38 year GM Pontiac mechanic here, I outlasted Pontiac by one year. Retired now. 🇺🇸

My dad sold Pontiacs back in the 60's. When the first GTO hit the show room floor he talked his boss into letting him take one to the local drag strip to show it off. My dad was a professional part time racer so the boss trusted him. He said he was being custom drag racers in a GTO with a 389 and Hurst Shifter with the window stickers still on it. Talk about win on Sunday Sell on Monday. He said Monday morning there were guys from the track waiting out side for the dealership to open an one bough the car he took to the track and it was still dirty.

back when I was in the Navy, a buddy of mine and I took a 1975 Pontiac Ventura and stuffed a high compression 455 in it. We put a Trans Am shaker scoop on it and made our own GTO. It was stupid fast and bad ass looking!

The 1973 GTO is still drop dead gorgeous. Thanks for vid on such an underappreciated muscle car.

I have a one owner 1973 pontiac gto with less than 47,000 miles on it. I have had it sense it was new. Just finished a two year restoration and it looks fabulous. I will be making a really good video in the next few weeks so I can share with those that enjoy these cars. It was my first car and now 50 years later I am going to enjoy it all over again.

The car to have in '73 was the Grand Am 4 door 400 4 speed. That was a real thing, the grandfather of the G8 GXP 6M and Chevrolet SS 6M cars that are so sought after today.

The '73 GTO could have been an absolute legend worth over $100,000 each if they would have equipped them with the 455 Super Duty engine from the Trans Am and Firebird.

These engines still had huge potential for performance even a novice could just junk out that choked exhaust add some headers and intake and a 600 or 700 CFM carburetor and get back most of the power that they made in the late 60s without even having to take off a valve cover

as an owner of a 1973 lemans, and having driven a few of the earlier generations of Lemans/gtos, the later Colonnade chassis handles quite respectably and feels very planted through turns, much more so than the earlier versions. my car is also a noticeable bit quieter on the highway than the earlier models. its got a factory 4-link. rear suspension with a gto sway bar that ive added after the fact

These were beautiful cars. In a world where everyone is slower than a Tesla, these mid 70s cars, especially the rare manuals, are worth another look.

The '73 GTO is a gorgeous classic!

The black one with red emblems and cragars was sweet lookin

The closing question would be a tough one. As a T/A guy myself, handling would be very important to me. But, that fire breathing forward dual scoop split grille 1971/'72 GTO front end look is tops in my book. If I could have a '70 GTO 455 with '73 handling and interior it'd be a no-brainer. It's so hard to have the best of all worlds, though.

A very unique car which I didn't realize was as rare as it is. There was one in my hometown when I was younger. I think there are actually quite a few examples of mid 70s cars which we didn't really appreciate back in the day because we were so disappointed in the decline in power but which turned out to be very nice vehicles. It's unfortunate that so few survived. If only we could've seen into the future and how much different our perspectives would've been all those years later.

I spent my money in 1973 on a Black 442 with a 4 speed.

Mr. B. Here ! 🍩☕️👀😎👍. The GM 73-77 Colonnades were short change ! At this point of my life I have my Colonnades , I love them !

1974 actually was the last year of the GTO. Google image. It came in the same body style as the nova.

My friends mom got a 73 Grand Am (basically the same as the GTO) with a better front end. Anyway it came with a plaque on the dash that stated " Radial Tuned Suspension". That car cornered nice and tight and was actually "Tossable". 👊😎👍

In my high school, we had a couple '73 Lemans cars in Drivers Ed. They were in high demand by students.

I had the 73 Oldsmobile 442 as my first car. They were great cars especially with a hot big block

my friend had a '74 Grand Am. We used to do spin outs for hours in empty parking lots covered in snow all the time in minneapolis Mn winters. great fun!

When I was in high school (early 80's) something like a 73 GTO would have creamed anything new you could buy. Indeed the kids with family discard high compression big blocks in family sedans could take most of what was available new at the time - in a straigh(ish) like. This was the time of 4 cylinder X cars, the Aries/Reliant, and 125 horsepower HT4100 V8s in a 4000 lb Sedan DeVille. People today scoff at 8 sec 0-60 times (what's a Honda Acord, 6.5?). In the early 80's 15-16 seconds probably wasn't far off as an average for 'family sedans' with an auto. Whole different ballgame.

I always liked these more luxurious GTO models near the end of the run. One of my favorite cars was the similar Pontiac Can-Am in white. Beautiful cars.

