk, not a hatchback. Olds 260 V8,buckets/console,factory air, 83K original miles. Love the way it drives and sounds. Have a 403 Olds with early 350 heads getting ready to go in. I’ve owned this car for about 10 years now.
I had a 1975 Pontiac Ventura, sprint…back in 1978, it was a dog. 350 2 barrel….looked. nice and drove great, just not very fast. Wish I still had her though…..long long ago