One could sense Car Life’s excitement when Pontiac’s first Personal Luxury Car arrived in the form of the downsized 1969 Grand Prix. In the eyes of CL, the new Grand Prix delivered the goods, especially with the SJ handling package. In that competitive field, CL was impressed enough to name the model the ‘Best Personal’ car in their “Best Of ’69” issue.
As noted in the review, Pontiac’s late arrival to the Personal Luxury Car segment was due to GM’s internal politics and production issues. This had left trendy Pontiac in the curious position of lacking a model in that hot segment. But this was still DeLorean’s Pontiac, always on the lookout for a break.
As the original full-size Grand Prix had become too bloated, a chance opened up to reinvent the model. By splitting tooling costs with Chevrolet (for their upcoming Monte Carlo), Pontiac’s PLC project got the go-ahead from headquarters, a fact unknown to CL reviewers at the time.
Once green-lighted, Pontiac applied the tricks it knew well. The ’69 Grand Prix would have lots of performance and lots of style. Sitting on a lengthened A-Body Tempest chassis; the car got the long-hood short-deck proportions popular at the time. Then, by dropping the 428-cid V-8 in the engine bay, the Grand Prix SJ had more power than a GTO and less weight than a Catalina. A winning mix for CL’s reviewers.
The Grand Prix suspension was considered ‘conventional but beautifully executed,’ a sign Pontiac was still under the guidance of engineers. CL was particularly impressed with the SJ handling package, with stiffer springs, shocks, and wider wheel rims. CL makes clear the ‘Best Personal Car’ title was awarded to the SJ version, for its handling prowess and performance. The base model performed in the average way other Personal Luxury Cars behaved.
Styling discussions can’t be avoided when it comes to the ’69 Grand Prix. Being a Personal Luxury Car, the Grand Prix was meant as a fashion statement, and that it accomplished. The model pushed the long-hood short-deck trend to the extreme, popularized by the likes of the Mustang. Also, its neoclassical face was a sign of a new age in Detroit styling. The ’69 Grand Prix was one of the marque’s truly influential models.
Further reading:
Curbside Classic: 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix -Who’s The Fairiest Pontiac Of Them All?
1969 seems like it was a good year for everybody. Even I looked a lot better then.
Unfortunately, the US economic climate at the time was recession, so as good as the 1969 cars (some of the best in US auto history) might have been, sales were actually down.
I know I did. lol
Word on the street is the ladies still think you’re good looking.
Impressed by the performance.
8.6mpg. How things have changed.
Graduated high school in 1969, was driving a 1963 Mercury comet s22 convertible , long gone but bought one just like it one year ago… Much better mpg than the GP…the pontiacs are very handsome automobiles…
Downsizing didn’t always have to be a dirty word. This was downsizing done well.
I only recently learned that the GP had a 118″ wheelbase while the Chevy Monte Carlo and all the 4-door A-bodies were 116″. I wonder how hard DeLorean and Wangers fought for those extra two inches.
The MC didn’t use the same frame as the A-Body four doors. Both the GP and MC used the body of the 2-door A-Body coupes (with different styling), and then elongated the frames from the cowl forward. That required a different frame from the 4-doors, whose cowl was 4″ further forward. That’s why the engine in these sits further behind the front wheels, enhancing their F/R balance.
The fact that the MC used the same wb as the 4-doors is essentially incidental.
Was a hood tach (as shown on the lead image) really a factory RPO on the 1969 Grand Prix?
Yes.
Recall the 1969 Grand Prix was a huge hit. Personal luxury with a sport flair. Perhaps the pinnacle for the model, although the 63-64’s were great. Can’t think of one better for the remainder of its run, which lasted until 2008. Seems like every year after 1969 they were a bit decontented, emasculated and cheapened. The 1978 downsizing utterly destroyed it. The final two generations were just run of the mill, intermediate sedans.
So true. I was 18 then. I always liked the Grand Prix and bought a new one in 1983 after returning from Turkey on an Air Force assignment. It was the ideal car for my year at Michigan State grad program (sponsored by the Air Force) in GM heavy Lansing, MI. I had the T-top model.
John Z was still very much in tune with what the public wanted, and this was a very hot segment in 1969. That Pontiac would turn out a particularly well-executed product in that segment was expected back then, because that is what Pontiac had been doing for the previous decade.
I have never really thought of this car in these terms, but could this have actually been the last car that was both unique as a Pontiac and really successful? Pontiac would later have some unique cars (Grand Am, Aztec) and some successful cars (GPs in the 70s and 80s) but none that had been the kinds of things the organization had pulled through the minefield that was the GM burocracy during the Knudson/Estes/DeLorean years.
