The 1978–1980 Pontiac Grand Am was strike two for Pontiac’s sporty “import alternative” intermediate: Though praised by contemporary reviewers for its capable handling, the downsized second-generation Grand Am sold even worse than its 1973–1975 predecessor. This attractive Nocturne Blue ’79 with the extremely rare 4-speed manual transmission shows off the pros and cons of this now-obscure, underappreciated Pontiac.
Although its flexible urethane nose treatment was originally intended for the 1973 GTO, Pontiac ended up trying to pitch the first-generation Grand Am as something rather different: a “more-than-acceptable alternative to the costly imports,” with a crisper-than-usual radial tuned suspension that was supposed to make it a great American road car. The buff books were cautiously pleased with the chassis, took a jaundiced view of the overripe styling, and felt the Grand Am was still too big and too unsophisticated. Buyers mostly stayed away, and the Grand Am disappeared after 1975.
Pontiac spent the ’70s watching the growing popularity of imported cars and the car magazines’ increasingly obsessive love affair with BMW, and decided maybe the original Grand Am had just been a little ahead of its time. With the introduction of the downsized A-body LeMans line for 1978, the Grand Am was back. The 1978 Pontiac brochure’s reintroduction opened with an appeal to nostalgia that elicits some snickers if you know how poorly the first-generation Grand Am had sold and the lukewarm reception it had received even from the buff books it was apparently supposed to court:
For a few glorious years in the early seventies one car came blazing on the scene to establish itself as an impressive American grand touring car. Well, now it’s back. With a new size. A dramatic new design. And the same exciting driving flair that once set your heart on fire. … It’s as if Grand Am had never left.
The time away had done the Grand Am some good. The downsized coupe was almost 9 inches shorter and over 600 lb lighter than the old one, and its styling was less overwrought than before. I find the Grand Am more palatable than the 1978–1980 Grand Prix, although it was also less distinctive — it really just looked like a fancy LeMans, which it was.
Something that struck me, looking at these pictures, is that the downsized A-body cars tended to look smaller than they actually were. Without a clearer external reference point, you’d think this Grand Am was only a little bigger than the later J-body Pontiac J2000/Sunbird, but it was really 198.6 inches long and weighed around 3,500 lb, with over 57 percent of that on the nose. This ended up having a lot to do with how the Grand Am performed.
Pontiac claimed the Grand Am was “an extension of the GTO philosophy in a much more sophisticated car.” However, the raw thrust that had been the old GTO’s stock in trade was absent. Most of these cars had the mild-mannered Pontiac 301 V-8 in L27 two-barrel or L37 four-barrel form. The latter, with 150 net horsepower, was the most powerful engine available on the 49-state Grand Am, and the only V-8 available with the 4-speed manual transmission in 1979. (Except in California, it was theoretically possible to order a Grand Am with the 3.8-liter Buick V-6 and 4-speed stick, although I doubt any were actually built that way.)
The 4-speed was extremely rare in these cars. While the figures I have don’t separate the Grand Am from the LeMans and Grand LeMans, total 4-speed installations for all three models numbered only 375 units. Car and Driver tried to get one for a 1979 comparison test that pitted the four-door Grand Am against a BMW 528i, but Pontiac said none was available, citing production problems. It was no great loss: Motor Trend tested an even rarer 1979 Grand Prix with this same 301-4V/4-speed powertrain and found that while the linkage was fine and the ratios seemed well-matched to the 301 engine, the combination of soft engine mounts and a heavy clutch made it miserable to drive in traffic. The vast majority of Grand Am and Grand Prix buyers ended up with the TH200 automatic, which was easier to drive, but suffered so many reliability problems that the Federal Trade Commission launched a formal complaint against GM in 1980.
