How Pontiac Once Made It Easy To Sneak Peak GTO Performance Past The Suits

Pontiac Pthursday is frequently about hidden performance bargains. A number of Pontiac’s well-known performance products have had their values driven up to the stratosphere by “speculators” who will never drive their purchases, values that mere mortals like you and me could never afford and, honestly, wouldn’t want to buy anyway.

Many of us don’t care about “numbers matching” or “1 of 3” kinds of rarity, but that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t find a rumbling late-era muscle car to be an amusing investment.

I think I’ve found a few more of these lost gems out there. If nothing else, they’ll get you just as much attention at the Dairy Queen as a full-on GTO, but can be picked up for less pizza and beer money than you might think.

A Goat In All But Name

From the launch of the GTO in 1964 to the bitter end around 1972, the heyday of the muscle car was, in retrospect, extremely brief. Even in that short period of time, players like the Pontiac “Goat” went from being cheap speed for the young and cash-strapped to being cars with purchase prices and insurance costs that put them out of the reach of the next generation of greasy kids. For 1970, Pontiac offered something called the GT-37, a lower-cost muscle machine sleeper that gave would-be GTO buyers with thinner wallets something to enjoy.

Mercedes Streeter wrote a great piece on this hidden bargain a little while back. As a recap, the T-37 was a bare-bones version of the A-body Pontiac designed to give customers what would essentially be the lowest-priced mid-sizer GM offered. The GT-37 was the sporting version of this entry-level car that was, inexplicably, still available with all of the engine options you could get on the higher-priced LeMans and, yes, the GTO. As a stripped-down bench-seats-and-floor-mats car, you could theoretically spec’ out a car that was faster than the better-equipped (and heavier) GTO. And, because there was no “GTO” badge, most insurance companies assumed the GT-37 was just an unassuming drive-to-work car.

The GT-37 was discontinued in 1972, and rumors abounded that the GTO marketing team didn’t like the high-performance loophole it represented and had lobbied for its mothballing. However, Pontiac kept the party going with a new car that was arguably a better GTO than the actual GTO. They also continued to make this bargain special for longer than the actual GTO itself survived.

Plus One Less Letter On The Logo For Lower Weight

Many see 1972 as the bitter end of the true muscle car era, and the final one for the classic fastback GM A-body cars like Pontiac’s LeMans. The GTO was merely an option package for the LeMans in 1972 instead of a standalone model as in previous years. You got the body-colored Endura nose, which you would think gave your “Goat” a little distinctiveness. Well, maybe not.

You see, in 1972 Pontiac decided to offer the GTO’s special nose as a $41 option for any LeMans, further diluting the magic of the former Great One.

The T-37 series was dropped, and all mid-sized Pontiacs took on the LeMans name. You could still get a LeMans with a taxi-cab-basic interior and few options, but just like the T-37, every engine on the LeMans option list was available in the stripped-out trim, including the hottest motors offered with the GTO. If you weren’t content with a two-barrel 350, you could choose a two- or four-barrel 400 cubic inch V8s, or one of two 455 cubic inch options including the 300 horsepower (net, finally) High Output version and four-speed manual.

Also, just like the earlier GT-37, you could outfit your cheapskate mid-sizer with some of the visual and mechanical goodies of the Goat. The GT Package gave you a Hurst floor shifter for the standard 3-speed manual and dual exhaust with side splitters. White-letter tires on mag wheels (without trim rings), body-colored sport mirrors (remember, most cars didn’t come with a passenger’s side mirror then), and rather subtle striping gave you an understated sporty look. The silly hood pins from the GT-37 were gone. That lack of ornamentation was actually rather welcome at a time when the GTO was offered with things like a big whale-tail rear spoiler or the “Judge” package with funky colors and lurid graphics. Great fun in retrospect, but somehow it just visually cluttered what was easily one of the nicest Pontiac designs ever. Also, with a GTO there was no way that you were going to convince an insurance adjuster not to put you “on the charts” with a super-high rate. Unquestionably, the GT was the hot ticket for low-key muscle car fun.

The GT had far less of the icing on the cake, but certain upgrades were still available. One very rare feature was dubbed the “ducktail” spoiler. This very subtle airfoil mounted to the back of the trunk lid and was an option for the GTO, but it’s commonly associated with the GT as well. The original three-piece unit is a very rare thing indeed, since apparently the mold for the spoiler broke after very few had been built, meaning that a lot of the ones you might see today are actually reproduction pieces. It’s a great-looking addition to this body style and looks like it was part of the design all along.

As with the GT-37, the interior was not for those with champagne wishes and caviar dreams. Even with the floor shifter, you still got a vinyl-clad park bench.

It’s almost a hose-out level of finish inside.

The GT was about one thing, and that’s what was under the hood. Of course, to pop the bonnet of any non-GTO and see this top-of-the-heap motor was a rare sight.

