(first posted 9/25/2015) I had first spotted this penultimate-year ’74 Grand Ville from the train during my weekday commute when it was parked in a lot near the famous Aragon Theatre in Chicago’s Uptown district. As is often the case, I hadn’t felt like deboarding on my way home to get some shots of it, as by the end of the day I just wanted to be home. But from the train (and, granted, from a distance), this Grand Ville looked indeed grand – resplendent in triple black, with Pontiac Rally Wheels, and shiny enough to blind you. In the back of my mind, I always thought there would be some other opportunity to photograph it at another time.
Then I lost my job of ten-plus years and was granted that wish. Layoffs are no fun, as many folks will tell you. For four months during an economic recession, my Monday-through-Friday consisted of a very different type of work day – a full morning of internet searches, research on other occupations and geographic locations, and initiating and returning both printed and electronic correspondence. It was on my return home from an on-site job interview in the Loop that I again spotted this Grand Ville street-parked off the L tracks in my former neighborhood. This time, I decided I needed a closer look.
What I saw broke my heart. Almost parallel to my job situation before the layoff when this car looked pristine, I was now jobless and the car was trashed. Rusted to tatters. Grille busted. Dents everywhere. I’m drawn to tragic things, and so I obsessed over this car’s decline for days after getting these photos. This car seemed to have aged ten years in just about two or three.
My mind raced through an imagined scenario from the points of its most recent couple of transactions, and also to the events leading up to this one-time flagship’s near-complete destruction. An estate sale, following the death of a family matriarch or patriarch. None of the adult children or grandchildren want it – too big, too old, too thirsty, too “ugly”. “Sell it,” is the imperative decree from the executor of the estate. It’s bought at auction by a used car salesman who sees an opportunity to flip it and clean up on this honey of a low-miles Poncho.
A middle-aged, working-class gentleman, a lifelong Chicagoan – with the lines on his face telling the story of his hard-earned wages and equally hard living – sees it parked in the front row of the used car lot. He decides the Pontiac’s commanding, imposing presence mirrors his own persona perfectly much moreseo than his ’86 Celebrity wagon. While the Chevy still runs well enough even if it looks none-too-pretty, he plans to give that car to his adult son and his girlfriend who need it, who have a young son and another baby on the way. He doesn’t know or remember that large Pontiacs from this era had a propensity to rust quickly, and badly. He only knows this old car looks sharp and has heft, weight, presence, and appears to be built like a tank. He decides he deserves this cream puff, and the right time is now.
The next day, he signs and drives it off the lot, making a full cash sale, anticipating the excitement of showing off his new-to-him classic to his ladyfriend and bowling buddies. His son picks up the Celebrity, and he watches him drive it away. His thoughts drift to next summer’s car show at Marie’s Pizza in Mayfair, near his childhood home in his old Chicago neighborhood. Winter comes, and the car starts and runs reliably the entire season, never leaving him stranded. The 455-c.i. big-block V8 runs smoothly, and the heater is among the best he’s ever experienced – like a small furnace. They certainly don’t make ’em like this anymore. A shame Pontiac went twenty-three skidoo, he thinks to himself, his quiet satisfaction with his purchase still very much with him.
The interminable Chicago winter finally passes and the very next spring, after the first car wash following the big thaw, it’s apparent that rust mites have already started to make a feast of the lower portions of the fenders, doors and quarter panels, and even under the vinyl roof. He stares incredulously as he traces his right index finger over rust bubbles forming over the driver’s side rear wheel well. “What the… how can this be?!?” he asks himself, filled with slow-burning rage. “I paid $5,000 CASH for this thing, and it has already started rusting to shit!!”
In the weeks following this discovery, one of his buddies, the proprietor of an auto body shop, confirms the onset of a terminal rust situation. His friend tells him the rust can probably still be mitigated at this point, but it would likely end up costing more than the car would be worth in top-tier condition. The man’s anger turns slowly to deflated resignation with his realization that he just doesn’t have the money for this.