Car and Driver‘s automatic ’78 Grand Am test car needed 11.5 seconds to reach 60 mph and ran the quarter mile in an uninspired 18.7 seconds at 76.3 mph. (Suspiciously, C/D‘s 1979 four-door Grand Am automatic was 1.6 seconds quicker to 60 and through the quarter mile, despite unchanged power, slightly more weight, and a lower numerical axle ratio.) The Motor Trend 1979 Grand Prix 4-speed, which was about 90 lb heavier than a comparable Grand Am, took 11.8 seconds to hit 60 mph. This kind of performance was perfectly adequate for most uses, but a street racer the Grand Am was not, and Car and Driver grumbled that it was hard to fully exploit the capabilities of the chassis because the throttle response was so lethargic.
Handling was supposed to be the real forte of the Grand Am. Its chassis tuning followed the usual ’70s GM recipe: bigger tires (205/70R14, in this case), firmer springs and shocks, and lots of roll stiffness. On smooth surfaces, its absolute cornering power was decent for this era, and Pontiac specified a different recirculating ball power steering box that offered more feedback than most A-body cars.
However, with so much weight on the nose and a fat front anti-roll bar, the Grand Am still understeered heavily, its steering was awfully light for a performance car, and its ride still got unsettled on rough roads. It was still happiest in fast highway cruising, where it was quiet and smooth. For a ’70s domestic car, the Grand Am had above-average poise, but it wasn’t extraordinary.
Like the other downsized GM A-bodies, the Grand Am had better space utilization than its predecessor. You could now carry four adults in a Grand Am coupe without too much squawking, which was a welcome change of pace for a two-door intermediate.
Unfortunately, Pontiac product planners had made many compromises that tended to undermine the credibility of the Grand Am concept. You’d think an “American grand touring car” would have bucket seats, but for 1978 and 1979, somebody insisted that a cheap non-split bench seat ought to be standard. Bucket seats were available (as was a 60/40 split bench), but they cost extra.
The availability of bench seats meant the Grand Am couldn’t have a central handbrake, so it was stuck with the same foot-pedal parking brake as the rest of the A-body line. This meant that on manual transmission cars, the clutch took a beating when starting on steep hills, something Motor Trend found frustrating in their Grand Prix tester. Also, if you did order buckets, the driver-side rake adjustment that had been a prominent feature of the original Grand Am was conspicuous by its absence. (You could order a reclining passenger seat, but the driver’s seat back angle was fixed.)
The Grand Am was available with a tachometer and a set of secondary “rally gages” to fill out the various dashboard binnacles, but you paid extra for those, and the oil pressure and temperature gauges tended to be obscured by the steering wheel rim. (If you’re wondering, the tachometer on this car was broken at the time these pictures were taken, which is why the tach needle is stuck at 5,300 rpm.) One minor but worthwhile change for 1979 was a switch to more legible white-on-black dials; the 1978 LeMans and Grand Am had used Buick-like silver instrument faces.
None of this was compelling enough to generate much buyer interest. Grand Am sales for 1978 amounted to 7,767 coupes and 1,865 sedans. For 1979, Pontiac moved some previously standard equipment to the options list to cut the base price by almost $400. This didn’t help (especially since adding back the deleted features made the 1979 Grand Am more expensive than the ’78), and sales slipped to 4,021 coupes and 1,865 sedans. For 1980, the unwanted Grand Am sedan was dropped and Pontiac standardized many of the previous sporty options, including buckets and console, the Rally IV styled wheels, the 301-4V engine, and automatic transmission. Unfortunately, that made the Grand Am around $900 more expensive than a base Grand Prix, which proved to be the death blow. Grand Am production fell to 1,647 cars for 1980, and Pontiac once again called it quits.
Looking at the 1978–1980 sales figures, I think the problem was not so much with the Grand Am concept as with the LeMans on which it was based. Although Pontiac was doing very well in this period (their 1979 model year production totaled 907,412 cars, outstanding by any standard), each of their mainstream car lines was a mediocre seller. Total production of the 1979 A-body intermediates (LeMans, Grand LeMans, Grand Am, and wagons) totaled only 136,938 cars, far fewer than either the Firebird or the still very popular Grand Prix.
