pictures by Triborough
Let’s take a quick look at the final-year big GPs, before it was reconstituted in 1969 as a mid-plus sized coupe (CC here). That rather brilliant move by John DeLorean solved the GP’s decline into irrelevancy, and sales almost quadrupled. The GP was one of the pioneers of the big sporty-luxury coupe market, and as such, it was fitting to see it re-define the class a second time, especially so since this last (big) year GP was looking a bit lost.
DeLorean had growing doubts about the relevance of ever-bigger full-size American cars, and that obviously applied to the coupe version more than the sedans and wagons. He was of course right on the money, as the mid-sized personal coupes, typified by the Cutlass Supreme, would soon dominate the sales charts for two decades. Cars like this GP just weren’t inspiring either the stylists or the buying public.
The world had changed drastically and quickly in the mere five years since the superb ’63 GP first graced the streets. And the results weren’t exactly always pretty.
Within a few short years, the GP lost any sense of stylistic leadership, and it appeared that the designers were just re-arranging details one more time for a new model year. Well, they obviously knew a fresh one was on the way by this time. It looks like their main efforts went into trying hard to make it look like the smaller A-Body LeMans.
Note: a rerun of an older post.
While the original was a strikingly handsome man in his 40s sporting a Tom Ford tuxedo, the ’68 was the ’63 gone to seed after too many years of too many Manhattans wearing a polyester leisure suit, having become a rather louche lounge lizard. Sad finale to a very elegant automobile.
I’m never going to unsee the resemblance between that halo vinyl top and a receding hairline now.
As a 60’s Pontiac fan, make mine a 64. They started to add visual weight starting in 65, which favored the full size 4 door hardtops nicely, but the GP started to lose its athleticism. The 67 had lost the mojo, and this 68 is worse to my eyes, just a sad and charmless effort.
My dad had a ’68 Le Mans A body. At the time I was a kid and I didn’t like it. It was gold exterior, gold interior with that shiny pointy beak. Over the decades, it has aged better… but this Grand Prix is big. I saw on the street a ’67 Pontiac Executive coupe in pretty ragged shape. It is a HUGE car.
Something that I always find striking about the 1968 GP is how the sheetmetal is virtually unchanged from the prior year. Yet, the dramatic departure in the front and rear end treatments make it look like a completely different car.
With that said, the ’68 Grand Prix has a pretty sizable role in ‘Goodfellas’. Certainly not as memorable as the car casting in other famous movies, but for CC aficionados, still pretty cool.
Other cars in the movie included a 1st generation Riviera and a 1966 Chrysler Newport convertible.
Don’t ask me to ride in the trunk. (Although it undoubtedly has a lot of room.)
I remember the very first time I saw a 1963 Grand Prix .
I still think it’s lovely .
-Nate