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It could be laborious to imagine for automotive lovers of a sure age, however within the mid-’70s the non-public luxurious automotive was king. As in style then as combovers (oops, I meant crossovers) are immediately. Sure, certainly. As uncommon as it might appear immediately, households with children purchased these midsized coupes—with tremendous lengthy hoods, incessantly small again seats, and rampant Broughamage—as regular household automobiles.
And in 1976 you have been spoiled for alternative. Besides that at Basic Motors you had 4 engaging specialty coupes, based mostly on the workaday midsize chassis. However these coupes rode on the 116-inch wheelbase of the traditional four-door fashions, all of the extra to stretch that hood, Dorothy!
First up was the Chevrolet Monte Carlo, which I fondly nicknamed Monte Cristos. The ’76 Monte added the briefly fashionable vertically-stacked quad rectangular headlamps, however in any other case it was fairly much like the ’75 model.
In actual fact, ALL of the ’76 PLCs acquired the quad rectangular headlights; it might appear easy immediately, however it was an enormous deal again then. Everybody rushed so as to add them to their mannequin lineups. And so the Grand Prix additionally acquired them, changing the neoclassically-inspired twin spherical headlamps that graced the 1973–75 variations.
Additional up the GM hierarchy, you could possibly additionally get the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme and Supreme Brougham, in addition to the Buick Regal. I’ve already waxed nostalgically on the Cutlass—a favourite of my childhood—and can write a few Regal one in every of nowadays, however let’s get again to our featured Pontiac, we could?
The ’76 GP and solely barely facelifted ’77 are amongst my favorites. I merely love that waterfall grille; it’s so slick! And the “ironing board” hood. It simply seems nice. And Pontiac private luxurious followers apparently agreed, as a complete of 228,091 1976 Grand Prixes (or is that Grandes Prix?) have been bought for the mannequin 12 months. Not too shabby!
The 1976 mannequin 12 months was a terrific one for sheer, unapologetic shade selections, too. No, 97 p.c of manufacturing was not black, silver, or fridge white, like immediately! Oh, no. Among the many colours you could possibly select from have been Roman Pink, Polaris Blue, Durango Bronze, Alpine Inexperienced, Cordovan Maroon, and Metalime Inexperienced—my favourite; I’d have ordered both a GP or Bonneville coupe on this shade, with white inside and lime inexperienced sprint and carpet!
However one other high quality alternative, and the colour of our featured GP immediately, was Firethorn Pink, a really fairly, red-orange metallic that simply glowed within the daylight. It was a bit light on this automotive, however you’ll be able to nonetheless see how vivid and engaging it was, even with a little bit of solar injury.
And it was a extremely popular shade, seen on every part from Cutlasses to Silverados to Coupe de Villes. And this automotive was particularly fetching with an identical inside and white landau vinyl roof. It gave the impression to be a really well-preserved, authentic automotive.
The 1976 Grand Prix got here in two fashions, the $4798 coupe (about $26,007 immediately) and the $5223 SJ coupe ($28,310). The LJ luxurious choice added $520 ($2819).
The SJ, as you would possibly surmise, was the game model. It got here with a typical 400-cubic-inch V-8 with 185 horsepower, a bump up from the bottom GP with its 160-hp, 350 V-8. A 455 V-8 with 200 hp was elective on all fashions.
And simply because I felt prefer it, right here’s a stunning, loaded up ’76 Grand Prix LJ I noticed extra just lately at one of many South Park Mall month-to-month summer season cruise nights in Moline, Illinois. It was spectacular.
It had the soft velour inside, sport steering wheel, Rally II wheels and even cornering lights. Awooga! And for these of you taking notes, this one was painted in Firethorn Pink over Cordovan Maroon.
It simply goes to point out how customizable these automobiles have been again then. Many shade selections, wheel selections, and engines. And even our featured automotive, with minimal choices and the bottom wheel covers, seems fairly good.
Because the ’76 brochure suggested: “… For those who can afford quite a lot of mid-sized automobiles, you’ll be able to afford a brand new 1976 Grand Prix. You’ll get traditional styling. This 12 months highlighted by new twin rectangular headlamps. A daring new grille. A proper roofline. Monogrammed rear quarter home windows. A stand-up hood decoration. And extra.” Commonplace gear was fairly good too, with the aforementioned 350 V-8, Turbo Hydramatic computerized transmission, energy steering, energy brakes, and Pontiac Radial Tuned Suspension.
It was sharp, swank, and comparatively reasonably priced; no surprise they bought near 230,000 of them. This survivor was spied on the 2021 Grape Pageant automotive present in Nauvoo, Illinois. It bore a light supplier sticker on the again, proclaiming it was bought at Carl Motors in Carthage, Illinois. I zeroed in on it and walked previous a number of Corvettes, Camaros, and Mustangs to gawk at it and take many, many extra photos than have been needed. And earlier than I log out this week, can we convey again whitewall tires and two-tone paint?
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