1979 Pontiac Grand Am - Starlight Survivor

The Rarity
Joe says that he rarely drove his Grand Am when it was new, and instead drove his dad's Catalina wagon everywhere. "Insurance premiums were really high, so the Grand Am wasn't out of the garage too often. A large number of the miles currently on the odometer were added during a family trip we took to New York in 1980. Otherwise, it came out on good weather days and was driven mostly to shows and in parades."

The Grand Am's rarity became apparent to Joe in the early '80s while attending one of the first Omaha-area Pontiac, GMC, Oakland shows (see coverage in Aug. '07 HPP). Of that day Joe says, "There, I met a fellow named Jim Wangers. I didn't know who he was at the time, but he told me what I had was pretty rare, and that only a few hundred '79 Grand Ams were built with that powertrain combination. He sounded convincing and, from then on, I drove it as little as possible."

Figures provided by Pontiac Historic Services confirm just that-a total of 136,938 A-body vehicles were produced during the 1979 model year, and two-door Grand Ams account for just 4,021 of that total. Only 428 vehicles of the total A-body production received the four-speed manual behind 231 and 301ci engines through June of the model year, and with only a few weeks left of production, we might surmise that less than 500 total four-speeds were installed. There isn't, however, a current known breakdown by specific engine and/or model combinations.

Living With A Grand Am
Joe tells HPP that the Grand Am's racecar styling hooked him from the beginning and is still a big factor in his ongoing love affair with his Pontiac. He adds, "I love the way it feels on the road too. I know it's only a 301 and doesn't run anything like an earlier Ram Air-era Pontiac, but it runs pretty well for what it is, and it's 400 pounds lighter than a similar year Trans Am too, so it's surprisingly nimble."

Though mileage is low for its age, Joe did have to replace a few items over the years. When the original 2-inch exhaust system rotted out, he had a local exhaust shop install an aluminized 2.25-inch pipe from the catalytic converter back. Retaining the factory appearance and routing, he asked that the shop not install a conventional muffler, and instead let the catalytic converter do the muffling. As the catalyst deteriorated over time, Joe removed the converter entirely and a muffler went in its place.

A manual choke was added when problems developed with the original thermostatic-type. And Joe also replaced the original 205/70R14 white-lettered Uniroyal radial tires with a set of larger 235/60R14 Grand Am Radial G/Ts to give his Pontiac a wider footprint.

Conclusion
"I'm still impressed with it every time I get behind the wheel," Joe states. He plans to share his enthusiasm for the Grand Am with his 5-year-old son, Anthony. "The car will be his some day, so I want to get him off on the right foot with it. We're eventually going to pull the engine and transmission, install new gaskets, and then repaint the engine in the correct shade of Corporate Blue," he says. Until then, Joe, a member of the local-area Pontiac Owners Association, plans to continue showing his pride and joy at local events and nearby national-type gatherings, adding less than 500 miles per year. "Otherwise," he says, "we're just going to continue cruising in it to get ice cream, taking it to shows and parades, and enjoying it just like we always have."