I don’t know if contemporary buyers didn’t like the styling of the downsized LeMans or just didn’t think it was a good value compared to a Malibu or a Cutlass, but its sales were poor. It’s hard to sell a specialized version of a weak or unpopular product unless the special edition is truly transformative, and the virtues of the Grand Am were too subtle for that.
When the second-generation Grand Am was still in showrooms, Car and Driver admitted that it was “a poor relation” compared to the great Pontiacs of old, but buzzed excitedly about its tremendous potential and all the cool stuff in the Pontiac development pipeline (none of which ever reached production, at least in the A-body line).
When Pontiac revived the Grand Am for a third go-around with the 1985 N-body line, they chose a very different path. Instead of trying to make the third-generation Grand Am drive like a BMW, Pontiac made it LOOK as much like a BMW as they could get away with, for about half the price of a 318i. (The N-body Grand Am handled competently enough, and it was offered with a “Driver Enthusiast Package” with a Y99 rally suspension, but that was definitely not the principal selling point.) This turned out to be a huge hit — a reminder that for all the latter-day nostalgia about the original GTO, it had been first and foremost a supremely well-marketed car, whatever its actual performance. Pontiac had had to relearn that particular lesson in the ’80s, but it paid off. The N-body Grand Am was a great success in a way its predecessors never were.
This 1979 Grand Am is an uncommon car — one of 375, one of 4,021, however you want to slice it — and in many respects an unusual one. Compared to its storied ancestors, it was short on speed, and the powertrain situation was pretty hopeless, but it was a rare sporty Pontiac that tried to sell the steak more than the sizzle. It sold for $20,041 in August 2024.
Related Reading
Vintage R&T Road Test: 1973 Pontiac Grand Am – American, Yes; Grand, Not So Much So (by Paul N)
1973 Pontiac Grand Am 400-4V 4-Speed: Should This Have Been The 1973 GTO? (by me)
1978 Pontiac Grand Am – Neither “Grand” Nor “Am” (by Brendan Saur)
My 1978 Pontiac Grand Am – Commuting Days (by Harry Case)
Vintage R&T Review: 1978 Pontiac Grand Am CA (by yohai71)
Vintage M/T Road Test: 1979 Pontiac Grand Prix SJ – Rare 4-Speed Manual In A Pontiac PLC Placeholder (by me)
It helped the N-body Grand Am that it was a full carline while the A bodies were a trim level. That didn’t mean their looks were entirely without compromise – having to share the Oldsmobuick versions’ Rybicki roofline didn’t help it look any sportier – and the 4 door not showing up until the second model year was less than ideal.
Wow – look at those horribly faded interior trim pieces on this remarkably well-preserved (likely garaged) Grand Am. My friend inherited a contemporary Cutlass Supreme with the red interior from his grandmother around 1986. For those that remember what happened to the red interiors during this era – it faded to a horrible shade of purple. And, of course, the TH200 grenaded, which finally did it in after he owned it about a year.
Looking for a new car in 1978 I was initially drawn to the Grand Prix SJ, but the new, down-sized styling left me cold. I then looked at the Grand Am, which I liked better. Was a few hundred cheaper IIRC. Mine was a sharp looking coupe in black with a tan, bucket seat interior. 301 4 bbl. Great looking dash with full instrumentation. Performance was modest, but it handled quite well for the times. Like most GM products of the time it was fairly trouble free for 100,000 miles, then everything started going up at once.
It is my understanding some of Chevrolet Caprice at the same vintage had a manual transmission option, most of them for export market in Middle East, but if the buyer really pushed for one, the dealer could order one. When I lived in Montreal and Toronto in 1980s, I noticed few parked on streets around my home.
You’re thinking of the “Iraqui taxi”, which were a special run of Chevelle Malibus with the V6 and a three-speed floor shift:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/automotive-history-snapshot-1981-chevrolet-malibu-iraqi-taxi/
If I recall correctly, those cars I mentioned were Chevrolet B body, more accurately speaking they were Impala badge cars. I heard they were primarily for export market for Middle East such as Kuwait and Saudi, they loved large American sedans with strong air conditioning even though Japanese large sedans like Crown and Cedric were also popular because they had even better air conditioning. German Mercedes back then had a very weak air conditioning. The generation of Caprice and Impala were made in Quebec, Canadian in general were frugal folk, they didn’t mind to drive a manual transmission large sedan. One thing for sure I remember is they all were floor shifters. Anyway, maybe someone can point out if I am wrong about the manual Caprice/Impala.
