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!!
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!
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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’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.
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! 👍
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.
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
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!
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.
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.
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!"
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!
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.
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...
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".
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.
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?🤦♂️
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
My dad owned 69, 70, 73 & 77 Grand Prix that he really loved. He totaled the ‘69 but always said it was his favorite. I learned to drive (and got my license) in the ‘77. All beautiful cars- available in some wonderful colors/trims.
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 …..
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.
'69 GP's were called the smart man's Eldorado. SJ's featured standard rear leveling just like Eldos. First car to place the antenna wires in the windshield and the first to offer embedded heated wires for defogging the rear window. Pontiac called the drivers seat a Command Seat and I've read it was the first car to offer intermittent wipers. The interior door handles were hidden in the armrests: Squeeze Release, only for '69. Can't think of another car with that feature. It was also the first car to offer a full soft rimmed steering wheel. Most have hardened with age. There was no glove box in front of the passenger, just padding and it was the first car to feature inner impact door beams for safety. If you ordered the Delco 8-Track, which came with twin Sepra-Phonic or Verbra-Phonic 6x9 package shelf speakers, it was mounted on the transmission tunnel, behind the console and faced the front of the car. Impractical, yes, but without a glove box, there simply was no other place for it. Designers Jack Humbert and Irvin Rybicki have been credited with the handsome exterior design.
I had the '72 J. It was fast stock (400), but I dropped a modded 455 in it and it was such a sleeper. The hard part was getting it to hook up and then STAY hooked up until about 40 mph.
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.
*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*
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...
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"!
Cool. Did not know this was first year of driver centred console for Pontiacs. Of course my parent’s 74’ Parisienne had it. It was really nice and the steering wheel had a wood grain aluminum touch to it I recall which was nice on the Brougham.
Very interesting. I do like the 69 and 70 Grand Prix. Not so much the 71 and 72 models. They also featured the antennae in the front windscreen. The 1969 Ford kind of had a driver centric dash too.
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.
When I was a young man, one of my friends had a 69 Grand Prix. I drove that car a few times, and loved it. If memory serves me correctly, it had a 455ci engine. This car was very powerful. I liked the center console. And ho sitting in that bucket set, and looking out over that long hood, wow what a memory. And did I mention the power. I love your videos, I know they are a lot of work. Thank You. .
When I was a kid the first car I bought was a 1971 Pontiac Grand Prix SJ. I just fell in love with its lines, cockpit and door handles.
69 Model J
Wish I still had it 400 4bbl
Me Tooo! Omg I wish I could post some pics of mine here
Same here dude. Had a 71 SJ 455.
I wanted one so badly back in the day! I couldn’t afford it. Looking back, I should have bought a clean one and kept it.
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!!
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.
Olds also got the roofline for the 1970 Cutlass Supreme coupe. 😊
@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!
The kind of horse trading that was so common in GM at that time.
You are correct, see my reply. Dave...
I just loved those cars.
The 69 to 72 is hands down my favorite generation of the Pontiac Grand Prix!!! Thanks Adam for sharing this informative video!!! 👍👍🙂
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
The '69 wasn't boattailed, much cleaner than the '71-'72!
I drove my Dad's 69 SJ. Hated the "lovely" door handles! Now I have a Kia EV6 - With the same type of opener!! ACK.
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.
As it should be. The passenger should just be glad to be there, and behave themselves.
I was going to point that out.
Love those big Fords.
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.
The LTD, at least, stayed that way through '72...
Driver centered dash: 1963 Studebaker Avanti
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.
Love those door handles. Perfect addition for a custom car
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.......
And the leftward mounted radio location. Love to know more about that.
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
69-72 Ford Ltd I believe was even more streamline! I believe the cyclone had driver centric dash .
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 almost bought a 70 GP silver and chrome! Broke my heart when I was 16yrs old. ✌🇺🇸
My brother had a '69 Grand Prix with 50's all around and lowered slightly with glass packs. Awesome car.
The fact the styling was influenced by early 1900s cars explains why the front end gives me steam punk vibes. It's a beautiful car.
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.
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"
I had a beautiful ‘69 Grand Prix! 400 engine, 350 hp before it was rebuilt, 14x7 ralleye wheels etc.. GREAT car!
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.
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 owned a 1974 Grand Prix. Great car. Metallic blue w/White interior and Vinyl Roof. Factory Chrome Mag wheels. Went from that to a 1978 Seville.
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.
My first car was a 74 SJ. The drivers cockpit spoiled me for life. No other car I've come across has as good a vibe for the driver, IMHO.
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.
LJ came later
@@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,
@@OLDS98 That 1985 Pontiac 2+2 was very good looking for the era. Too bad it didn't have the performance to match the looks.
@@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.
I always really liked these A body-special Grand Prixs!
Very cool info Adam, keep it going👍
That smile watching the balloon Zeppelin shows how much fun you are having
One of my brothers friends, his 1970 Pontiac Grand Prix got hit by a freight train and turned into an accordion. Beautiful car before that happened.
Awesome. I owned a '70 with the 400. IT was a dark green with black cloth interior and column shift.
Best ever. Owned 2 of this body. 69 and 70. Fast and fun to drive. Always a crowd pleaser.
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! 👍
An example of Adam's briliant and unique research. Fascinating!
I drove a 72 GP for many years and loved the dash, the long boat like hood and those door handles! 😃 Great cars!
