If I had my druthers, I'd blend a 69-70 front clip onto a 71or 72, dunno about the interior blend but I've ridden in the 69/70 they seemed good enuf on the inside just dig the rears of the 71-72's
Back in the early to mid 1970's, i owned 5 GP's.....the 69 with the 428 was an animal....the 72 SJ with 455 was a low flying jet on open road....i loved those cars!!
Actually, the 69 and 70 big Ford had a DRIVER-CENTRIC dash. Everything wrapped around the driver. The passenger could only look at the glove box. The radio was on the left side of the steering wheel and the clock faced away from the passenger. It was a great design if you didn't like passengers fuss-en with your radio.
I was thinking that same thing. I think the driver-centric dash layout was nicer looking in the GP, but the 69-70 Ford dash was over the top driver-centric.
One additional fact: DeLorean had trouble getting the brass at GM to approve the expense of the tooling for the roof stamping for this one model. He worked out a deal with Chevrolet Division President Pete Estes to share the roofline with the Monte Carlo. Part of this deal was that Pontiac got a one-year exclusive use of the roof for 1969, with the Monte Carlo appearing in the following model year.
@DavidBugea THAT sounds very much like a DeLorean move! I've read articles/interviews of those who worked with & around him, all of them generally reference his ability to not only find viable outcomes to production, but also his ability to capitalize on exclusivity for his designs/projects.
@jamieturner401 It was a few years ago at a POCI event, where a gentleman had a 72 GP he'd made into a convertible using all the top components/structures from a Olds Cutlass Supreme convertible. Really was a STRIKING looking car!
Okay, I'd never noticed hose door handles before! Very cool! These were some sharp cars, from an era when the designers really made a big impact on the cars.
One interesting tidbit, 69 was the first year that the Bonneville had a unique grill design compared to the other full sized Pontiacs like Catalina. This is because the 69 Bonneville grille was designed for what was going to be the full-sized 69 Grand Prix before they decided to instead build it on the midsized platform.
I liked that upscale looking '69 Bonneville grille with it's endura impact absorbing framing. And, I think it's neat how the Grand Prix and Monte Carlo looked distinctly different even though they shared a lot of parts and under the skin engineering. You could never mistake one for the other, at least in the early years.
I've owned 7 69 to 72 Grand Prix's, (4 at the same time) really loved that Dash and all the sutle things Pontiac did the set them apart from other Pontiacs. My wife allways had trouble with the door handles. Her daily driver was a 69 Malibu, but she also drove her own 72 Grand Prix.
Ford also had a driver-centric dashboard in the 1969 LTD's, the two are like twins. I wonder who spied on who???? Another great watch from Adam, thanks much.......
Back in "Those" days it was mounted on the left to keep the "little woman" from changing the station to cooking shows or soaps... LOL@@davidpancerev9658
It took me a while to warm up to the styling of this GP but looking back it was one of Pontiac and GM's finest. Still love those slim and elegant push-pull door handles. Thanks for the backstory on this interesting car!
I had a '69 GP. Wonderful car. I heard that the the hood was a half-inch longer that the MKIII Lincoln. It was no accident. DeLorean wanted to claim the 'longest hood"
We had a 1969 GP and I love the door handles, This make it sound like you needed two hands to open the door, You didn't, You push it with your right hand thumb and it pop out and then you just grab it with your right hand fingers. It was real Easy to open GP big door and no more broken nails.
I often wonder why the change was so dramatic in 1969 when Grand Prix used to be on the full-sized car line. This video explains things. It went to the midsized car line and never looked back. There were many successful Grand Prixs over the years. They got away from the Duesenberg trim names in the 1980's. I am thankful you explained them. I had relatives that owned Grand Prix with those trim level names. I recall J, SJ, LJ. I may have missed one. Those were some very interesting facts. I do recall all of them. Good footage and information. Thank you Adam.
@@RareClassicCars Indeed. Thank you for the correction. It got easier to recall the trim levels by the 80's and 90's too: base, Brougham, LE, SE, GT, GTP, and the brief Turbo. People later associated this car with Nascar and Richard Petty. The Pontiac 2+2 came back briefly in the 80's in that Nascar package,
@@MarinCipollina Thank you for your comment. This is true. I see them on You Tube all the time and for sale sometimes too. The other G-Bodies ( Oldsmobile Cutlass 442, Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS, Buick Regal Grand Sport ) all had performance. I wonder why Pontiac did not invest too. The trunk was an issue on this car too because the opening was quite small. I guess they more than made up for this with the next generation W Body performance Grand Prix Turbo, GXP, and GT.