One of my favorite Grand Prix models.
I was in grade 9 when this model came out. I went out and bought the MPC model kit and did my car in black vinyl over a dark green metallic. Much bolder than the Monte Carlo and I recall this year of Grand Prix pioneering some unique features such as the radio antenna in the windshield and the driver-oriented instrument panel. This was at time when Pontiac was really on a roll with some nice performance cars.
I’ll always be a fan of the GP, especially the 63-64 models which were not sold by GM Canada.
Gary, you and I are about the same age. I bought the 1969 Grand Prix kit and painted mine with a gold body and black vinyl top and interior.
In the late “90’s”, a white “GP” of this generation would park near my apt building. Usually appeared on/near wkds.
Was white/black top/ black inside; seemed to be in rather good condition.
Always wondered what became of it; wore “IL” plates if I remember correctly..
The interesting thing is the Grand Pix despite its size remained in the company of the Riviera, Toronado, Eldorado, purely on the inertia of the name. It’s hard for me however to not make a connection the intermediate specialty car, the Dodge Charger, and on paper the closest equal I can think of to the SJ 428 would be the the Charger R/T SE 440.
Interesting how the 1969 GP got the 428 engine as an RPO. I wonder how that happened since there was still a GM ban on engines over 400 cid going into intermediates.
Likwise, besides the Charger RT/SE, the 1970 Monte Carlo got the 454 option, as well as the quasi-PLC 1971 Mercury Cougar with a 429CJ.
Makes you wonder if the generally low performance or “malaise” era of 1970s PLCs would have had a continuation of 60s supercar performance had it not been for the numerous factors (fuel and insurance costs, safety and environmental regulation) that stifled it out. The Cutlass Supreme SX 455 is another quasi PLC performance package, it among the other cars you mentioned seemed to possibly forecast the next era in American performance cars, obviously one that never panned out.
I would think the ‘69 Grand Prix would be targeted to a market closer to the Cougar of the same year, as opposed to the Riviera, Toronado, or Eldorado.
Interesting that you mention the Charger in relation to the ’69 Grand Prix. You are correct in that they are both specialty intermediates. What about the AMC Ambassador? It was essentially a specialty intermediate as well, even though it wasn’t marketed that way.
It was possible to buy an Ambassador four-door sedan and wagon, so it wasn’t viewed as a “specialty” car by potential buyers at that time.
I know it wasn’t viewed that way, but it was still an intermediate with a stretched wheelbase and more luxurious interior than the Rebel. Maybe it deserves at least a little recognition.
Also, there was the Marlin.
They’re really a different league, while I see your point the wheelbase stretch is really the only common trait. not sharing any common sheetmetal and being coupe only is what truly separated PLCs from luxury coupes, such as the later Grand Lemans. If you boil down the PLCs to their basics they were essentially a midsize extension of the 60s Ponycar formula.
Actually now that I come to think of it with the Charger in mind as a sort of early entry to this field,AMC may indeed have been there not with the Ambassador but the 1967 Marlin, which was Ambassador based that year only. These like the early Charger shared forward sheetetal with the sedan they were based on which may disqualify it but it was definitely a intermediate sized specialty coupe, thhough I’m not sure where Marlins would rank on the luxury scale.
Have a friend who had a ’72 GP. I always preferred the ’71-’72 two headlight front over the ’69-’70 four headlight version. Nice car. I owned a ’92 XJS later on and always thought the body style (first introduced in ’76) of long hood/short trunk was inspired by the “personal luxury” models (MC/GP) of the american manufacturers of the time. Probably even aimed at that market, but a bit more affluent.
This car was nicknamed the SSJ!
I have a 1972 Pontiac Grand Prix with a 455 that runs like bats out of hell….had a 1971 in High School with a 400. Both of these cars are still running today….I love GM cars I’m finishing up a 1948 Oldsmobile we stuff a 1978 Olds 455 in it almost complete. It’s about time we talk about Pontiac Grand Prix…
1969 Grand Prix, one of the modern classic cars of our time! My favorites are the 1969-1972 models. Also like the 1975-1978 models.
Loved these then and now, and would buy today if not for gas, but I had my share of “personal luxury” with a ’62 Chrysler 300, and a ’92 Riviera (dad said it was the last good looking car ever made). My dose of Grand Prix was a ’98 GTP, silver with black leather, and I have to differ with “run of the mill intermediate sedan.” No, it wasn’t the SJ, but the back-road Appalachia handling and the scream of the supercharger were pure mountain lion, no shame to the name and outstanding for the era.