Nicely presented. All GM A bodies were great those years ~68-72.
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.
I always wondered what the J, SJ, and LJ names meant! Now I know where they came from.
I'd still like to find one of these again!
The 1972 Grand Prix was the only car I have driven at 150 mph. The speedometer needle would pass 120 and hit the zero peg at 150 mph.
Loved and still love those classic Pontiacs 😍
I had a 69 GTO, always wanted a Grand Prix. Way cool cars.
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
My family had a 1969 sJ triple brown. My all time favorite car.
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!
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.
Beautiful car and excellent information !
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.
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!"
A friend that I haven't seen in 35 years had one of these. It brings back memories.
The "Miller" grill makes perfect sense! I look at the '69 GP and I knew I had seen that grill before....
Great video!
When I was a kid there was a '68 GP with fins from a '60 Cadillac on it!
Studebaker's had "Driver's-Centric" Interiors not only in Avantes in the early 60s but also in the mid to late 50s Hawks ! !
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!
Huge talents typically have huge egos to match. That frequently made for complicated interpersonal dynamics.
My best friend got a 69 GP around 1979 and that 'driver centric cockpit' was really different even in 79. We noticed it immediately and loved it.
Took my drivers test in Chciago in a friends SJ.... very carefully.
Badass. Plain and simple.
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.
Who doesn't like the tidbits of little known car facts ...very interesting!!
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. 😅😂😅
Yeah great Cockpit and the sidetrack stance. There were a few of these warmed over.
For me the 71 455 was Numero uno. Had one...wow, what a mochine
I wonder how the door handles operated in snow/freezing weather?
I always thought the grill was inspired by parrots or cockatoos.
I always thought bird like as well.
The good old days of styles and personalities in cars
Those door handles remind me very much of those on the current Cadillac Lyriq
Had a friend that owned a '71 GP. Really classy car back in the day.
Great video, as usual. I think the same style door handle that’s found on the ‘69 Grand Prix was also used on the ‘55 “Million Dollar Look” Chryslers.
And De Soto as well.
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 wondered for so many years, how you actually opened the door on one of those cars. This video answers it!
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...
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".
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.
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?🤦♂️
I love these kind of details. Except for the Duesenberg inspired model names, they were all new to me.
I was 10 in 1970 and I loved these cars, still do.
I rode in a 1969 Grand Prix in 1969 when I was in the Navy This guy's car was beautiful
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.
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.
The 69 gran prix was built on a 4 door A body chassis. That gave it the stretched out front end.
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.
Great video Adam the 1963 1968 and the 1969and 70 Grand Prix are my favorites tesler uses a similar style door handle also .👍
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.
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.
Thanks for this! Remembering the Grand Prix of that year, with all the magazine ballyhoo, GP looked unlike any other car.
My dad owned 69, 70, 73 & 77 Grand Prix that he really loved. He totaled the ‘69 but always said it was his favorite. I learned to drive (and got my license) in the ‘77. All beautiful cars- available in some wonderful colors/trims.
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 …..
Thank you for making and sharing this video. The 1969 Grand Prix is a wonderful car.
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.
'69 GP's were called the smart man's Eldorado. SJ's featured standard rear leveling just like Eldos. First car to place the antenna wires in the windshield and the first to offer embedded heated wires for defogging the rear window. Pontiac called the drivers seat a Command Seat and I've read it was the first car to offer intermittent wipers. The interior door handles were hidden in the armrests: Squeeze Release, only for '69. Can't think of another car with that feature. It was also the first car to offer a full soft rimmed steering wheel. Most have hardened with age. There was no glove box in front of the passenger, just padding and it was the first car to feature inner impact door beams for safety. If you ordered the Delco 8-Track, which came with twin Sepra-Phonic or Verbra-Phonic 6x9 package shelf speakers, it was mounted on the transmission tunnel, behind the console and faced the front of the car. Impractical, yes, but without a glove box, there simply was no other place for it. Designers Jack Humbert and Irvin Rybicki have been credited with the handsome exterior design.
I had the '72 J. It was fast stock (400), but I dropped a modded 455 in it and it was such a sleeper. The hard part was getting it to hook up and then STAY hooked up until about 40 mph.
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.
*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*
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...
5bucks worth of gas on almost Empty back then would get you between 1/4 to 1/2 tank of gas!
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"!
Love the 69-72 Grand Prix!
Cool. Did not know this was first year of driver centred console for Pontiacs. Of course my parent’s 74’ Parisienne had it. It was really nice and the steering wheel had a wood grain aluminum touch to it I recall which was nice on the Brougham.
Adam, your intellect is greatness and your content is refreshing and also very inspiring!!!
Very interesting. I do like the 69 and 70 Grand Prix. Not so much the 71 and 72 models. They also featured the antennae in the front windscreen. The 1969 Ford kind of had a driver centric dash too.
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.
When I was a young man, one of my friends had a 69 Grand Prix. I drove that car a few times, and loved it. If memory serves me correctly, it had a 455ci engine. This car was very powerful. I liked the center console. And ho sitting in that bucket set, and looking out over that long hood, wow what a memory. And did I mention the power. I love your videos, I know they are a lot of work. Thank You.
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These are among my favorite American Cars.
interesting facts that i never knew. i would say the 69 and 70 full size fords also had driver centric dashboards.
It's a fantastic car. Having the longest hood of any gm production car. Also, too the 71' stutz Blackhawk sat on a 71 grand prix chassis