1967 Pontiac Le Mans

Description

1967 was a good year for Pontiac, and while the GTO comparisons are inevitable, we invite you to look at this Lemans on its own merits. It's nicely restored, and while there was surely some temptation to build yet another GTO clone, they instead chose to stick to the factory play book and kept not only the original 326 cubic inch V8, but also the handsome and unusual Signet Gold paint.

Personally, I like gold cars like this, they're the perfect combination of elegant and sporty, and no automaker captures that better than Pontiac. Stacked headlights, the pointed hood, and those flying buttress C-pillars make this Lemans look like a much more expensive car (which, I suppose it does, since it shares all its sheetmetal with the GTO). During the makeover, they took their time and got those big quarter panels nice and straight before laying down a nice coat of Signet Gold, which is this car's original color (code 62). Without the hood scoop, the Lemans looks a little less raucous than the GTO, which many folks seem to appreciate, and the understated elegance of this car is hard to resist. The black vinyl roof was probably replaced when the paint was done and shows extremely well with no fading or wrinkles that would suggest trouble underneath. All the chrome is in good shape and even without the badges, you're probably going to have to resign yourself to folks calling your new Pontiac a GTO anyway. No matter, an A-body rose by any other name is still flat-out awesome. Or something like that.

The Lemans totally nails it with the interior, too, offering handsome black buckets and a luxurious-looking dash and console. The seat covers, carpets, door panels, and many other of the interior pieces were restored or replaced during the refurbishment, and it still looks outstanding. The usual under-dash gauges were installed up near the center console, along with a white-face tachometer, all of which are a welcome upgrade over the Lemans' rather basic factory instruments. The woodgraining on the dash and center console is pretty convincing and warms up the interior more than you'd expect, perfectly capturing Pontiac's unique combination of luxury and performance. You'll note that the shifter now shows an overdrive position, thanks to the 200R4 4-speed automatic behind the engine and a Jensen AM/FM/CD stereo head unit provides a modern soundtrack to go with it. The trunk is unfinished, but solid and includes a spare and jack, just in case.

The engine is the original, numbers-matching 326 cubic inch V8 which is no slouch in the performance department. Freshened, detailed, and rebuilt to stock specs, it runs superbly and moves the Lemans with easy V8 torque. Pontiac Turquoise paint looks great in the engine bay, and it's pretty OEM from the air cleaner to the exhaust manifolds. Flowmaster mufflers with turn-downs appear to be one of the few modifications to the powertrain, although 4-wheel disc brakes are a very welcome upgrade. Recent receipts document more than $8000 worth of work to the mechanicals, and with those big 17-inch REV wheels, the discs are shown to great effect and the oversized 235/40/17 front and 275/40/17 rear performance radials offer impressive grip.

I don't know about you, but to me this Lemans looks like a heck of a lot of Pontiac performance for pennies on the dollar compared to some of its siblings. Call today!