Another year comes and goes, during which he has stopped caring, almost completely, about the possession he had once hoped would be a cherished investment. As the car disintegrates almost visibly as he watches, he has by now made a habit of taking his life’s frustrations out on the car. After a particularly hard shift at work, a bump into a protruding parking barrier busts out the neoclassic, radiator-style grille. The 455 big-block now moans woefully and raspily like a lifelong chain-smoker, through a dissolving exhaust system now irreversibly perforated.
The car retaliates by continuing to swill gasoline like a drunkard to malt liquor, emptying its owner’s already meager wallet. Theirs is a mutually-abusive, codependent relationship, which ends when one last mechanical mishap sends this once-treasured classic to the crusher in the span of just five years of his ownership out of forty from the factory. Thus, a car that had lived so long in such pampered condition comes to an inglorious end.
…And, scene. My colorful imagination aside, I feel I’m also a reasonably logical, sensible person. I understand that a vintage car purchase is usually driven primarily by emotion above all else, including reason. However, and depending on the specific circumstances, if I stumbled upon an example of my dream car for sale that was in decent shape and for a really good price, would I be willing to allow it to be purchased by someone else with better wherewithal to take care of it properly, instead of buying it myself? Could I risk letting go of The One that I may lament having lost for the rest of my life? In my tale above, I’ve clearly made a few assumptions. (It made for more fun in writing this piece.) But in real-life, I also understand how a once cared-for classic can turn into mere transportation, no matter how charmed a life it might have led up to that point. Sometimes, life just happens.
All photos are as taken by the author in Chicago, Illinois, with the Pontiac photographed in Wrigleyville on Wednesday, January 26, 2011, and the Aragon Ballroom photographed in Uptown on Saturday, August 8, 2009.
Related reading, from:
- Jason Shafer: Curbside Classic: 1973 Pontiac Grand Ville Convertible – The Lady in Waiting
- Jana Lingo: Cohort Capsule: 1973 Pontiac Grand Ville – Another Case Of Name Debasement And The Grand Finale For The Extended Wheelbase
- And myself: In Motion Classic: 1973 Pontiac Grand Ville Convertible – Saturday Afternoon Summer Getaway
Great story and cool car! One of the things that GM always did right in my opinion is make mid-size and big cars with “presence”. Despite the “flaws” they always had the “look”.
Good way of putting it. . .to anyone who doesn’t get the appeal of these Nixon/Ford era land yachts, a time of questionable quality control, they definitely had a certain presence. And zaftig curves.
Is this minor cars from movie/TV day at CC? First the Tercel wagon from Breaking Bad, and now a Grand Ville from The Seven-Ups.
“… and it has already started rusting to …”
So many people think a low mileage old car that sat for years is “preserved” and “should be new”, and then wonder why things break. AGE!
My uncle bought a ’71 LeSabre in 1980, with low mileage and was like “I got a new car”. Started falling apart when it was put into daily commuting.
The owner really needs to know what he is doing. For older cars, plastic parts are a big headache, and rust resistance too. Later one can be addressed by Ziebart sometimes though.
Fine story.
Rust mites is the best new phrase of the year! Deserves to replace the tired tinworm.
I’ve never been a fan of 70’s GM products but I love those Pontiac Rally Rims. My Dad had a set of them on an ’83 Parisienne and they stick out to me anytime I see them.
It really is amazing how fast a “pristine” old car will rust once subjected to real world, daily driver abuse. Your story captures it really well, I’ve been there too.
Wasn’t a Grand Ville the last car Hoffa was seen in?
Don’t know if it was the last car he was seen in, but Hoffa’s last car was, indeed, a 1974 Grand Ville 2-door hardtop. It was found, unlocked, at a Detroit restaurant after Hoffa disappeared.
I thought Hoffa got instead a 1975 Grand Ville 4-door hardtop as his last car.
Where’d you see that? Everything I’ve read says Hoffa had a dark green ’74 2-door. He disappeared in ’75 and many think he got into a ’75 Mercury 4-door, so maybe that’s what you’re thinking of.