Hi Adam, While I have very much enjoyed these features on unique touches I can’t help but notice the calendar rapidly advancing toward Autumn and was hoping we’d get to see more videos of your collection during these warmer months. Thanks! 👍
I’ve owned many Pontiacs and other vehicles in my 73+ years. The 62 GP and the 69 are my favorites. I still have two 62 4speed 8 lug GP’s plus a 62 Catalina convertible. I had a 63 GP 4 speed my brother got from me and still has. Also had two 64’s, a 65 and a 66 421 car. Newest owned was a 69J and in 1974 I bought a 72SJ 455. I still have my 65 GTO tri- power 4 speed and had several Firebirds, Lemans and Bonnevilles. I still have a 61 Bonny bubble top.
Hearing the inspiration for all these styling touches makes me love the 69-72 Grand Prix even more. I can't remember which GM brass wanted it, but the long hood on the 1970 Monte Carlo is from an affinity for the 30's Duesenbergs and Cadillacs too. That rich brown looks amazing. If I had a Grand Prix SJ, I'd build a 455 with a Roots supercharger and back it with a 4 on the floor like you could get.
Thanks for the great information on the '69 Grand Prix, Adam. When these came out, they made a HUGE splash in the media of the time. I recall that the refrain from the automotive press was, "All the looks of a Lincoln Mark III at half the price!" Pontiac also made a huge deal out of the fact that they had the longest hood in the industry at 6'. This car and the 1970 Chevrolet Monte Carlo that followed created a huge new niche in the market - the intermediate personal luxury car - that played out throughout the decade of the 1970's with huge sales for any automaker that fielded one. That first generation Pontiac Grand Prix was the best of the bunch however. The design was really special. Reportedly, DeLorean and Mitchell didn't get along - but GM Design Staff did some of their best work for Pontiac during this era. Thank you again for a great look back!
My dad had 2 69 Grand Prix model j, now I have my own, I bought it from the original owner in 2015 and I love that car, has the horsepower of a GTO judge and the ride comfort of a Cadillac
I'm a fomoCo guy...but have a love for Pontiacs,and this is the top of my list..1969/70 version..before the "boattail" style trunk,which i did not like,although i did on the Riviera.
When I was a young child my sister married her second husband who in 1971 had a 1969 Grand Prix J 400 auto and at the same time my older brother had a 1970 SJ 455 HO. We lived in a big GM town in Central Indiana. Thank you for bringing up the exterior door handles on these GP's, but no one ever talks about the interior door handles on the '69"s. They were built-in to the armrest and EXTREMELY hard to open for a 10 year old. They changed them on the 1970 models to a very modern paddle pull-out type which worked way better. I loved my Brothers SJ! He used to talk about Racing his neighbors 1970 GS 455 Stage 1 up beyond 130... Fun Memories!😮😊
Yes I remember them! One of my friends had two 69s and a 70! Remember how difficult it was to open the doors from the insides especially since those cars had normal wear but the 70 was easy to open!
Easily one of the best I’ve ever owned a 71 SJ with 455 HO dual snorkel air cleaner bronze with crème vinyl roof and interior. Mine had the rare bench seat column shift and Trans Am style stamped steel steering wheel. So much fun a true muscle cruiser.
My family had a '69 when I was a teenager. A real beauty, including the grill, and fun to drive. Delorean had a good idea. The 1955 Chryslers had similar exterior door handles.
Wow the memories...2:39 had the close-to-same exact car in red, an automatic, and was my first car bought used in '80 when I took a job in Dhahran Saudi Arabia when I was 22. Gas per liter in that oil producing country was $0.23. Drove it to Riyadh when I took another job but had to leave it behind in '83 to come back home. Still have a picture of it with me polishing it, on a pic frame on my desk and I'm now 66. My Dad had a '66 Lemans and when I took the job overseas, I mailed him a pic of my GP which said "Dad look at my car!"
My first car was a 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix. Another feature was the interior door release handles. You had to squeeze it with your finger tips, to open the door from the inside. I wish I could have kept that car. But unfortunately it was just an old car, and I needed the 428 for my GTO.
Gorgeous cars. 73 and after had I think one of the best dashboards ever but prefer the style of the earlier. Although not especially praised in this vid, I love the 67 and esp the 68 full size...great detailing and have such a massive authoritative presence, while 69 and later had a lighter sportier look. But ya know they were all good and a winner for Pontiac from the get-go
The earlier full size 1960s Grand Prix were always very special cars. Most were loaded with all the options you would expect on a Cadillac. They used real wood on interior dash, door and console trim. They were also very powerful with 421 Tri-power V8 engines. The 1964 had Cadillac style iced tail lights. The 1967 was the only full size Pontiac with hidden headlights mounted horizontally. The others were vertical stacks, which looks a bit awkward today.
