I was not at all a likely candidate to buy a GM Colonnade-mobile in their time. I was 19 when they came out, and had just been given a ’63 Corvair Monza four door by my brother, who was leaving the country, and was already becoming pretty anti-GM; well, anti_Big Three, actually. But I was pretty blown away when these came out; I did not see this design direction coming, especially the four door sedan, which I rather liked for its airiness. As to the “foreign intrigue”, I’m still looking for that. About as all-American as it gets.
Frankly, I was a bit confused by the regular semi-fastback coupes; I had a hard time seeing how they made sense. And the formal coupes were way too…broughamy for me. So it would have to be a sedan, and although I also rather like the first year Cutlass Salon, the over-the-top Grand Am wins out for sheer visual impact. It’s only a question as to whether it would be a ’74, as pictured here, or the ’73.
The ’73’s front end is a bit cleaner, but what’s that got to do with the brash GA? Of course it would be loaded up with the 455 and every HD option available, as well as comfort and convenience feature. It’s not every day someone hands you a blank check made out to “Colonnade”.
I think I’d go slightly quirky and special order a Chevelle wagon with a 350 V8, 4 speed and a handling package with rally wheels. Plus a 3rd rom seat and the pop out vent wings in the rear.
1973 GTO for the obscurity factor. I do know it would be 73 regardless of model, they may have increased trunk space in 1974 but the 73s looked better across the board
I’d have kept the Corvair
An honest to goodness blank check with no limit? That’s a tough question! Probably a loaded Grand Prix in dark blue metallic and blue velour interior. 455, naturally. Come to think of it, I remember several really sharp Cutlass coupes running around that I kinda drooled over.
If the check had an upper limit, then probably a more modestly optioned Monte Carlo. 350-4bbl. Blue or black would be nice, but maybe the copper color that was popular at the time.
I’d have a hard time deciding between the round or square headlight version of the GP or Monte. A Cutlass would probably need to have square ones.
1976 or ’77 Cutlass Supreme.
Of the early ones, I’d pick the ’73 Buick over the Olds but its close.
Ditto. I’d lean towards the 1977 Cutlass Surpeme with the 403. Comparable HP to the previous year’s 455 (although less torque) and much lighter. Probably black metallic or some shade of red. Our neighbors had a black one in the early 1980s — absolutely loved that car. And of course, in Lansing, MI these were more ubiquitous than anywhere else on the planet.
Of the earlier collonades, I’d take a Cutlass or Grand Prix. Early Regals are nice too.
442. 1973.
’74 Chevy Laguna S3 454 4 speed
1973 chevelle wagon
Brown with woodgrain
350 auto
During my corn detassling summer when I was 15, my uncle had one for the kids to get around in.
Would be nice to experience that car without huge rust holes and a thick coat of dust inside and out
Just don’t lose the rubber knob on the end of the gearshift when it comes off in your hand. 🙂
I’d forgotten about that! I don’t think my uncle’s had the knob, it was just the knurled end of the lever 🙂
Correction, it must have been a 1974. Just like this but delete the girl, add ginormous rust holes and a whole lotta dirt.
I had forgotten about that too. It’s been a long time,but now I remember about that happening a lot on m ’75 El Camino .
I will aslo take the ’74 Laguna S3 454 four speed coupe or another El Camino. I really loved that El Camino.
My father had a 1977 Chevelle wagon in cream white paint as a fleet car, and it quickly became the worst car we ever had, next to 1983 BMW 318i.
Thankfully, it was replaced by our second most favourite wagon, 1979 Chevrolet Impala.
Wow, believe it or not I have never thought about this for a moment.
I like wagons, but Colonnade wagons really don’t do anything for me. The Grand Am sedan is appealing – a 74 for me because I like the rear end better. Or maybe a Luxury LeMans coupe with as much performance stuff as I could get. Mechanically I really like the Oldsmobile. This one could be fun. 🙂 Another 74.
Although the ’73-’75 Cutlass is my least favorite colonnade, for the blank-check question, I think I’d go with a 1973 Hurst/Olds. It only came with a genuine Olds 455 in one of two states of tune, depending on the transmission, and the automatic version even still came with the famous Hurst Dual-Gate shifter.
From there, it would be a ’73-’74 Buick Century Gran Sport with the Buick 455 engine.
