1969 B-Body Grand Prix

1969 B-Body Grand Prix The original plan for the ’69 Grand Prix was to continue with the B-body and update the design with annual changes. This clay mock-up from October of 1966 shows the path that designers were taking. There is a definite GTO influence, particularly with the hidden headlamps and nose treatment. Both chrome and Endura themes were explored. By Don Keefe Photos by General Motors. Used with Permission of GM Media Archive y the middle ’60s, sales figures 1963 of 72,959 units, the Grand Prix 1967 with a total of 42,891 cars pro- for the Pontiac Grand Prix had slid to 63,810 in 1964, 57,881 for duced. This was due to the 5,856 Bbegun a slow but steady de- 1965, and then 36,757 in 1966. convertibles built that year, an anom- cline. From the peak of production in Things improved somewhat in aly that coincided with the dropping 40 Page October 2016 A Look at What Might Have Been if the G-Body Didn’t Happen of the Bonneville Brougham convert- Wildcat and E-body Riviera, Ford had looked for better value at Pontiac ible. Taking out the convertibles re- the Thunderbird and LTD, and Mer- dealers and elsewhere. sulted in a coupe production figure cury had the Marauder. Even Dodge Pontiac General Manager John Z. of 37,035 units. When the top line was in the game, with the Charger DeLorean saw what was happening Bonneville drop-top returned in and Coronet R/T. and took measures to rectify the sit- 1968, Grand Prix convertibles were To make matters worse, the Grand uation. His response was to recast dropped, and the hardtop found just Prix was struggling against competi- the Grand Prix as something com- 31,711 buyers. tors in its own showroom. pletely new in the marketplace. The reasons for the decline in At the time, Pontiac had too many By stretching the A-body platform Though the design is getting close to the final configuration at this point, several details still need to be worked out, including the wheel openings, the roofline, and the shape of the rear quarter glass. The angled accent line, ending just ahead of the rear wheelwell, was a vestige of the skeg design seen in previous years. sales of Pontiac’s luxury/perfor- full-size cars, with the Catalina, 2+2, to a 118-inch wheelbase, the Grand mance full-sized car weren’t so much Star Chief, and Bonneville overlap- Prix was reborn as a long-hood, that there was less demand, but be- ping equipment and prices. Even short-deck personal luxury coupe cause there were more entries chas- though there were a lot of exclusive unlike anything before. In one fell ing the same number of buyers. styling and luxury appointments, it swoop, Pontiac reduced the num- Oldsmobile had the Starfire and was getting harder and harder to sell ber of full-size cars in its product Toronado, Buick had the B-body the Grand Prix. Too many buyers lineup and brought a new kind of www.ponchoperfection.com October Page 41 2016 The rear appears to be the least developed part of the model, at least when these photos were taken. Of particular interest are the taillamps and the contour of the sail panel. car to the market. From ’63-’68, the GP received a car and incorporate them into the DeLorean even went so far as to roofline that was more upright and new body style. Though the pro- name the two versions “Model J” formal than that of the semifast- gram was eventually dropped in and “Model SJ,” spiritual descen- back, hardtop coupe bodies. This early 1967, it made it to the clay- dants of the legendary Duesen- roof, which was shared with the model stage, and variations on the bergs of the late ’20s and ’30s. Oldsmobile Starfire, featured a theme were explored. As we all know, the ’69 Grand unique concave backlite. What we see here is a glimpse of Prix was a huge hit, but as with The ’69 full-size Pontiacs, along what might have been. These pho- most car stories, there was more with other GM big cars, dropped tos are from two time periods in than what the public was told. Be- the sweeping rooflines in favor of a the development of the B-body fore the decision was made to rein- semi-notchback design that Grand Prix. There are five shots vent the Grand Prix as a smaller, worked especially well with Cor- from October 22, 1966, and one trimmer car, Pontiac’s Design Stu- dova vinyl tops. Before the plug from January of 1967, just before dio was working on a Grand Prix was pulled on the B-body program the effort was abandoned. Obvi- version of the ’69 full-size Pontiac. in early 1967, Pontiac designers ously, more photos were taken at In some ways, the entire full-size were hard at work putting together the time, but this is all that remains. Pontiac line was becoming more what they believed would be the With the inclusion of the shot from like the Grand Prixs of the recent ’69 Grand Prix. The plan was to take 1967, we can see a true progres- past, a bit more formal and a bit the iconic design elements that sion in development. We will first less sporty. made the Grand Prix a stand-alone cover the shots from late 1966. 