1972 Pontiac 455 Grand Prix - Second Helping SSJ

Glenn Kovach's '72 Grand Prix SSJ came loaded from the factory with power steering, power disc brakes, cruise control, air conditioning, tilt wheel, power driver seat, power windows, power locks, dome/map lights, AM/FM stereo with 8-Track, rear window defroster, underhood reel-out light, power trunk release, and Custom Sports steering wheel.

When Glenn Kovach, a 50-year-old customer service and warranty representative in Benton, Illinois, sold an extremely rare SSJ Grand Prix in 1977, he thought he'd never see it again, but a quirk of fate brought it back into his life. "I found the SSJ the first time one afternoon in 1975," Glenn recalls. "It was sitting on a used-car lot, barely three years old, with factory Cameo White paint and a bright gold hood. I pulled over, checked it out, and learned it was a '72 SSJ Grand Prix. I looked at my girlfriend and said, 'I've got to have that car.' After much pleading and promising to my folks, I bought it."

The limited-edition SSJ became Glenn's daily driver. "It sure got a workout," he tells HPP. "It went back and forth to school during the week and off to the dragstrip on the weekends. It did not take long before all of our friends got a good look at the SSJ. Most of them saw it as just a big Pontiac with a fancy paint job, but I knew it was something special."

SSJ History
Hurst Performance Research Corporation partnered with Pontiac and produced a limited quantity of SSJ Grand Prixs from '70-'72. The inspiration for the limited edition came from Pontiac marketing man Jim Wangers, whose personal Grand Prix caught the attention of Hurst founder George Hurst. According to Jim, "George came to Pontiac in mid-1969 with the indication that he wanted to do a special Pontiac. At that time, I was driving a white '69 SJ Grand Prix customized by Royal Pontiac. It was two-tone with my favorite color at that time, Tiger Gold. George fell in love with that car, thinking it was the sweetest thing he had ever seen. He bought it from me and used it as a prototype to develop the SSJ."

Hurst advertised the SSJ as the "Ultimate Grand Prix" and offered it in Cameo White or Starlight Black (though other colors are known to exist) with a stupendous second body color, Fire Frost Gold, an updated version of the Hurst gold hue, developed by Pontiac specifically for Hurst's promotional activities (primarily in the NHRA) in the '60s.

For $1,147.25, in addition to the price of a Grand Prix Model J, the SSJ option package featured Fire Frost Gold paint accents, hand pinstriping, a Landau-style half-top, and an electric sunroof. SSJ Hurst custom options available at extra cost included Auto/Stick shifter, Roll/Control, digital computer, and mobile telephone, among others.

According to The Hurst Heritage by Terry Boyce and Bob Licty, production totals for the SSJ were 272 in '70, 157 in '71, and approximately 60 in '72. It's also said that dealer-converted SSJs were offered to buyers sometime during the production run (see sidebar). Glenn's SSJ is possibly one of these. Jim Mattison, president of PHS Automotive Services, told HPP he thinks more '72 SSJs were produced, based upon the number of vehicles he's researched for customers. Regardless of the actual production totals, Don Keefe, HPP contributor and author of Grand Prix, Pontiac's Luxury Performance Car, summed up the SSJ Grand Prix's allure appropriately, "Next to the ultra-rare '62-'63 Super-Duty models, the '70-'72 Hurst SSJs are perhaps the most collectible of all Grand Prixs."

Lost And Found
Glenn enjoyed the SSJ for several years, but marriage plans prompted him to rethink whether he should keep it. "We really needed a pickup and it just seemed like we had to make sacrifices. My wife, Genia, told me, 'Don't sell the Grand Prix. We can get by,' but I did a stupid thing and sold it to a college buddy whose girlfriend really wanted it. That was the last time I saw it. With time, I forgot about the SSJ and life went on," Glenn remembers.

The engine bay features a '70 455ci powerplant and 6X heads. The master cylinder cover and power brake booster were rebuilt and replated by Steve Gregori. Chrome valve covers and the air-cleaner lid aren't original and the air-cleaner lid decal is aftermarket. The Silver Blue metallic engine paint shown is correct for '66 to '70 engines. Note the cruise control assembly on the driver's inner fenderwell and the reel-out underhood light on the passenger side.

The SSJ is easily identified by its two-tone paint color. This example features Cameo White and obligatory Fire Frost Gold (repainted by the owner in a slightly different shade called California Gold). Notice the Landau top reinstalled during the restoration by Mild 2 Wild in Cambria, Illinois, and the SSJ decal on the rear decklid. Although Hurst SSJs received a rear decklid emblem, the owner says the reproduction decal seen here is identical to what he found on his SSJ when he bought it in 1975.