Then, like someone else’s selection, the last Grand Prix with the Pontiac 455. The Grand Prix was the best looking colonnade that had horizontal, rectangular headlights and one so equipped with the 455 would be the one I’d like to have.
Finally, to be fair, an early, round headlight colonnade Monte Carlo with a 454, or maybe even the last Malibu SS454. I think I’d give a miss to the Laguna S-3 but the Grand Ams aren’t too bad, or maybe even the last intermediate GTO.
After all these years I am still smitten by this butt.
Amen, JP. I generally loathe fender skirts but I love them on these Luxury/Grand LeMans. They complement the curvy butt very well.
Not crazy about the skirts, but the ’75’s had the perfect look with that back end…
Never a big fan of these, but they were of the cheaper sort at the european used brashmobile dealer. Drove several over the years, as “test drives”, and i didn’t notice the 455’s being any faster than a 350 4bbl, just spun the tires more…?
Fun to test drive, but probably a nightmare to own by the 90’s.
Our family had a 1974 Chevelle Malibu Classic sedan. It was an alright car. The 74’s had the worst taillights of the 73-77’s. Never liked the semi-fastback coupes, as the formal roof coupes were nicer looking cars. The coupes should have been a full fastback style or a modified formal roof line, maybe with a larger side window to differentiate from the A-Specials.
’73 or ’74 Cutlass Supreme Coupe. Red Metallic, White Top, Maroon Vinyl Bucket Seats. 350 V8 with the handling package, please, along with all the toys that make life worth living. Just like this one.
That’s a ’73 (last year for integrated turn signals in the bumper) and that’s my choice as well 🙂
My Dad ordered his 73 GA new from LaMorte Pontiac in Irvington NJ when I was 11. Four door, Burma Brown with brown vinyl, A/C, AM/FM stereo, auto trans over the base car. He stuck with the 400
Since then I’ve built many in my head.
most recently it would be coupe in deep blue, Burma Brown or gold with a four speed 400 four barrel and full power options. I still yearn for that cross fire mahogany dash!
Going to review the catalog he brought home in Nov 1972!
I actually surprised myself with my answer when I worked it out.
A 1975 LeMans Safari. No wood, light blue in colour with every available option and the biggest motor.
A customer of my Dad’s gas station had one back in the day and when I kept picturing all the different variations I had seen over the years that robins egg blue wagon was the one I kept coming back to.
I’d take the same — a ’75 LeMans Safari — but I’ll take mine with wood.
I like Colonnade wagons… they were a good size, comfortable and reliable. Plus, I have favorable memories of my father’s ’76 Buick, though I preferred the Pontiac sedans and wagons as far as Colonnades go — in spite of (or probably because of) their relative rarity.
Only the ‘76 and ‘77 Cutlass Supreme coupes and corresponding Buick Regal coupes were desirable to me. They had a more square shape front and rear.
The rest of the colonnade styling was disappointing!! ☹️☹️☹️
Yep, a lot of them were too rounded, or they didn’t wear the rounded look well to my eyes.
While I love Colonnades, I will agree the ’76-77 Cutlass coupes – while less adventurous – were better-looking than the ’73-75 models.
However, I find the ’76-77 Regals to be a bit underwhelming. They look like a slightly blander Cutlass. The ’76-77 Century models however, with the fastback roof and more slanted nose, are very appealing to me.
Not that I’d kick any of ’em out of my garage.
I’m not at all fond of the Colonnades, so topping my (very) short list would be the Pontiac Can Am!
Good. I’m not the only one!
Me too!
Grand Am was a flop – everyone thought it would be the winner but not
1973 Monte Carlo – iconic styling and better handling than all the others and a smash hit. MT COTY 1973.
“There is a single bond unifying the world’s great road cars,” said Bill Millikin, one of our Car of the Year panelist.” All the different builders — Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, Fiat, Ferrari — seem to have approached the problem from different perspectives and come to more or less the same end result. They all create automobiles with balance, braking, steering, suspension, tires and transmission, that complement a driver instead of challenging him. Even at the very limit of their capability these vehicles feel comfortable, strong and satisfying.”