How rare? Well, a mere 5,807 GTOs were built for 1972, while nearly 8,800 LeMans with the GT option found homes. However, reportedly less than 1000 of them had the larger 400 and 455 V8s, including 24 with a standard 455 and a scant 14 with the H.O. version. Even more rare was the LeMans GT convertible; out of a total of 115 examples, only two had standard 455s, and seven had the H.O. No wonder few people remember this sleeper. Those who do tend to charge a premium for GTs if they have one of the rare higher-powered motors; that blue example shown above was listed for nearly $45,000. The good news is that’s likely a good $10k or more less than if it had a GTO badge on it, but sure, that’s a lot of cash.

Still, don’t lose hope. The muscle car era was truly coming to a close, but the LeMans GT wasn’t done yet.

They Used The Body Style To Make The SUX6000, Too

The much-loved new-for-1968 LeMans body style was replaced in 1973 by the controversial “Colonnade” series that seems to get lambasted in the comments section every time I mention it. I don’t know if it’s the lack of a pillarless body, the prominent snout, or the quasi-notchback styling, but you guys seem to hate this thing! It’s not my favorite either, but in today’s world of lookalike crossovers, I’m willing to cut it a break.

For 1973, Pontiac offered a GTO version of this particular LeMans with a base 400 cubic inch (6.6L) V8, producing 230 net horsepower, or an optional 455 cubic inch (7.5L) V8 offering 250 horsepower. The “Colonnade” Goat lasted only one model year and sold a mere 4,806 copies in the throes of the energy crisis.

At the same time, Pontiac continued to market the GT package, again available with all of the largest motors you could get in any LeMans but with fewer of the “Goat” trappings and a lower sticker price. As with the previous year’s GT, you got some rather subtle customization with simple tape stripes and Rally II wheels.

I can’t find sales figures, but, oddly enough, even though the LeMans-based GTO was dropped after 1973, Pontiac continued to offer the GT for the following year or so.

This ’74 shows the hood with what Pontiac erroneously calls “NASA” ducts. I’m confident they meant “NACA,” but the misspelling couldn’t be checked on Google back then, and using a space program name sounds infinitely cooler, doesn’t it?

Not as stark as the 1972 GT, the interior still sported a very non-sporting bench seat, which always looks odd with a stick shift.

You even got a very Trans Am-looking steering wheel and a full set of gauges if you chose the option.

The GT might have outlived the LeMans GTO, but based on some sellers’ listings, it didn’t have that many more takers. Out of around 38,000 LeMans Sport Coupes, claims of anywhere from 6222 cars all the way down to 285 are out there for the number ordered with the GT package. Regardless, one could imagine the number with the biggest engines and manual transmission must be a small handful.

The GTO name was moved to the Nova-based Ventura for 1974, but when this outing of the name was dropped, the LeMans GT was left to soldier on into 1975 alone, and without the 455 cubic inch motor option.

This means the GT actually outlived any iteration of the GTO, effectively coming full circle with an affordable musclecar package similar to the original 1964 car. However, this was a far different time than 1964. Unlike the runaway success of the first GTO, this last GT struggled to find an audience. Again, exact figures are hard to substantiate, but some sellers claim that fewer than 200 examples of the 1975 GT were produced – a sad end to a decade of exciting mid-sized Pontiac performance coupes, that likes of which we wouldn’t see again for decades.

An Affordable GTO? GTFO!

With cash-flush collectors running up muscle car prices at auctions, there aren’t many cheat codes left for those of us who want to affordably experience a little bit of the automotive fun that our parents had. These last LeMans GTs might be among the few out there.

No, the post-1972 cars don’t offer nearly the performance options of the earlier cars. These were true heart-of-the-malaise, tragically smog-choked rides. The advantage is that this reputation has kept prices low, making it not only easier to buy one, but also meaning that no “numbers matching” weenies will weep if you breathe on the weakling mills under the hood to make a 400 cubic inch V8 sound and run like a 400 V8 should.

This gleaming red one-of-200 1975 GTs was listed for $22,900; it’s since sold, but even at full asking price, that’s not much for a great- condition slice of landau-roof, disco-era glitz. Seriously, cars of this era have been pretty much wiped off the face of the planet, and I no longer think that’s a good thing.

In some ways, I’m glad that Mercedes Streeter’s very popular piece on the GT-37 didn’t mention these later Pontiac bargains. Like finding those last few potato chips in the bottom of the bag, it’s a nice surprise to learn that there was a forgotten encore to the cheap-Goat saga that was just as tasty.

Pontiac Points: 95 / 100 (1972 GT) and 80/100 (1973-75 GT)

Verdict: If well-to-do seniors have got your Goat, here’s a bargain equivalent that might be just as good and, in some ways, even better.

Top graphic image: Mecum Auctions