Styling of the post 72 cars has maybe been a litlte controversial but I like the 73 - 75 Grand Am & Cutlass Supreme in particular. One thing these cars did have was superior ride & handling, which is the thing I most enjoyed about the vehicles I've owned from the 73-77 mid sized GM line and the 77-90 full sized Chevy/Pontiac line.

How about one of these?

whats the deal with that one?

68sd wrote:

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whats the deal with that one?

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Formula X LeMans in front of GM design studio about 1972. And we think it takes a long tome to get a car to market now.

Nice ad, that's for sure.

I did a stitch job on the 72 Formula X and the 77 Can Am. Jim Wangers claims that in 77 he cam up with the Can Am but this photo sure puts that in dispute in my mind. These Formula X photos only surfaced in mid 2008 and these car existed and were plated for road testing. I guess old yarns are great until someone can prove you wrong. I wonder why no one has taken him to task on his claim.

Check out the nice interior detail on the seats of the Formula X.



-- Edited by 73SC at 21:36, 2009-01-11

nothing to do with this thread but the pic reminded me of the grand am pic

cool anyway



-- Edited by 68sd at 21:57, 2009-01-11

68sd wrote:

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cool wagon
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.abodysite.com/gawagona.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.abodysite.com/variousmag.html&usg=__wPbDuMGBh_C8Sc_0R7OoUn2YSdw=&h=264&w=620&sz=27&hl=en&start=34&tbnid=ezd8AHR0CdB7kM:&tbnh=58&tbnw=136&prev=/images%3Fq%3D1973%2Bgrand%2Bam%26start%3D20%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

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This car also has a functioning hood scoop with a 455 SD motor I believe. It still survives today, a Pontiac engineer has it.

73SC wrote:

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68sd wrote:

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whats the deal with that one?

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Formula X LeMans in front of GM design studio about 1972. And we think it takes a long tome to get a car to market now.

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So why didn't they put the Formula X into production at the time?

I don't get it, none of the other divisions had a car similar to Formula X Ventura/74 GTO either, so how did that get approved?

Turns out this is a fraudulent ad, it's a regular Grand Am, and in bad shape too.

65Camino wrote:

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What ad are you talking about?

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Post #1, the actual topic of the thread!

This is from the owner of one of the two prototypes:

Anyway, there were actually two 1978 Grand Am CAs built. Allow me to describe some of the major differences....

Car #1 is the car that most enthusiasts have seen in print. It is Silver in color, with leather-covered bucket seats, four-wheel disc brakes, a four-speed transmission, a shaker-type hood blister with LED readouts, and of course the special front and rear spoilers, plus wheel spats just ahead of the rear wheels (a lá Trans Am wheel spoilers). It was eventually modified with T-roof openings and displayed on the new car show circuit nationally. This GACA prototype appeared in a number of automotive magazines as a possible tease for a future production car for 1979 or 1980. Look for GACA#1 stories in these publications:

Motor Trend... May 78
Road & Track... (month unknown 78)
Car & Driver.... June 78
Popular Hot Rodding... August 78
HOT ROD... June 78 (this feature was reprinted in Nov 06 High Perf Pontiac Magazine)

The whereabouts of GACA#1 is today UNKNOWN. It was most likely destroyed (as is the practice with most concept vehicles... especially ones with modifications such as the T-roof cuts, etc.) I have personally asked Pontiac Historian John Sawruk and Pontiac Historic Services Director Jim Mattison their thoughts, and neither have heard any rumors as to its fate or current-day existence.

Car #2 (my car) was painted all-Black except for the lower Argent Silver trim below the beltline and Bright Red accent pinstriping and lettering. The interior is Black velour with Red piping on the front bucket seats. It features just about every factory option available (Power sunroof, power everything... Plus the Delco CB/AM/FM radio). Interestingly, it lacks a console (apparently not available when the CB radio was installed!) so, the automatic trans is shifted on the tilt steering column. The original wheels were 14-inch Snowflakes, painted Black. It was and still is powered by the original 301-cid 4-bbl engine.

This car appeared exclusively in HOT ROD magazine as a two-part story:
HOT ROD... November 78
HOT ROD... February 79

The first issue was to introduce this concept car as a future production vehicle when H-R editor Gray Baskerville (now-deceased) took delivery of the car in Pontiac, Michigan and documented his cross-country travels enroute to the magazine's corporate offices in Los Angeles.