Which is by the way of explaining why Chevrolet’s Monte Carlo is Motor Trend‘s 1973 Car of the Year. Judged in the context of contemporary automotive philosophy, the Monte Carlo is one of the few American automobiles to attain levels of roadability and handling previously available only in machines designed and manufactured outside this country. Moreover, the Monte Carlo marks the first solid domestic reaction to a foreign challenge that threatens to completely overshadow Detroit’s product design leadership in its own market.
http://www.motortrend.com/news/car-of-the-year-winners-2/
My Dad was a Pontiac man, from 1957 to 1970 a new one every 3 years and all Safaris. In 1973 I convinced him to get the Monte Carlo and the car really could handle – better than his later Audis, which drove him into Acura’s arms.
Grand Am was meant to be the “1972 GTO”, but the redesign got delayed.
’73 GTO got moved to LeMans with chrome bumpers.
The car magazines loved the GA, but middle America wanted a GP instead.
Dad had the Landau w/ mag wheels and 4 barrel 350 V8 w/ dual exhaust
His first and only Chevy. But a solid car – that longest in Chevy history hood saved my mother’s life when she hit ice and and struck a tree. Dad never understood why she went uninjured, the Monte was toast.
Mine would be a ’75 Cutlass Supreme coupe, just like today’s featured car. ’75 was my favorite year of the Colonnade Supreme as far as grille, headlight, bumpers combinations go. Make mine Horizon Blue too!
That picture is the identical shade of blue I was picturing for my 75 LeMans wagon!
Thanks Brendan.
In the summer of ‘74 when I was 14, we took a family trip to California and our rental care at first was a LeMans. When it developed an issue where it wouldn’t start, Avis, back when the had the slogan, “we try harder”, really did. They came to take the LeMans away and brought us one of the subject cars. I really liked it, and my Dad marveled over how good it handled on California’s curvy roads like near Yosemite and Eureka.
So it would be a toss up between one of these Grand Ams loaded up way nicer than a rental car, or a Chevelle Laguna, having seen them assembled at the age of 13 at the Broening Highway Assembly Plant that was here in Baltimore back then.
I think I’d like a ‘73 Coupe in either case.
1977 Pontiac LeMans 4 door convertible.
“Daddy, the top came off.”
“No shit!”
I’ll take a 1974 Laguna with a 454 and a 4-speed.
Once again, Paul and I agree on a car.
A ’73 4 door Grand Am, 455 (of course) engine, every option that I could add, in dark blue or burgundy. PLEASE!!
Colonnades are a guilty pleasure of mine, as I generally preferred ‘70s imports to domestic fare. So, with a blank check, I’d go whole hog on a ‘73 Gran Prix SJ in Black with the black leather bucket seat interior and the African “crossfire” mahogany accents on the dash and console. Yes to the 455 V8 with TurboHydramatic powertrain. No vinyl top of any kind (I’ll have to special order mine) and it will be hard to choose between the Pontiac honeycomb wheels or the typical mag style wheels. Satisfyingly baroque in every way. When I dive in, I go deep!
Being partial to Buick, I’d take a Century like this ’75. Dark colors are always preferable. It would have to have the 4bbl 350 to make it worth whomever’s money. Sounds like I may now lean towards a ’74 as a 455 sounds really appealing.
Incidentally, the brochure for ’75 says a 3.8 V6 was standard as was a three-speed manual (V6 only). No clarification if it’s on the floor or the column, but I’m guessing the floor. One of these with a 3.8 and a three-speed would be a freakishly rare bird.
There is an antique car dealership about an hours drive from me that has had a very rare colonnade for quite some time now. They advertise it as a parts car because of the extensive rust and it’s priced right. It’s a 1977 Olds Cutlass S. It’s rare because it has a factory 260 V-8 with a 4 on the floor trans, power steering and brakes. It’s too rare to crush but not good enough to ever be restored.
If it has the 260, I believe that had the 5-speed stick — the only Colonnade engine option to have such a transmission available.
You may well be right, but their ad lists it as a 4 speed. I’ll float the website and hope I’m not in violation. Goldenrod-garage.com..
It originally would have been a 5-speed, but that particular trans was made of cardboard (B&W T50 NOT T5!) It likely packed it in right around the end of the Carter Administration, and B&W quit supporting it early on .Ask me how I know.
He has been sitting on it for at least a few years. Shame it is so rusty.
I would have a maroon ’77 Monte Carlo with the 350 4bbl, swivel seats and the sunroof
1976-77 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme w/either a 350ci V8 or the biggest engine available
runner ups are a 1973-74 Pontiac Grand Prix w/the 400ci V8 or 455ci V8 and a 1973-74 Pontiac Grand Am.
