Original Owner 42 years Window Sticker Unicorn of Grand Ams!

Pontiac Grand Am 1974 Description

Wow! Chance of a lifetime for you Pontiac people out there. For sale (reluctantly) is my one-of-less-than-15 1974 Grand Am sedan with the 4-speed MANUAL transmission.

This combination has been my grail since learning up on the early Grand Ams in the early-1980's. Especially since my high school (and college, and young adult) car was a 1974 4-door automatic.I made contact with the original owner of this car through a chat room (remember them?) around 2005. He wanted a ton of money and clearly wasn't ready to part with this baby. Come 2016 and the gentleman has moved from across town to across the state and is realizing he is getting older, and maybe it's time to let some toys go. It turns out we had livedless than two miles from each other for years and he now lived just a few miles from the Indiana city I had moved to (then back to Louisville). We were both deeplyinvolved with the local SCCA in the early 1990's- him in club racing, me in autocross, and knew all the same folks. So we struck a deal, and I promised to keep this car forever. But the financial situation has different ideas. I'm just happy to have spent a year caring for this awesome, one-of-a-kind machine.

So, the original owner walked into our local dealer, Sam Swope Pontiac, in fall of 1973 and special-ordered this car since he needed a family car but wanted a sports car. If you're looking at this, you already know Grand Am history and options, so I'll skip to the good stuff. This car is equipped with the optional 400-4bbl engine (the only way to get the manual), the M20 Saginaw 4-speed transmission, positraction, Rally II wheels,A/C, tinted glass, sport mirrors and some trim. That's it! No power options, no whitewall tires, not even a radio! Ever seen a Grand Am without a radio? It was possible.

He then kept the car as fresh as possible, garage-kept and minimum mileage since he had a company car (government job). Being an engineer and a gearhead (and weekend racer), he made some tweaks, such as an aftermarket high-performance coil system that he said worked well, but burned up the point every five thousand miles. And also fried the factory tach, which he got replaced under warranty (Shhh...). The box is still on the driver's fender well, but not hooked up. The tach is alive and well. He also replaced the factory radio blankout plate (see picture- it's ugly) with a custom-made mahogany panel (to match the rest of the dash) holding vacuum and oil temperature gauges. Why not? They, too, continue to work well, although the combination sending unit/drain plug is a nuisance.

Yes, the interior has the usual 1970's GM plastic issues, but only on the upper windshield trim and the two lower rear door panels. They're a little crispy. Also, it appears the garage had a window on the right side of the car, as the plastics and carpet have faded unevenly.

It has also been repainted twice, the last time in 2005, and not terribly well. Looks excellent from 20 feet. Even my professional-grade detailer guy says it's done. That's where the original side rub strips disappeared. The original owner also replaced the then-broken-up nose in 2005 with the In-Design fiberglass reproduction. It looks excellent and the paint is holding up better than the rest of the car! He also had applied a DIY rust-proofing kit when the car was new-ish, explaining why there's no rust to be found, not even in the trunklid! There is some oily residue from runs of the stuff. Worth it for a rust-free car!

I added acolor-matched 1975body-color bumper since it looks SO much better than the chrome piece! I sent a picture of the revised car to the original owner. He wrote back that that's what he wanted in the first place, and he had been very disappointed when they switched to the chrome for 1974. Go figure. The original chrome bumper comes with the car (see picture).

Mechanically, it could use a good tuning. It doesn't like cold-starting, though that could be the E10 fuel around here. Speaking of fuel, the fuel guage is now stuck past 'F'. It happened after I filled it completely the first time, worked perfectly before that. I'm sure it's the sender; I just don't feel like dropping the tank and all. Head and block numbers date match build date. Correct 1973 Quadrajet carburetor (manual trans only). Transmission shifts beautifully through the factory-installed HURST shifter, like a muscle car should. The limited slip works like a charm and will still bark the tires into third gear!

The brakes have lots of meat and have just been thoroughly blead. Still not perfect, but it could be me. Been almost 20 years since my last Grand Am. Cooling system works properly, just flushed, thermostat replaced. The A/C belt had been removed, so I can tell you nothing about it's operation except the dash switches do their thing properly. Brand new tires (Hercules H/P 4000s), blackwalls out, as original.

I have the original order agreement, the window sticker, warranty book and PHS documentation for this car. Also receipts for the nose and exhaust (aluminized- 1998). Surprisingly, that's it on receipts. He said he "never kept that stuff". Oh, well.

I absolutely ADORE this car, but finances say it's time for it to go to a new caretaker who will worship it like me and the original owner.

Any questions or offers, do not hesitate to ask. I am happy to help with whatever shipping YOU choose. I set up nothing.

There is a required $950 non-refundable Paypal deposit due within 48 hours of the end of the auction. The rest is due within 7 days of the end of the auction. I do NOT finance, if you need to, better have it ready before you bid. Cashier's checks, money orders are welcome. If you want to pay cash in person, that's even better! Car is in Louisville, Ky., and you're welcome to come see it!

If anyone wants to take the car out of the US, it's all up to you.