The Grand Prix was another one of those nameplates that was plastered on a bewildering array of cars, just like the Ford Thunderbird and Mercury Cougar. Its story pretty well follows Pontiac as a whole, being born during their golden age and then dying at around the same time as the marque itself.
1962-1968
The first Grand Prix came out for 1962. Pontiac was in the midst of a renaissance under the leadership of John Delorean, Pete Estes, and Bunkie Knudsen. They had leapt from 6th place in the sales charts in 1958 to 3rd in 1962, behind only Chevrolet and Ford. They were crafting an image as the “excitement division” and key to that would be this Grand Prix, which was a sportier 2 door version of the Catalina. The standard engine in 1962 was a 6.4 liter V8 but a 6.9 liter was later offered. Later, 6.6 and 7 liter engines were added. In 1963, Pontiac’s distinctive stacked headlights were added, a gimmick that would be copied by Plymouth, Ford, and Cadillac by 1965. By 1968, sales of the Grand Prix had slowed to a trickle and Delorean planned something entirely new.
1969-1972
For 1969, the Grand Prix name was affixed to an entirely different car. It was now riding on a stretched version of GM’s intermediate A platform. It was meant to appeal to the burgeoning personal luxury car segment, which would turn into one of the most popular in the 1970s. And DeLorean’s gamble paid off, sales quadrupled over 1968, rising to 112,000. In 1970, it was joined by the Chevrolet Monte Carlo.
1973-1977
The Grand Prix was redesigned for 1973 along with GM’s other intermediates, including its twin, the Chevrolet Monte Carlo. The redesign included new federally-mandated 5 mph bumpers. Sales in 1973 hit a record of 150,000. The requirement for catalytic converters badly hit performance, especially since dual exhausts had to be removed. Engines were downrated by 50 horsepower in 1975, and sales had crashed to just 64,000.
For 1976, the Grand Prix was refreshed with much more attractive rectangular headlights, which had just been legalized. The personal luxury coupe market hit its sugar high in the second half of the 1970s and the result was sales more than tripling to 230,000, second only to the Monte Carlo. In 1977, they reached their all time record of 270,000.
1978-1987
1978 brought a downsizing. The Grand Prix lost 1 foot in length and 600 pounds in weight without losing any interior space. Engines got smaller, you could now get a V6 for the first time, you could even get a diesel. But personal luxury coupes turned out to be nothing more than a 70s fad, like Pet Rocks and Disco. Sales sank through the 80s and that meant another transformation was needed.
1988-1996
In 1988, the Grand Prix name was put on Pontiac’s version of the diabolical W-body. It was no longer a personal luxury coupe, but rather an ordinary front wheel drive midsized car, and yet it didn’t get a sedan version until 1990. It did get Motor Trend’s Car of the Year in 1988, but then again, so did the Chevy Vega. In 1990, it became possible to get GM’s 2.3 liter Quad 4, their first multivalve engine, it managed to produce an impressive 180 horsepower, but it also sounded about as smooth and refined as a Cuisinart filled with pebbles. The most powerful version was the STE with a turbo 3.1 liter V6 making 210 horsepower.
1997-2003
For 1997, the Grand Prix was redesigned. It wasn’t much bigger, even though it looked it. Pontiac had a confused midsized lineup. The Grand Prix was larger than Accord/Camry/Taurus while the Grand Am was smaller, this problem was replicated at Oldsmobile (Intrigue/Alero) and at Chevrolet (Lumina/Malibu). A 3.8 liter V6 was added to the lineup and in supercharged form, it produced 240 horsepower.
2004-2008
For 2004, the Grand Prix was redesigned. The car was quite attractive, but it was, there’s no other word for it, crap. It had a cramped interior and trim pieces from the Fisher Price Catalog, it had a cramped back seat, and miserable driving driving dynamics. In 2006, with the end of the Bonneville, the Grand Prix effectively became Pontiac’s full sized offering. In 2005, the GXP model was added with the first V8 offered in a Grand Prix since 1987, a 5.3 liter making 303 horsepower, plus a lot of torque steer. For 2008, the Grand Prix was killed off for good and in 2009, the rest of the Pontiac brand followed.