1976 Cutlass Supreme with a 455 and all the luxury options, (minus the brougham trappings) available.
Runner up would be a 76 Grand Prix, again with every non-brougham option available and a 455.
Oof, kind of a tough call because of the timing: the earlier cars tend to look nicer and run better, but then you have to put up with useless bumpers, pain-in-the-nuts multi-buckle/multi-belt seatbelts, and otherwise like that. The later cars have less noisome (but functionally very questionable) seatbelts and bumpers that actually, er, bump…but then you have to put up with poor performance, driveability, and fuel economy. That’s unless this blank cheque is big enough to cover a cheat in the form of an export model to sidestep the primitive emission controls, in which case make it a late-production car for the better creature comforts.
But that still doesn’t answer which one. H’mmm. Another tough call. I really kinda like the Endura™ front fascia on the Grand Am, but I have no idea how good or bad the interior and dashboard (etc) were on those. I don’t like the Chev’s front styling or (late) rear lights or engines. I could get into an Olds Cutlass, with the ’76-and-certain-’77 slant-nose front end. Definitely not a 2-door; I’ve never liked any of the 2-door Colonnade cars. The sedans have grown on me over the years, though the trunk is kind of inexcusably small. I might be tempted to go with a “woodside” wagon. Olds(!) 350 engine, or maybe a 403, though I understand those were prone to overheating and other problems because it was a bigger bore than the block could reasonably handle.
Oh, and back to the size of that blank cheque: I’m assuming it’s big enough to bribe whoever needs bribing to put the 5-speed available only with the 260, behind the 350, but if not, it had better be a TH-350 under there. Heavy-duty options front to back and top to bottom. Cloth upholstery.
The Grand Am dashboard features a real wood fascia, and is quite handsome, in my opinion (for what that is worth!). The interior features reclining bucket seats upholstered in either wide-wale corduroy or vinyl.
For a 1970s domestic intermediate, that is still a very nice interior.
Now you mention it, I would like my ’07 Accord better with wide-wale corduroy on the seats instead of black leather.
I prefer cloth seats to leather, too.
I read somewhere reputable (don’t have the link) that the real wood veneer used in the 1973 Grand Prix and Grand Am dashboards was replaced by fake wood in either ’74 or ’75 because cutting out the circles for the gauges led to cracks in the wood, requiring many pieces of veneer to be scrapped. I’ve looked at the brochures for both cars for ’73 through ’75 at oldcarbrochures.com, and they vary from year to year – in no discernible pattern – in their statements of where the real wood is (dash, console, GP door panels, etc.). But certainly both cars used the real wood veneer for the 1973 model year.
The switch to veneer happened for the 1975 model year. The brochure for the 1974 Grand Am specifically refers to the real wood – “genuine African crossfire mahogany” – used on the dashboard.
A ’77 Grand Prix was my first car (and I still have it!) so I’m biased, but I have always thought the GPs were the best looking of all of them. So while my car is a pretty basic red on red Model J with a solid roof, bench seat and came from the factory with a 350 (it now has a built 455,) if I were ordering one new, I would go for a black over red ’77 GP SJ with T-tops (no vinyl top) and a 400. Second choice would be similar ’76 or ’77 Cutlass or a ’73 Century GS455 Stage 1
https://goo.gl/images/ptWUzC
I didnt have a blank cheque, but I also bought it 2 years old, at a hefty discount from the new price. The link (wouldn’t let me save the photo) is the exact match for my ’73 Buick Century GS Stage 1 Sun Coupe. It was appointed with white leather and woodgrain interior, beautiful turbine wheels, the Buick 455 CID with an aftermarket Holley 6 barrel carb, and a hand-cranked sunroof. The speedometer went to 160 MPH, and redline was 5800 RPM. I buried the speedo needle, several times, but never redlined it. Didnt need to; it was the fastest car I had driven, at least then.
Of course it only averaged about 12 MPG, and spirited driving could lower that number significantly. And the disk brakes had the worst fade of any car I’ve ever driven. It also suffered from GM’s spotty quality, as I had to replace the rear seal and the ring gear at less than 50K miles.
Had to sell during a lean financial period, but I’d buy one again in a heartbeat, but now I really would need the proverbial blank cheque – their value has increased astronomically in the past decade.
