Some of the more observant readers noticed the old Pontiac in the background when the DOTS car was the '70 Ford LTD, a couple weeks back. Well, here's that Pontiac, a beater '75 Grand LeMans.
Parked on the Estuary waterfront (just around the corner from the Econoline pickup), this car isn't just rough around the edges.
It's rough all the way through. But still, it looks pretty good.
Carrie Fisher's character drove one of these cars in The Blues Brothers; here she is in her LeMans blowing up Jake and Elwood's hot-sheet flophouse.
Detroit was still making cars with some quirky design elements back then. For example, these taillights that wrap around vertically onto the horizontal rear body surface.
And those taillights actually look pretty nice installed.
Of course, the vinyl top has seen better days- it's peeling a bit around the back window...
...and peeling a lot on the roof!
For '75, the California version of the Grand LeMans (by then, you had "49-state" cars and California cars, due to stricter smog standards in the Golden State) came with a 175-horse 350 engine with a Quadrajet; you could pay extra for the 185-horse 400.
The fiberglass nose piece on these cars usually looked pretty bad after just a few years; they weren't made for the long haul.
But the lack of power didn't stop Pontiac designers from laying on a thick coat of decoration and weird trim items. Imagine this car with a built 455 and a 4-speed. Hmm... it could be done...