Well, that sure brings back old memories. I had at least 5 different Pontiacs back in the 60s and early 70s. I liked them all. They built good cars back then if a little bit oversized and uneconomical, but I never heard of mpg back then. 😅😂😅
I remember seeing an ad(Craigslist?) about 12 yrs ago for a 69 SJ,, triple black with a 4spd & hood tach, & thought that IT HAD to be a very rare combo. And I've also been watching for a 4spd car since!
I also thought of the thumb-push finger-pull door handles first! LoL Right after that was the unique original window switch layout, the power, the thirst and, I THINK it had the spring-loaded "diagonal slap-stick" gear selector...
5 bucks in 1968 is 42 bucks today. That's over a half tank of gas in most cars these days and modern cars get much better gas mileage than that Grand Prix did! Point being we spend less of our paycheck today on gas we than we did back when gas was "cheap"!
I've always really liked this Gran Prix body style. It was more agressive and sporty than the larger cars but still had a good amount of luxury options. It wasn't a pony car but 1 step larger and more refined. As a GM car you can also see the similarities between this body style and the 67-70 Cadilac Eldorado which are my favorite years for the Eldorado.
a 72' grand prix was destroyed at mt. st helens. the husk is still there from the campers who died in the explosion. there is a placard and everything. i recognized this car right away.
This 69 Pontiac Grand prix SJ is the one car I miss selling the Most out of all my car's Even more than my 68 dodge charger rt, Not only was my Pontiac super fast, But classy at the same time. Such a Beautiful Car.
These were really a Styling Tour de Force! Very unique and perfect, like the Continental MkII, the '63-'65 Riviera, the '71-73 Riviera, the '68.5- '70 Continental Mk.III, etc. All cars that "need nothing".
*FLOOR SHIFTER HAD THE SLAPSTCK OPTION ON THE FLOOR, FOR WHEN YOU WANT TO RACE, CHANGE GEARS 1,2,3 AND NOT WORRY ABOUT NEUTRAL OR REVERSE. THESE WERE AWESOME CARS AND AWESOME WHEELS*
Excellent video it’s amazing how the dash layout was centered towards the driver, and of course, the passengers have limited access to the radio and climate controls.
I remember when this vehicle first appeared in the showroom of Jenner Motors in my hometown. I loved the looks of it, but was only 16 years old at the time so couldn’t really afford it.
This car, with the single headlight version - is beautiful. The commercials for this car were excellent ! Attention to detail, absolutely ! Thank you Adam. Much appreciated …..
The 69 to 72 grand prix's are a fairly common car. However I do like the 71 and 72 's You failed to mention, one of the greatest facts, about the car. 69 to 72 , which , especially 1972 , came with manual 4sp transmissions, with special consoles. I have the history on paper, on my research materials . Something, like close to 800 , for 69 , 400 for 70 , 150 , for 71 , and lastly , 100 , for 72 . And 0 for 1973 . At the moment, can't remember the exact amount, because I am to busy, researching something else. Also, I believe you could order a 455 ho motor. Not sure. Great video, Adam, nevertheless.
Hi Adam, outstanding car and video! Your information is 100% correct! Most people who owned a Grand Prix, had no idea what "Model J' and/or "Model SJ" stood for. In 1969, Pontiac Motor Division took the GM A-body "mid-size" hardtop frame and pushed the fire wall, roof and passenger compartment back, to produce a longer hood, front fenders, shorter rear deck and longer roof sail panels, (the area behind the quarter windows or rear side windows). Chevrolet Motor Division did the identical thing with the brand new Chevrolet Monte Carlo, and GM called both cars the new GM G-body mid-size. They both tended to look a bit bigger than the standard A-body, I.e. Chevelle/Malibu/Tempest/LeMans due to longer hood, front fenders and sail panels. The G-body Grand Prix did sell much better than the B-body (full-size) Grand Prix did. Back in the 1960s, Pontiac had two full-size personal luxury cars, the Pontiac 2+2 and the Pontiac Grand Prix, The Grand Prix had more standard features and more engine options then the 2+2, but both competing each each other. Please reply. Dave...
Umm, (Sir/Ma’am) just 1 more thing 🤔. My wife had a Rootbeer brown ‘69 Gp. Her dad owned a Diesel Repair Company. On one of the trucks he had completed repairing, when it came time to pay, the owner didn't have enough money. So he told my father-in-law, “I can't pay the rest, but here are the keys to my 1969 Grand Prix”. 😳Will this work to settle our bill? Can you imagine the laughter when my wife received the keys to a 1969 Grand Prix that was basically free?🤦♂️
Thanks!! I learned more about the 69 Grand Prix here than i knew as a kid when these came out. I always thought the grill was a flattening out of the 68 “Edsel style” bird beak. BTW, the 67 “Batmobile” GPs are one of my favorites.
Another great video Adam. While I especially enjoy your videos that cover your own collection, these “information” videos are also enjoyable. Your details regarding the exterior door handles on the ‘69 GP was something I never notices before.