I think the problem is that to some people a car is just a car. They could care less about the vintage, history or rarity of it. In the case of this Grand Ville it is just a case of someone getting a nice older car and giving a crap about it. And it doesn’t take long for rust to make its way through old vintage iron.
Sad to see this once proud Poncho dying in the street like this .
-Nate
What an awesome story Joseph! You are challenging me to up my writing game around here.
+1 And to think that I had to coax Joseph into adding some text to his great pictures. A monster unleashed!
Of all the big GM B-bodies, why does the Pontiac prompt more imagination on what might have happened? Relative rarity?
This is a great story. I must admit it’s helped stimulate some ideas for one of my own!
A roughed up Grand Ville parked in front of the Aragon could not be a more appropriate image if one tried. The car, ballroom, and immediate neighborhood all have seemed to have gone through some tough times as of late.
My best friend bought a 2000 Ford Crown Vic that looked really clean on the surface 2 years ago. It had around 90K miles and other than the usual Ford electrical issues- light control module, A/C not working, a few burned out bulbs with one socket with corrosion etc looked very nice overall. Then he started driving it for jut one Winter and the car just started disintegrating as soon as the salt started hitting it. First the front fenders started with small bubbles which turned to big bubbles. Then the frame got really rusty forward of the wheel wells. Then it was brakes lines and e-brake not working. After the Winter was over you could put your hand through the holes on both front fenders. Come to find out they were rusting up underneath and the paint was hanging on by a thread. The frame looked okay when he bought the car but after that one hard Winter there were holes on one side and the car no longer passed inspection. After dumping lots of money into brakes, lines, gas tank and E-brake he was forced to have the frame patched and welded just to get to pass inspection and he traded it in on a 2009 Lucerne which he loves and currently drives now. Lesson learned don’t judge a book by it’s cover.
I haven’t seen it in a month or two, but about a mile from my house there is/was a near new looking “twin” to this car. It’s a chocolate brown 2 door with a white vinyl roof and, yes, it even has those great Rallye wheels.
These are nice cars, I especially like the insrrument panel on these cars, the dark colors (like brown), not so much.
Great story and photos! Seeing an old car deteriorate like this is hard to watch. Sometimes, however, an old car will look good from 20 feet, but if you don’t know what to look for when you buy one, you can be in for some nasty surprises. Plenty of cars show up at the Carlisle events car corral for sale with a quick coat of paint, new tires and maybe some new upholstery, but, if you look closely, the signs of age and wear are there.
So true. I saw a terrific 1968 Impala two door yesterday that looked immaculate. Upon closer view, it wasn’t terminal, but definitely infected with the rust mite.
I’d like to get a 70s or 80s Cadillac or Lincoln but haven’t pulled the trigger for this very reason. I don’t have the garage space to devote to winter storage and will not get one just to watch it rust into oblivion.
Stunning images. I especially like the last one, it evokes all kinds of emotion and I find it very artistic.
That story actually reminds me a lot of a friend who purchased a few cars of this vintage but usually they were starting to get a little rough around the edges. That friend exposed the cars to the rigors of daily driving and very hard driving and they quickly deteriorated. It reminds me too of another family friend who bought a 1979 Catalina brand new. Didn’t drive the car in winters for about 20 years, but then once it became his only car started to winter drive. He still kept it like new, garaging it, using Krown rust proofing and properly maintaining it. In about 2007 he decided it was time to replace the Catalina with a new car. He sold the Catalina and could only do so at a rock bottom price with the high fuel prices. Within a year it was completely destroyed by the new owners.
The sad thing is I think many cars see the same fate as this big Pontiac after years of being looked after. They are old, in good shape but not desirable. Many people buy them thinking they are a bargain but forget how much work is required to keep an old car maintained.
I’m not a big fan of the full sized vehicles built during this era but I really dig the sport mirrors on the Grandville’s and it sure adds a sporty flair to it, if I were to get a full size car in 1974 it would definitely be the Pontiac Grandville.