The second issue featured HOT RODs build-up of the car (augmenting the factory modifications) by installing nitrous, headers, and upgraded wheels & tires). It was then tested at the drag strip in the typical H-R fashion. In this story, it is mistakenly referred to as a 1979 model(!), yet this car was actually built in June of 1978 and is really titled and recognized as a 1978 model. VIN # 2G27W8Pxxxxxx

GACA #2 is very much alive and resides with my Pontiac collection here in Tucson, AZ. It is "good" but not perfect condition, and still runs and drives well. Earlier this year, I drove the car to Phoenix (120 miles) for the Pontiac Heaven X car show and drag event. A photo of the car on display there appears in the current issue of High Performance Pontiac Magazine.

I purchased the car in December of 2000 after spotting an intriguing classified ad in the local Sunday newspaper. It was being offered for sale by an elderly couple on behalf of their son who bought the car at a California collector car auction. Unfortunately, the woman was meanwhile using it as a daily driver.

In the trunk of the car was a treasure trove of documentation, including two Experimental Work Orders (dated 6-16-78 and 6-21-78), and the Authorization For Temporary Use of Company Car from when the HOT ROD magazine editors took delivery of the car at Pontiac Headquarters Administration Building Car Gate at 10:22am on August 23, 1978.

The Pontiac Historic Services Billing History, though quite difficult to read, details the cars long list of original options and states that it was delivered to Pontiac Motor Division P-R Cars / Columbia Avenue Gate / Pontiac, MI

I know everyone is wondering, Whats up with the hood that is currently on the car? A bit of mystery still surrounds that and just how this car got into private hands. (When asked, PHSs Jim Mattison winked at me and said slyly, The guy at GM whom they were supposed to return the car to must have been out sick that day...) ha ha!

Anyway, I have been able to trace back only two previous owners. The earliest fellow was able to provide me with a set of Polaroids of when he bought the car at an auction in Southern California. When he purchased it, GACA#2 was painted bright red and had GTO decals attached! Whoever did that little piece of earlier customization also installed a set of hood extractors from a circa-1987 Firebird GTA, plus BBS-style Black mesh 15" rims to somewhat echo the original Snowflakes. ...At least someone had the sense to later return it to its all-Black incarnation (as it appeared in the two H-R magazine stories). This owner later sold it at another auction and the car then ended up in the hands of the fellow who's elderly parents used it for daily transportation.

Some cosmetic notes:
1) I have recently installed a nice set of WS-6 Snowflake 15" wheels with the proper red center caps... just like what was shown on GACA#1. (I personally dont care much for the look of the all-Black 14" Snowflakes that GACA#2 was originally outfitted with when it left Pontiac.)

2) The Red pinstriping and Grand Am CA lettering on the front fenders and the decklid of GACA#2 were originally HAND PAINTED at the factory.

3) The original Grand Am CA factory-installed decals on the INSIDE of the upholstered door panels are still there and intact (although the drivers side decal is quite wrinkled and breaking apart.)

4) Sadly, the original Trans Am exhaust splitter tips on the passenger side only apparently fell off the car somewhere along Interstate 10 while enroute to the Pontiac event in Phoenix. It was much more corroded at the joint than I had imagined. The driver's-side tips are still intact.

5) The exhaust headers and the plumbing for the nitrous system as installed by H-R are still on the car. I have never tested the nitrous.

So, why is there all the damage on the front end of the car? The little old lady whom I purchased the car from in 2000 asked her 84-year-old husband Harold to park the car in the garage one day. Fate intervened and he unfortunately hit the gas pedal instead of the brake and proceeded to bounce the car off the shelving units along the back wall of their garage. It was soon after that incident that Joyce & Harold decided to stop driving (thankfully!) and sold the car to me.

OK, and now for the big question: Is GACA#2 really for sale... and how much? Well, yes, I would consider selling the car to the right enthusiast (along with a very-straight 78 GA parts car) as-is together as a pair for what I think is a very reasonable price... $9,500. If anyone out there is truly serious, call me, Thom Sherwood, at (520) 798-3200. Lets talk.




 






Don't get spoiled, I can't be expected to find this stuff every time someone asks


-- Edited by 73SC on Tuesday 25th of May 2010 09:27:28 PM