Easy. Grand Am. A ’74, either a sedan or a coupe. Either the 455/3-spd auto or the 400/4-spd manual.
I’ve been meaning to ask this question of everybody for a while actually, and this was a timely posting after Eric’s excellent Cutlass piece today.
I love Colonnades. If I had to highlight some of my runners-up, they’d be:
’74-76 Chevelle Laguna Type S-3 (the only Colonnade Chevelle I like after ’73)
Any year of Grand Prix is nice but a ’77 SJ or LJ with two-tone paint and snowflake wheels is perfect.
Any year of Luxury/Grand LeMans
’76-77 Cutlass Salon
’73-74 Century GS
I’m also partial to the Montes, and find the ’74 and ’77 to be the best-looking. A ’77 with the Fashion-Tone paint would be an eye-opener.
I’m genuinely surprised how easy to please I am with these cars. Compare and contrast to, say, the concurrent B-Body where I like very few, or the somewhat underwhelming Ford and Mopar intermediates where I’m a lot more fussy.
1976 Grand prix, as pictured only with T tops, swivel seats, 455, and a blood red interior, and the floor console, sharpest car of the colonnades i do believe, i do wish it had Buick motor though…
How can you argue with that ass end?
73 Century Gran Sport Stage 1. Black, sunroof, Magnum 500 wheels.
I’m partial to the curves of the Buick Century and Grand Am. We had a 1977 Buick Century Four Door in 1984, and it was a wretched car, and a lot broke on it in a short period of time before the timing chain in the 3.8 v6 snapped and that was the end of that. But it was beautifully styled, down to the elegant tail and trunk.
I like wagons, so I’ll take a 1977 Century wagon in dark blue with all the options and hopefully a cloth interior is available. Wood please, and power options galore, and the biggest engine available and no 3.8 V6.
Perhaps better a 1976, as that is my birth year and also the stacked headlights were available on the wagon and the 455 Buick 8 was still available.
The 4 door was my favorite body style of the colonnades. A 1973 Pontiac Grand Am with the odd sloping back end would be my choice. Imagine a 4dr with reclining bucket seats – just like you could get in a 1963 Rambler Classic!
A 1976 golden T-Top 50th Anniversary Pontiac Grand Prix would be my second choice.
Honorable mention would be a 1973 Chevrolet Monte Carlo (in my opinion the best looking colonnade MC) and for its obscurity and handsome front bumper a 1973 Chevrolet Laguna Estate Wagon with the fake walnut siding.
I hated the Colonnade cars then, and still hate them. If I had to take one, it would probably be the Pontiac Can-Am. But if time travel were possible back to
73, my easy choice would be to avoid the mistake of Colonnade, and buy an SD-455 Trans Am.
Tough call. Gotta be a four-door sedan, that roofline was an early favorite of mine. I can tell it was one of those GM cars over the years that was styled as a Buick first, so it’d have to be a ’73-4 Century; beyond those years only Pontiac and Olds applied a reasonably successful square-headlight facelift to their sedans imo, so it’d be a Grand LeMans sans rear skirts or a Cutlass Supreme/Salon 4 door. (Chevy kept round headlights on the base Malibu through ’77 so that’s also acceptable but why buy the cheapest version if I’m spending someone else’s money?)
Some great choices above…I didn’t see anybody say the 73 Chevelle wagon with SS package, 454, 4 speed. If I recall, those were all available for the wagon, if seldom ordered.
My runners up would be a 73 Cutlass S or a 76-77 442 (not so fast, but I always liked the looks).
Blank check, ay? Slap a Pontiac ship bow on an El Camino. Just make it happen!
Grand Am pictured, I’ve also found a photo of a ’77 Grand Prix swap that’s kinda eh, I bet an earlier year Grand Prix swap with the single round headlights would look neat as well.
Great question. I’ve had it in the back of my mind all day, and am no closer to reaching a decision. But it’s been fascinating to read other people’s answers and reasons.
A loaded 1977 Grand Prix SJ with a moonroof. Two-tone blue paint would be nice but I’d leave off the vinyl roof.
I bought a new car in 73 . Really wanted to like the Grand Am 4 door but just could not. Wound up in a CS 4 door because I was told I needed a 4 door for work. As it turned out I did not. Used the back seat so infrequently the rubber seals wound up melting and sticking to the windows. I am not kidding. Terrible design flaw. GM fixed under warranty and told me that the problem was widespread in the Dallas heat. Wish I had gotten a Regal 2 door.