Wonderful writing and beautiful pictures, Joseph!
I don’t much care for those biggest of full-sizers from the 70s except for the full-size Buicks and these. Funny how the Catalina/Bonneville/Grand Ville were the slowest selling of the B-Bodies because I think they look so freakin’ cool (and every model year too)
I’ve written about it a few times but I have to comment again about this same type of situation with a mint condition car being destroyed. My grandmother’s 1987 Fleetwood d’Elegance was immaculate, and I mean showroom new when she couldn’t drive any more. She actually polished the wood in it all the time! When she could no longer drive, it sat in her garage for about 6 months. My uncle decided to sell it for her and put it on the front lawn for $2500 bucks. It only had about 50k miles on it and it was 18 years old! Well, to say that car got destroyed was an understatement. A neighbor of hers bought it and drove it straight into the ground. It had been garaged all of its life and never even saw rain or snow as she didn’t like driving in inclement weather. When I saw it in their driveway one day, there was a rake on the hood of the car. Now, mind you, this car was polished regularly and babied. To see a rake thrown on top of it for no apparent good reason still blows my mind. And in a matter of a few months it had dents all over it, the hubcaps were off and it looked like it was ready for the junkyard in no time. After about a year and a half, it sat in their driveway with boxes on it and a blue tarp over the front hood. She often asked if I saw it and I told her no. I didn’t want her to get upset as she truly loved that car for the 16 years that she owned it. I still don’t know how anyone could treat anything so poorly. As I said in an earlier post – to some people, cars are simply transportation and nothing else. It still doesn’t mean you should destroy one for no good reason.
That is what happens when an old luxury car falls into the hands of the lumpenproletariat. No matter of how grand and old dame such are car was, when the price falls to such low levels, any schmuck can afford it and the same schmucks that don’t mind living in filthy hovels off of government aide with no drive or ambition whatsoever also don’t mind beating their new to them 18 year old Cadillac to sh!t in a year.
So true Dominic! It is sad to see what happens to a beautiful old car, especially one that you grew up with and coddled all those years.
Awesome writing Joseph and the photos are very artistic indeed. The second pic I will print, frame it and hang on my apartment s wall.
Thanks, Rubens! I think the Aragon Ballroom photo is formatted to a 3X4 ratio. You may need to crop it for either a 4X6 or 5X7 ratio.
if that story doesn’t explain the way car guys view the world joseph, nothing will!
I normally like the 1971-72 version’s of the GM biggies the best but I’ve thought Pontiac looked at its best with the 1973-74 version’s, especially on the Grandville’s.
That reminds me of the sedan that was used in “The Burbs”.
There’s a black on black 73 Grand Ville 4 door hardtop for sale the next street over, asking $3500…been for sale for over a year. Used to be silver, didn’t paint the door jambs or underside of the decklid and hood, sides of the car are a little lumpy. It still has presence, but the mere mention of that car makes my wife give me the evil eye. She just says it’s tacky, and that’s the end of it. No apparent rust, even after sitting out all winter, but you just know it’s lurking there, waiting to come out and gobble up the old girl. I’m more of an Olds 98 guy, but that old black Poncho would look great in my garage…if it even fit…
Great story! Like the rest of you, I can’t stand seeing a pristine old car become a beater.
The problem with a lot of old Midwestern cars that have seen sparing use is that they have been slowly rusting in hidden areas like insides of doors and quarter panels for years. But the process has been on super slo-mo for all that time. Regular salt slush exposure just brings that corrosion back up to real time and after a year or two, there you are.
Definitely JP. My ’93 Accord EX wagon that lived in Washington state for the first 8 years of its life looked brand new when it was shipped to me in R.I. in 2001. In fact, the undercarriage was so rust free that my mechanic was dumfounded. He asked where the car came from and said it looked as if it had just left the assembly line! Well, the R.I. roads and winters took their toll on that car and by 2010 the undercarriage, subframe and suspension were rotting terribly – so much so that I ended up trading it for a CR-V. I would have driven that car to 500k if it hadn’t rotted out. Honestly, my wife and I miss that car every day.
