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1970 (phs Authenticated) Pontiac Grand Prix Sj 455 Ho, 43,424 Original Miles on 2040-cars

Year:1970 Mileage:43424
Location:

Aliso Viejo, California, United States

Aliso Viejo, California, United States
Advertising:

1970 (PHS authenticated) Pontiac Grand Prix SJ 455 HO, 43,424 original miles.

Purchased by me from an 83 year old woman in June of 2003.

I’ve shown it many times and am a stickler for originality, but veered off on this one.  It was just too much fun to drive. Well, I pushed her too hard and blew the engine, but not so bad that I was able to drive it to the mechanic. The block is the original block and the transmission and rear end are assumed original as well, so I’m 99% certain it is numbers matching car.

I took the car to a hot rod / drag strip rebuilder and told him to put all the after market go fast(er) stuff into it, with the limit look original (e.g. Edelbrok stampings) be filed off or filled in.  The engine was to look as close to stock as possible. The exhaust was replaced with a high performance system and sounds the part without being obnoxious. The car is running on synthetic oil.

The car does not idle smoothly due to the aggressive cam lobes installed (for GO FAST), but immediately runs smooth as silk as soon as any gas is applied.  After 3 years in storage, a tune up would probably help it idle a little smoother, but it will never idle smooth (by design). She’s a sleeper!

$11,264.79 later, if it was fun to drive, now it’s almost scary! I have not had it dynode, but the mechanic guarantees me a minimum of 500 horses.

I’ve stored it for the last 3 year, in A/C, Heated, climate controlled garage.

All it took to recommision it was a new battery (August 2014). A/C flushed and recharged (August 2014), no parts needed, hoses need to be resnugged. It blows ICE COLD.

Protecto-Plate and original build sheet (in scorched condition), PHS reproduction window sticker reproduction and other PHS documentation included.

Equipped with driver’s power seat, passenger’s is manual. Tilt steering wheel. Soft ray tinted windshield, but the rest of the windows have been tinted by the previous (1st) owner. Correct T3 Headlamps. Cornering lights function. All Power windows work. Has original rally wheels with beauty rings. AM radio & Rally clock (both not working). Funny yesterday, someone asked me if I’ve checked the fuses. I have not. So could be a very easy fix, or not. Just never bothered me.

I have added NOS door edge guards and a period correct passenger side rear view mirror, driver’s side is remote control. Current tires purchased, June 2004, mileage 40,772. So less than 3k on the tires.

Additional Interesting History and description of the car’s condition

This SJ final assembly point was Fremont California & Sold new in San Diego as a 50th birthday present to a woman that would have nothing to-do with muscle cars. So, her husband snuck this one in on her; accounting for the low mileage. It was just too much car for her, at 500 lbs feet of torque off the assembly line. When the original owners retired they moved to Las Vegas, so the car has always been in a dry environment, free of salt. Then I brought it back to Orange County (Southern) California.

At some point before I purchased the car was freshened, repainted original Granada Gold, and White vinyl top replaced (with incorrect grain pattern that was & is easier to keep clean).

The interior is nearly flawless: Original seat covers, carpet may or my not be original, but with so low mileage, I assume it is. No cracks on the dash. The shifter surround’s crackle paint was pealing, typical for this car; but I had it blasted, re-chromed and refinished and looks brand new ($500.00). The headliner is flawless, hold that the trim has pulled back slightly at the top of the passenger’s side rear (top) window trim.

There is a scuff on the on the side of the drivers side rear bumper. No deformation.

Rust? Not atypical of a car of this era, there is slight bubbling under the vinyl top, at the lower corners of the rear window. And oddly enough, there is one 1 inch bubble on the drivers side fender. That’s it.

Paint is near show quality, but at some point, someone got a bit aggressive polishing the passenger’s side quarter panel, just behind the wheel. Also, to nit pic, there are some drip stains just behind the driver’s door from when the engine was being rebuilt/upgraded stored indoors below another car.  When I saw this, I immediately had the car towed 20 miles back to my climate controlled garage for storage until the engine was completed.

Notes, she was 50 in 1971, so was 82 in 2003, when I purchased the car. Meaning it averaged only 1,300 miles per year. This is the car from the little old lady from Pasadena.

 Bringing a car back to concourse condition is a very costly adventure. As my hard head has now experienced with 3 cars.  Total investment in this car by me exceeds $27,000.00. So I’ve taken the hit. If you want a concourse car, this car needs very little. If you want a driver, local show car, etc. This is it. (not to worry, I do not expect to recoup my investment) Reserve is reasonable as I’ve been watching Grand Prixs on Ebay. Haggerty Insurance agreed value, $18k, and my reserve is well below that.

Happy bidding and GOOD LUCK.

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How to turn a Pontiac Fiero into a trackday car

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Imagine hitting the track in a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive sports coupe that's affordable and has pretty good parts availability. It might sound like a pipe dream, but it's actually quite possible, if you're willing to think a little outside the box. The Pontiac Fiero is out there just waiting for a little work to turn it into a competent racing machine.
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Florida man runs down bikers in traffic

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Junkyard Gem: 1997 Pontiac Sunfire SE Convertible

Sun, Mar 5 2023

For the entire 24-year production run of the GM J platform (best known for the Chevrolet Cavalier), the Pontiac Division offered new J-Body cars for sale in the United States. First there was the J2000, followed in quick succession by the 2000, 2000 Sunbird and Sunbird. The Sunbird stuck around until the Cavalier got a major redesign for the 1995 model year, at which point Pontiac changed the car's name to Sunfire. Today's Junkyard Gem is one of those early Sunfires, a top-of-the-line SE convertible with the optional big engine and manual transmission. The Sunfire was an extremely close sibling to the same-year Cavalier (by the late 1980s, all the other US-market GM divisions had dropped their J-cars, which meant no more Skyhawks, Cimarrons or Firenzas), quite difficult to distinguish from its near-twin at a glance. The base engine for the 1997 Sunfire convertible was the pushrod 2.2-liter straight-four that powered so many J-bodies of the 1990s. That engine produced just 120 gnashing, valve-floating horsepower, not much by late-1990s standards. For a mere 450 additional dollars, however, the 2.4-liter Twin Cam engine and its high-revving 150 horses could be had by '97 Sunfire buyers. That's what's in this car. This is one of the members of the Oldsmobile Quad 4 family, though some fanatics will yell at you if you apply that name to the versions that don't have big QUAD 4 lettering cast into the valve cover. This is the most powerful engine ever used in production Sunfires. For 1997, Pontiac offered a four-speed automatic transmission for no extra cost in the Sunfire convertible. Buyers of all other Sunfire models that year had to shell out either $550 or $810 ($1,026 or $1,511 in 2023 dollars) for a two-pedal rig. That means that the buyer of this car really wanted the five-speed manual transmission (or just hungered for the $810 credit offered in the fine print for takers of the manual). Plenty of free-breathing engine power, five-on-the-floor driving enjoyment and the open skies above. What a fun car! This one made it to nearly 180,000 miles. For this car with the Quad 4 under the hood and a clutch pedal on the floor, the MSRP was $18,539 (about $34,584 today). Its Cavalier LS convertible twin with the same engine/transmission setup cost $17,365 ($32,394 now). This car has a bunch of options, including the 15" Rally aluminum wheels, so the out-the-door price would have been higher. The last year for the Sunfire was 2005, same as the Cavalier.