This is a pretty easy one for me. My parents bought a ’77 Monte Carlo in chocolate brown with tan vinyl bench interior and tan half top. It was considered a nice car in its time, but during that shopping trip I remember trying to convince my father to wander across the intersection to the Pontiac dealer where a line of well-equipped Grand Prixs sat there gleaming in the Spring sun. No deal. (Our Monte Carlo was equipped well, with power windows and locks, am/fm stereo and polycast wheels, but not loaded by any stretch.) The Pontiac dealership stocked mostly better-equipped cars. I recall that the Monte Carlo stickered somewhere in the mid-7K range as equipped, and that was about all he was willing to spend, so the Pontiac was out of the question.
I’d use my blank check for a ’77 Grand Prix, in loaded ‘SJ’ trim, most likely in navy blue metallic with white vinyl buckets and half top. Rally wheels, of course.
I’m British, so I have no idea how I’d answer the question. But the greenhouse on that green Poncho at the top of the article looks strongly related to the SII Jag XJ6… Haven’t noticed that before.
1977 Can Am. Or, failing that, almost any Colonnade Grand Am, with all of the toys.
1975 Monte Carlo. Will they COPO a 4-speed? They were probably done with those by 1975.
A 1975 Hurst Oldsmobile, or a 1973 Oldsmobile Cutlass S coupe in Eclipse blue with the 350 V-8, floor-mounted automatic shifter, Super Stock wheels, power brakes, sports-style outside mirrors, swivel bucket seats, power windows, power door locks, AM-FM stereo tape deck, electric rear window defroster, sunroof, handling package and steel-belted radial white-wall tires.
’76 Cutlass S 4 door, Creme with Buckskin top and vinyl seats, body color sport mirrors, Super Stock wheels, 350 V8, just like the one my mother bought in 1976. Lots of memories in that car and I never got to drive it…it got traded in in 1981 right before I started driving.
Which colonnade would I take home? It would have to be a four door as they’re more balanced designs then the coupes. And it would have to be early model, before the purity of the design was mucked up by the bumper regs. So make it a 1973 for me.
If limited to that year’s selection, I think I’d go with either a Grand Am with a 455, or a Cutlass Salon with with the Olds 350, just like the one the admirably acquitted itself in the C&D comparison test with the M-B 450SE.
For me, there is no question. My favorite Colonnade hands down is the 1977 Pontiac Can Am. I love the 70s muscle car look (wild color graphics), and the Can Am wears it very well.
my second choice would be the 1976/1977 Oldsmobile 442. The aero nose, the lower body 442 graphics, just like this in white/gold combo. (I’m a sucker for a hurst color scheme)
I seem to recall from your COAL series that one of your Mustangs was done up custom in that color combo, Brian.
1976 Cultass Supreme with a 455. Triple back.
Seems nobody remembers the ’73 Chevelle wagon was the only Malibu EVER to offer the SS package on a wagon. I think I’d like the 454SS with a 4-speed.
The Swiss embassy in Uruguay had a ’74 Regal sedan, dark metallic blue. It had all kind of options, as it was a representation car and very luxurious for our market. When it was sold two years later, 10 year old me did my best to get my Dad to buy it…to no avail. Too expensive. Instead we went to take a look at a ’75 bare bones Malibu. 6 automatic. I don’t remember if it had any power accesory. No Swiss ambassador car, but an American embassy staff car. Dad decided it was too much money anyway. IIt had only 11.000 km on it!
It’s still around. Most of it is bondo, and in place of the 6 there is some kind of 4 cylinder Diesel contraption, with a manual transmission and a shift lever that must be about 3 feet long.
1977 Cutlass S with 442 package and 403.
Or, 1973 Century Gran Sport, with 455 Stage I, having 270 net hp.
Pontiac’s 455SD had 290-310 net hp rating, so Buick was close.
Realistically, for daily driving, a 76-77 Cutlass Supreme coupe, with Olds 350.
The Buick 455 Stage 1 engine was always quite under-rated in the numbers quoted.
“… regular semi-fastback coupes” made no sense.