The last GM B Body cars offered with a three-speed manual were built in 1973, and only Chevys. That applies to Canada too. And these were all column shifters; no floor shift three speed B Bodies ever. There is zero evidence of any being built after 1973. We have a post on that subject here:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-histories/curbside-unicorn-hunt-1970-full-sized-cars-with-manual-transmission-part-1-gm-edition/
I am still inclined to think you saw “Iraqui Taxi” Malibus, as quite a few of them were sold in Canada.
Yes, definitely the Malibu. However, lightning struck twice for GM Canada. In 1986, Iraq once again reneged on a fleet order. This time it was a run of ’86 Caprice Classic Broughams. While looking like the granny version with the velour interior, wire wheel covers, landau top and all the bright trim, they were 9C1 cop units mechanically. 350 instead of 305, all the HD suspension and HD bits. They were doled out to dealers across Canada to liquidate. I was selling at a Chevy dealer at the time and we had a couple on the lot.
But those certainly did not have manuals with floor shifts, right?
I hauled new A/G/B body GM cars from 1979 until 1990. The cars I hauled came out of the Oshawa, Ontario plant. The Quebec plant made Camaro’s/Firebirds (Sainte Therese, QE). The B bodies were all automatic and we’d haul trailer loads of them for the middle east down to ports across the river from Philadelphia. A/B bodies were still available with sticks but they were few and far between.
Not Caprices, these were most likely “Iraqi” Malibus, a large order made by GM of Canada for Saddam Hussein to be used as taxis. They were all 3 speed manual with heavy duty air conditioning. Saddam canceled the order and GM sold off the cars in the Canadian market.
I own a couple of equally rare Cutlass models, the diesel with 5 speed stick. Very few sold, as well as very few stick shift gasoline models. Seems like by then the market desired automatics entirely.
N body ones sold well at least partly because of rental fleets. National had a lot of them.
Given the infinitesimally low take rates, it’s a real wonder why any GM division offered manual transmissions in the 4th generation A-bodies. I think the option lasted through the 1981 model year, then it was gone. With the introduction of the FWD A-body in 1983, stick shifts came back to the A-body. I don’t think those sold very well, either.
I have always heard and read that the sales of the entire down-sized 1978 GM mid-sized lineup was somewhat hurt by styling that made the cars look smaller than they actually were. Gas prices had stabilized by then and fuel economy wasn’t as big of a deal to buyers at that time. The restyling of the 1981 models made them look larger, but by then the economy had turned, good gas mileage became more important and, although they hadn’t changed very much in actual size, they became viewed at being too big. GM couldn’t catch a break.
Whoever originally ordered this car knew exactly what they wanted: bucket seats, manual transmission, crank windows, and manual locks, but, contrary to the photo caption, not air conditioning.
The discussion when the customer sat down with the sales person musy have been interesting.
Oops, you’re right, it does not have air. I’ll fix that.
As the original and still owner of a ’79 Malibu four speed, I knew that they made four speed Gran Prix but never knew about the Grand Am four speed. Actually, I haven’t seen very many of this generation of the Grand Am of any kind. My wife had two of the later ones and they were great cars.
Your Malibu sounds like the one my buddy ordered in 1979. 305 V8 and four speed, red interior, silver/gray exterior. I thought was a great car and good looking.
An odd thing was that the gauge cluster (I think the speedometer) was identical to that of the automatic. The PRNDL on the gauge face was simply and obviously just painted over. Is your like that?
