After three successful years , the 1965 - 1968 Pontiac Grand Prix come in a four - year sales declivity that reflected a general decay in the car itself . Actually , there was nothing incorrect with the 1965 - 68 model that a sojourn to Weight Watchers would n’t cook , and if more glitter and gadgets were evident , so was more power that enable operation to remain respectable .
These GPs were distinctly less special than the handsome and balanced 1962 - 64s , a fact evidently not lose on the public . From a high of 12.4 percentage for 1963 , Grand Prix skid to just 4.4 percent of full Pontiac sale by 1966 – a track record year for the partitioning as a whole . The ' 68 flesh was an equally lacklustre 4.6 per centum .
This fall in fortunes largely stemmed from two related factors : the Second Coming of Christ of mid - size operation car like Pontiac ’s own GTO , and a consequent go down interest in sporty big cars like the Grand Prix . Price was not a factor . Despite a magnanimous , all - new design , the ' 65 base - priced a dollar sign less than the ' 64 – precisely $ 3,498 – and by ' 68 the sticker was up by less than $ 200 despite interim inflationary pressures .
Inflated sure enough describe Pontiac ’s ' 65 styling , which contrive to make its product seem much larger than any dimensional profit suggested . Indeed , GP wheelbase was stretched only an inch , to 121 , and just 1.6 inches were tot up to overall length , though the resulting 214.6 inch were hardly what one would call trim . Curb weight was small affected , too , rest at just under two tons .
Nevertheless , the ' 65 GP and its cohorts expect like bodybuilders on steroids : bulged and billowed all over the place in the curvy , humped - fender idiom GM hoped to popularize . About all that remained of previous Grand Prixs were the trademark tear - radical wicket , stacked quad headlamps , discreetly hide out taillamps , and unparalleled roofline with concave rearward window .
Happier news program awaited underneath . Like GM ’s other B - body full - size cars that year , the ' 65 Pontiacs adopted a stronger new full - perimeter shape that was more resistant to side impact damage than the premature X - extremity design .
Another advancement came as the old never - like Roto Hydra - Matic transmission gave manner to the immensely superior new Turbo Hydra - Matic with enlarged torque convertor . Engine choices still comprised a quartet of 389s and a trio of big - block 421s , but mightiness evaluation were up across the board . The standard 389 , for instance , gained 22 horsepower for a sum of 325 , and 421s offered up to 376 with optional Tri - Power carburetion .
Helped in no little touchstone by the new automatic , the base - locomotive ' 65 proved quicker than its ' 63 vis-a-vis by nigh three mo in the 0 - 60 dash , according toMotor Trend – a 27 per centum improvement . Braking suffered , though – by a hearty 44 feet in 60 - miles per hour " panic " stops .
Other thing suffer , too . A judiciary seat was standard in lieu of buckets , which now be redundant , and upholstery switch from vinyl to cloth . In scant , the GP was turn from sports - luxury to personal - luxury . But Ford ’s Thunderbird and Buick ’s Riviera were pink each other over for king of that James Jerome Hill ; GP evidently was n’t seen as a contender .
Despite Pontiac ’s best intent , sales of the 1965 - 1968 Grand Prix were rather lackluster . Go to the next page to find out more .
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1965-1968 Pontiac Grand Prix
dissatisfactory sales digit plagued the 1965 - 1968 Pontiac Grand Prix . DespiteMotor Trend"Car of the Year " honors to Pontiac – and record division sales – the ' 65 Grand Prix garnered some 6,000 fewer order than the ' 64 .
The ' 66 generated less than 60 percent of ' 64 mass – and the aforementioned 4.4 percent of total Pontiac sale . The main alteration that twelvemonth was an attractive , muted facelift of the jolly exaggerated ' 65 look .
gross sales meliorate to nearly 43,000 for 1967 , when a full lower - body re - skin conferred a hulkier bet again , rule by a massive bumper / grille with Grand Prix ’s first enshroud headlamps . Wipers were also hide out , and there was heavy sculpture around the rear roulette wheel .
Union smog standards were looming , so railway locomotive selection were keep down to four : a pair of 400 V-8s and two stroked 428s , all share raw occlusion and head design conceived with lower emissions in creative thinker . great power was still plenteous , though , ranging from a 265 - bhp " economy " 400 to a 376 - bhp 428 . But the big ' 67 newsworthiness was the first - and last - Grand Prix sofa bed . Though attractive and eminently desirable , it cost $ 264 more than the mainstay hardtop coupe , which was not chicken feed then , and fewer than 6,000 were called for , only 13.7 percentage of GP sales . To no one ’s surprise , it did not repay for ' 68 .
The hardtop did , of course , but yet another lower - body restyle render looks debatable . The with child bumper / grille was even bigger , side sculpt more extremist , and the rearward remainder became monumental and Buick - like . Even Pontiac applied scientist Bill Collins later called the ' 68 GP " a disaster , Nobody bought it . It seem like a big blubber Meleagris gallopavo . " Maybe so , but it was not unpalatable toCar and Driver : " The performance and roadability . . . are excellent . Only its size and weight keep the Grand Prix from being a Super Car . "
But gross sales were again anything but super – the scummy since debut ' 62 , in fact . A new Grand Prix with more of the original flavour was clear want . And that ’s precisely what Collins and company delivered for 1969 .
Read about the engine and shop mechanic of the 1965 - 1968 Pontiac Grand Prix on the next page .
1965-1968 Pontiac Grand Prix Specifications
New emissions criterion for 1968 track to reduced locomotive engine option for the 1967 - 1968 Pontiac Grand Prix model .
Specifications
Engines : all ohv V-8 ; 389 Criminal Investigation Command ( 4.06 × 3.75 ) , 256 - 338 bhp ( 1965 - 66 ) ; 421 cid ( 4.09 × 4.00 ) , 338 - 376 bhp ( 1965 - 66 ) ; 400 cid ( 4.12 × 3.75 ) , 265/350 bhp ( 1967 - 68 ) ; 428 cid ( 4.12 × 4.00 ) , 360 - 390 bhp ( 1967 - 68 )
Transmissions:4 - speed manual , 3 - speed Hydra - Matic
Suspension , front : upper and lower A - arms , curlicue spring
Suspension , rear:4 - link live axle , coil springiness
brake : front / rear drums
Wheelbase ( in.):121.0
Weight ( lbs.):3940 - 4075
Top speed ( mph):120 - 125
0 - 60 miles per hour ( sec):7.7 - 9.5
Production:1965 57,881 ; 1966 36,757 ; 1967 htp cpe 37,125 ; cvt 5,856 ; 1968 31,711