They were penned during the height of muscle car mania, late 60’s, meant to continue from the ’68-’72 coupes. Would have been brought out in fall 1971, but got delayed one year from a UAW strike. For ’73 MY, added 5 mph bumpers and smog equipment. So, they were not as popular as the formal roof coupes, which were the sweet spot.
Prototype pics of “1972 Colonnades”, with plain bumpers, have been shown in Collectible Automobile, and posted here. Also, early sketches screamed “go-go 60’s”.
The success of ’69 Grand Prix changed mid sized market from ‘kid’s sporty car’ to mainstream America’s PLC.
I’m sure most/many of us know that these cars, even the 4 door versions, were very inefficient “people movers”.
“Strictly Stylish” was these car’s motto.Those relegated to the back seat had better be small and thin! And as for trunk capacity…well…the less said the better.
Properly optioned, these colonnades could be a true “Driver’s Car”, among the best ever produced by GM.
If you needed an efficient, mid sized people mover a 4 door Plymouth Satellite was a much better choice.
“Properly optioned, these colonnades could be a true “Driver’s Car”, among the best ever produced by GM.”
I agree. I hooned the bejabbers out of Mom’s 74 LuxLeMans when I was a high school kid. The only things holding it back from greatness were the lack of power from the 2 bbl 350 and the bias belted tires. The front and rear sway bars made it corner really flat and the front discs hauled it down repeatedly, even one time when I had smoke coming out of the wheels. The variable ratio power steering was really fast and tight as well. It was far and away the best driving big car I had ever driven up to that time.
I must admit to caressing and lightly squeezing the “nose” of every Grand Am I saw.
🙂
My friend and I did that at the 1974 Harrisburg Auto Show. We were 11 years old, and the two cars that stick out in my mind from that show are the Pontiac Grand Am and Ford Mustang II.
1976 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme.
Dark Red with white vinyl roof.
I’m not a fan of the Colonnades, but their extreme popularity in 1975-1976 is probably best exemplified by the Olds Cutlass, America’s most popular vehicle those years.
There were lots of Pontiacs in my neighborhood and I never care for the melting rear end. Especially the 1973s which had a pair of horizontal rectangular tail lights collapsing across the big bumpers. It just doesn’t work. The upright front end with the sloping rear end – not good.
Late to the mostly lively discourse, but I’d order myself a Verdant Green 1973 Grand Prix SJ with 455, white top, white bucket seat interior and every option available including the moonroof.
My #2 would be a ’73 Gran Sport 455/S1 in the same color combo with automatic floor shift.
My #3 would be a ’73 442 in the same color combo with W30/4-speed
My #4 would be a 76 Cutlass Supreme Brougham with 455..and any color outside would work so long as the interior is either green or blue. Power moonroof please.
While I own a 4 door 77 Malibu Classic, I’d be all over a 73 Chevelle SS wagon with 454 and 4 speed, and all the options. Or a Laguna wagon/sedan.
I had a 74 Malibu 4-door, 350-2v and automatic. I called it the Flexible Flyer because of the lack of rigidity in the chassis. One of the most boring cars I ever owned. It was fairly reliable except that on cool, damp mornings, it would absolutely refuse to start. I owned it from about 1984 through 88. I also had a 70 Malibu coupe with a 307 and THM, that was much faster and handled better. Also, it was a far more interesting car. The 74 was a great example of the Malaise Era.
Easy. The 1973 Baldwin Motion Phase 3 Chevelle SS.
I’ve had my ’76 Monte Carlo for 19 (wow!) years, and I still love it. I’ve owned two other Colonnades, a ’77 Grand Prix LJ and a ’76 Cutlass Supreme Brougham coupe. Of the two I definitely preferred the drama of the Grand Prix. If I could have another now to go alongside the Monte Carlo, I think I would go for a sedan or a wagon. I’m leaning toward a Cutlass Salon (any year, but loaded) or a ’74 Luxury LeMans. This is a tough choice!
Fully loaded with every option in the book 1974 Chevy Monte Carlo.
Also a fully loaded 1973 Chevy Laguna sedan or wagon with 454 of course.
Was not a fan of Oldsmobile styling up to the mid ’60’s and also not a fan of most Collonades, but there is a reason the Cutlass Supreme Coupe of this era was such a big seller. It just looks “right”. So, I pick a ’73 Cutlass Supreme 2dr in Zodiac Blue, fully loaded with 4-4-2 package, 350-4v, four speed and limited slip.