Mine has the 267 as I was looking for gas mileage compared to the 305. It may be the only one with that engine/trans combo. Mine has the red bucket seat interior, black paint, power sunroof, F41 sport suspension and rally wheels. I have the optional instrument cluster without the tach. Sure enough it plainly says PRNDL on the speedometer. I complained to the dealer and Chevrolet sent him a black metal plate to install inside the cluster to cover this up. You can still see the top of the letters if you look at the right angle. It’s been a great car for all these years. When I bought it there was a couple in our town who bought a new four speed Gran Prix for their teenage son. It led a pretty rough life. I don’t know what happened to it. Of course I was a lot younger when I bought the Malibu and I was married with two kids, but I was kind of rough on my car at times. I had an older El Camino then so my wife drove the Malibu most of the time.
Nice looking car. When I saw this Grand Am article I immediately thought of the better looking Malibu and how it was available with a 4 speed. Amazing you were able to hang on to it all these years.
It was the family car when new, mostly driven by my then wife. I did take it to some car shows and won some nice awards. She died quite young and I started driving it for my job which stacked up some miles. I met my current wife and dated her in it until I bought a new car. We took the kids on a lot of vacations with it and for the last 35 or so years it has been a weekend car mostly. I plan to do a COAL on it soon.
I actually spotted a 4 door one cutting through a neighborhood, I knew these were rare but not that rare!
These Grand Ams are hard to love, I actually think the Lemans styling is pretty good if not a little underrated (graded against the rest of the non-PLC A bodies), but as a Grand Am? The 73-75 nose cone was cool in that it was still novel an holdover from the glory of the GTO and by a mile better looking than the majority of battering ram cars in the period, but by these? It’s different looking from the Lemans front end but barely, and it looks different for the sake of being different.(side note the headlights/turn signals look weirdly like a XJ Cherokee), and with 301 power in a time the Trans Am still managed to hold onto its Olds sourced 403 and at least Turbo 301(not that this equipment would have necessarily helped Grand Am sales, but at least it would resemble what the original had) it just seems like a HD suspension package tied to an exterior dress up package
In my car hauling days, I only remember two A/G bodies with 4 speed transmissions. One was a 4 door Malibu with a 305 that went to a dealer in eastern MA near Boston. The other was a special order Buick Regal out of the Framingham, MA plant that went to a dealer in Jamestown NY. That car was Black on red with the 231 V6.
Wow — while the V-6/4-speed combo was technically available on many of these cars, I seriously wonder if the car you hauled was the only one (and it was very likely the only Regal built that way).
It was odd enough at the time that I still remember it 46 years later. That summer (1980) we were still reeling from the energy shock of 1979 so maybe that’s the reason for the V6?
Interesting story with the delivery of this car. In those days, the old assembly plants had, shall we say, less than decent paint jobs. This particular car had some power buffing done on a quarter panel at the factory and still wore it’s swirl marks prominently. As I pulled into the dealers lot, the salesman came running out and asked if the black Regal on top had a 4 speed. I replied yes and he went running back inside and made a phone call. By the time I had the car on the ground and was putting the ramps away a car comes screaming into the lot and the guy comes running to the Regal (it was the guy who ordered it). The swirl marked quarter panel was facing the sun and that’s the first thing he saw. He was ranting and raving as the salesman came back out to the car and when the customer asked me if I had dropped it off the trailer I told him “if I had, it would be a totaled wreck”.
Poor guy was so pissed that he jumped in his car and peeled off the dealers lot. The salesman asked what happened and I told him the factory must have corrected a paint flaw. I don’t know what the customer said to him before he left but that salesman looked pretty sad. I have no idea whether the customer actually took the car or the dealer was left with a unicorn to sell.
The only other oddball 4 speed car I remember was an ’84 Celebrity 2 dr painted a light green with matching interior out of the Oshawa ON plant. Of the hundreds if not thousands of Celebrity’s I hauled that was the only stick.
I have an equally rare 78 Mercury Monarch.
Factory 302, 4-speed, A/C car.
AM/FM/8-track that works.
585 total with 4-speeds.
I call it a “Square-body Mustang.
Interior
Interesting and seriously rare car .
I too was noticing the crappy interior bits but that’s normal for GM products of this vintage, nearly impossible to find decent interior parts anywhere .
-Nate