One of my best buds in high school (class of 75) had a pristine triple black 4-speed 1969 Grand Prix. Personally l loved the quad headlight cars. It was a 400 that had no problem pushing that big car around. Loved driving it!
First car I ever owned. It was a 71 model J with unfortunately a 350 put into it. My parents bought it for 500 dollars in 1989. Was metallic green with a black vinyl top. It was such a classy but bad ass car. The door handles, the all metal grill- it was the best. Many good times in that car! I would love to have another some day totally resto modded but subtlety done.
Very cool. I've only seen one of these in white, never a black one. The sunroof is also unusual, most of the sunroofs in the '70's were by American Sunroof Corp.
In 1971 sold my 1970 boss 302, bought '71 GP, standard auto, buckets, and motor. I loved the car , luxury and class still sporty! Never heard of Hurst Gp! Cool car!
Wonderful car! This is my pick for the "family car". The SJ meant you got a 428 in 69 or the 455 in the 70's. I love the 4 speed and the posi. Much better looking car than the Monte Carlo.
As we explain in the video, to get the SSJ in ‘71, you had to order a Model J and add the Hurst package. SJ factory striping conflicted with Hurst stripes.
Ever since I can remember...probably when I was a kid obsessed with classic cars in the 90s...from the first time I ever heard of and saw pictures of the SSJ, I wanted one. It was even highly unique back then being a car that came with the option of a TV in the dash. I will be honest and admit I prefer the double headlight '69 and '70 GPs more, I wouldn't complain if I could get a '71 or '72 however. Even just a 400 or 428 4spd would be incredible, I don't believe there were any 455 4spds, if there were they were insanely rare. As long as it was reasonably solid and all there, I'd probably be more stoked about a '69-'72 GP than a GTO. Pontiac made a bunch of great cars from '61-'79. They had a special style to them. Once the 400 was discontinued it was pretty much the end of real Pontiac.
My old man was the new car manager at a pontiac dealer in jax florida back in the 70's. They took a cue off Hurst, and they took a 1971 White SJ's with the 7.5L 455ci and gave them the 2 tone gold & white paint jobs with pinstriping, but obviously no Hurst labeling and sold them as "custom editions" as they really were. But here is where they made the difference between the hurst cars, and the facsimile when they built the gold & white GP's...., The dealer was using the gold honeycomb wheels from the trans am to put on the GP's . I actually have a photo of one of those cars in my albums. Design innovations included concealed wipers, Alfa Romeo-style flush door handles, and a radio antenna embedded in the windshield for a cleaner look. Also..., you may not know that delorean (GTO) was instrumental in the design for this time, and he based the looks off of the Duesenberg with the long hood and grill. He even insisted Pontiac use the old Duesenberg model designations, J and SJ.”
When I ordered my 2005 3T Z51 Corvette coup I had to have the 6 speed stick. When I was looking to buy a C7 in 2018 and 19 I wanted an automatic. Other than out of the hole the paddle shifters make me a better driver. I am able to focus all my attention on the road ahead and accurately carving the curves.
It is too bad they focused on the emission instead of getting into overdrive transmissions back then. Even the old 389 had enough bottom end torque to do 65 at 1700RPM and not miss a beat. The 4 speed advantage with 2 overdrives and a 4:11:1, rear gear and it would take road speeds at very good MPG compared to those factory models. You had to wind a 3 speed transmission hard in all the gears to take advantage of those factory engines. They would get good top speed, but lose some going back up the hills, especially the smaller cubic inch emission V8's.
To be fair, they needed to get a handle on the emissions. The air in most cities was brown back then. Today we have clean air and double/triple the horsepower, so it worked out OK.
@@musclecarcampy9922 To be fair, did you see the pieces of shit running around in the 70's and 80's that was 20 years old already. That was the major problem.
I always liked the single headlights better on these cars. The boat-tail I could give or take. And, LOL, at 10:03 look at those Suburbans parked on the side street. Who are those guys? Right when he was lighting up the tires, too!!!😆🤣
The back of the SSJ looks great! But the single headlights look like some kind of weird 'frog' custom by George Barris... The quad headlights looked much better!
Probably would have to modify the console. The badge on the car was “Hurst Equipped,” but the only hurst items were the Performance Calculator and the sunroof.
I was enjoying the video until you said the SSJ was automatic only (just like the Buick Grand National) American car buyers are so boring. The 2024 Vauxhall Grandland, an SUV, comes standard with a six speed manual. Even worse, Pontiac is no longer around, either. Crazy world.
Its not a sports car, that what the Trans Am was for. It's a boutique luxury muscle car with a 7.5L V8 hooked to an automatic so good Roll, Jag and Ferrari used it...the TH400.