42 Page October 2016 Over 750 Pontiacs from 1936-2001! Judging from the appearance of dow shape. Additionally, the wheel eight-lug wheels on the clay model. the clay models depicted in these openings are elongated like a GTO, They are a bit of an anachronism as earlier photos, it appears that nei- though the shape is somewhat ex- they were dropped after ’68, so ther the design of the Grand Prix aggerated. The beltline also ap- even if a B-body GP had been built variant nor the basic B-body shape pears a little shallower than what in 1969, it definitely wouldn’t have had been finalized. Up front, the made it to production on the ’69 B- been available with the unique in- combination chrome/Endura nose bodies. tegral wheel/brake drum option. theme used in the ’69 Pontiac front In keeping with the Grand Prix The last photo was taken in Jan- ends was employed, adding the tradition, the clay model also uary of 1967. At this point, the de- disappearing headlamps, which shows a concave backlite and an sign was much more developed. were used since ’67. exclusive taillamp design that ap- Aside from the eight-lug wheels, From the look of the front-end pears to fit in the standard ’69 Bon- this is close to what a full-size ’69 shot, it appears the designers were neville housing. From there, several Grand Prix would have looked like. considering dropping the chrome details were yet to be worked out; Though they can’t be seen, this clay altogether and going with a GTO- the rear bumper has little in the mock-up featured the hideaway style front end. With the hideaway way of detail, and the “flying but- headlamps and a unique taillamp headlamps the overall effect was tress” contour of the rear quarter design to differentiate it from the very GTO-like, more so than the and roof need more development. other full-size ’69 Pontiacs. The chrome beak used on the ’68 GPs. Interestingly, the trailing edge of chrome front bumper was retained From the side view, we see even the rear quarter-panel and the with Endura inserts, and the rear more of the GTO influence. At this bumper appear to be integral. bumper was similar to what made point, the roofline closely resem- From the rear, their shape closely production. Like GPs of years past, bles what was used on the ’68 GTO, resembles the ’62 full-size Pontiacs. the mock-up didn’t use a bodyside right down to the rear quarter-win- An interesting sidenote are the molding, though other full-size www.ponchoperfection.com October Page 43 2016 Iconic Pontiac slotted taillamps look perfect on this prototype. Design still looks sleek and modern today. Pontiacs did. Though development of the car In retrospect, the car that wore Additionally, the wheel openings depicted here went on relatively the Grand Prix nameplate was pre- were revised to their final produc- unfettered until at least January of cisely the right car for the time and tion configuration. 1967, there was some concern over was light years ahead of the B- As was the case in previous its viability in the marketplace. body proposal in market appeal for years, the roofline was the most On April 14, 1967, Benjamin W. that segment. While the B-body- significant difference between the Harrison, a Pontiac engineer at the based GP was an attractive car, it GP and the other B-body Pontiac time, sent a memo to DeLorean was essentially more of the same coupes. In this mockup, the formal outlining the advantages of build- old formula that was no longer rel- roofline and rear-quarter windows ing a new-generation GP based on evant to buyers. The ’69 Grand Prix are similar to that era’s Olds Delta what he called an “A-Special” body. “G-body,” as the stretched A-plat- 88 coupe but with a large convex Duly inspired, DeLorean ran with form became known, reignited in- backlite design that didn’t reach the idea, enlisting top designers terest in the personal luxury production.

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