Thanks, everyone, for taking the time to read this and for the kind words, and glad you also liked the pictures. This post allowed me to combine three things I like – photography, cars, and creative writing.
@JasonShafer and @JimGrey, looking forward to reading pieces from you guys!
@TomC, @dominic1955, and @jpcavanagh (and a few others) – thanks also for reiterating the valid points that: a.) the car was initially seen from a distance; and b.) there may have been damage under the surface that only accelerated after exposure to the Chicago winter.
@PaulNiedermeyer, thanks again for letting me contribute. This has been a highlight of my 2015.
Nice write-up Joseph! As a car lover I think you did that Grand Ville well to let us at least feel its pain and share in the final days of its life.
And an obscure car achieves a kind of immortality, even as its physical presence is close to an end. It’s always tragic to see a car that has survived so long in fine shape go out this way, but your story does it justice. Well-written indeed.
Wow; this story is no less than a masterpiece of the short-story form; far more heart-wrenching than anything the “Last Rides” vignettes on The Other Site could dream of.
Thanks for a surprise on this Saturday morning!
Thanks so much, Dino.
I was beside a car carrier on Friday it had an older model BMW Alpina 2nd from the back it looked great except for the body filler exploding from the lower panels fresh paint but not much metal underneath and the anti stonechip textured sprayed on the sills under the paint wasnt doing a good job of hiding it, I bet I see it listed on trademe shortly as a restoration project.
Strange that Pontiac didn’t keep the Grand Ville name going for the final year of that body. Was there confusion with the midsize Grand Am and Grand Prix?
Wikipedia says the 455 was standard until ’75. 1974 was the worst year for GM engine drivability, plus there was the seatbelt interlock that kept you from starting the car unbuckled.
Ralph, is six years too late to correct the text? 🙂 Several sources I checked out yesterday also confirmed the Grand Ville had the 455, so I fixed it – thank you, good Sir.
This from the year I was first licensed as a driver.
Don’t recall specifically driving a Gran Ville, but do remember these were common cars…might have driven one during driver’s ed at my high school (still remember…15 years 8 months I could get my learner’s permit…shortly thereafter had my go at driver’s ed. Rather than a Pontiac, I now recall that all the cars were from the local Chevy dealer, so no Pontiac, but maybe an Impala…but I do recall we used rather large (by today’s standards) cars, some of which weren’t too easy to see out of (2 door coupes for instance) which compounded by their large size made parking tough. At home though, we started on my Dad’s small subcompact (his commuter car) but eventually drove the 1973 Ford Country Sedan, which was about the same size as these. Guess I should have realized these were the last of their kind; the gas shortages started the year before I started driving.
People mention rust about deteriorating cars, but there’s also parts (I know, these were from GM’s more universal period…but almost 50 years ago, and I doubt many of the parts are used on current vehicles..maybe trucks?). Used to live in the rust belt many years ago, moved to the sunbelt almost 40 years ago…here the sun bakes everything, we don’t get the rust directly, but the sun does a number on paint and other things (especially rubber and plastic). Cars can eventually rust if the paint gets worn down enough…or you drive through duststorm. Hail also takes a fair number (is pretty common where I live, in fact on a particular day of the year, my sister lost 2 cars in different years to hail damage). Deteriorating weatherstripping can eventually lead to rust, as weatherstripping is just as bad on other cars in salvage yards down here…on my ’86 GTi I had a 12 foot piece shipped from a wrecking yard up north, since I couldn’t find any down here. The piece went from the A pillar to the C pillar the length of the roof and had the door weatherstrip attached to it. Down here lack of soft parts doesn’t just make interiors look old before their time with cracked dashes and door trim, but other things as well. My ’00 Golf lost its ability to move the shift selector lever on the transaxle due to deteriorated plastic part…undoubtedly this causes lots of cars to be scrapped before their time, since these parts are expensive since they are scarce, if they are available at all….even for a 10 year old car, never mind a 50 year old one.