8.2 compression... that 400 Cid would've been perfect for a supercharger...! Thanks, keep up your awesomeness

There was a gorgeous blond in my town who had a silver 1973 GTO with the 455. I've loved the 1973 GTO ever since.

Had a friend years ago that had the Can-Am version and always Loved the Sweeping Look of that car, it had the T/A 400, six way seats, Posi, RTS, and it would really Skin It for a Heavy car.👍

Do a video about the Pontiac CanAm. In my opinion it’s more forgotten than this GTO. And I think it’s also much better.

The 73 GTO and the 73 Olds 442 were still capable cars. It's unfortunate the GTO couldn't be had with the SD 455, but the 73 Olds 442 could be ordered with the L77 270 HP 455, 4 speed and 3.42 gears. A 73 455 GTO with 3.42 gears could easily be made capable of running in the 13's with basic hot rodding techniques, headers, ignition timing and carburetor tuning. The 73 GTO and 73 Olds 442 are criminally under appreciated.

My first car was a ‘75 LeMans Sport Coupe with a 350. It was 1983 and I was 16. I loved that car. It was smooth, comfortable, cool and fun.

The 66-67 GTOs will always be my favroite.

73 GTOs n the Lemans still in my opinion are cool looking car 🇺🇲💪🇺🇲

I had a '73 LeMans, had a 400 with a boat package. Had an extra leaf spring, higher gear and posi rear end. It ran good, would love to find a Can Am, those were beautiful cars.

I had a 76 Malibu and it came with that 150hp 350. Immediately took that apart, traded for some double hump heads off a 67 Impala SS, high rise, Holley, nice mello cam, headers, 2.5 inch pipes with a cross over...and it was a different car. Dude tried to race me once with his GTO with the 455 and I honestly was scared but finally gave in...took a while before I figured out that thing was just choked out. I smoked him but looked and told him, we need more air and compression and that thing would be fire.

Buddy of mine had a 73 GTO,, I'm not a GM guy but that car was really cool, the best looking old school GTO...

I had a 1973 Pontiac Grand Am , most beautiful car I ever had She was a real head Turner as were most of the cars on the Pontiac line . Beautiful lines ,beautifull interior had it all . I wish that I could find another , loved that car .

I had a 74 GT Lemans with the nice Stripe Package. White with Oxblood Interior. I miss that Classy ride.

I had one my first GTO but I saw a 73 Roadrunner and liked it better so I traded mine.

i love the 73. so much style. have seen a few 4 speed cars for sale now and then. yea, down on power, but so was everything else too, so in comparison it was doing alright.

I feel your pain trying to find quality video for this upload, LOL. Everything about the '73 is rare! Mine is rough but I now have TWO parts cars to help get it road worthy once again. Folks will never understand how good if feels to drive one of these just by looking at it. I look forward to re-living my youth in the next year or two. Thanks for putting this together and Cheers from Ontario

I was a car nut in high school.I knew all the salesmen on Steven's Creek Blvd in San Jose. I sat in a 1973 Pontiac G.T.O. on the showroom floor. I have owned a 1969 Pontiac 400, a 1967 Pontiac G.T.O. Convertible, a 1965 Pontiac G.T.O. with a 389 bored .060 over with a 4 speed close ratio. I will never forget. P.S. When I was 13, I saw a Silver 1970 Chevellle Malibu 396 with cowl induction at the chevy dealer in San Jose at night,when the dealership was closed, up in front of the main glass showroom doors.

My best friend back in the day, had a 73 Pontiac ventura sprint. It is the only one I have ever seen with the 74 GTO style turn signals in the grill.

The 455/250HP motor is not putting out much less power than the original 389/325HP in 1964. Author should mention the difference between net and gross HP instead of just tossing numbers out there.

Pontiac also released the Grand Am in 1973, so the A-bodies were in a sense competing with themselves that year.

In 1983 I bought a 1973 GTO with the 455 for $150 in Orlando Florida. It was pretty slow off the line but had no trouble getting up to 145mph top speed. At between 100 to 120nph it was a nice handling car very stable. When I moved to Alaska in 1985 I sold it for $500 but have occasionally wondered what potential the car would have had if you pulled off the pollution control parts and built the engine.

Fantastic video well done 👍👍

They were a nice looking car. Thanks for all the info!

New subscriber. Great video. Really cool car!

this and the Oldsmobile Cutlass look great to me of that year.

My first car was a 73 GTO with a 400 automatic love that car

I had a black '73 Oldsmobile Cutlass with a 350. Not the GTO, but the body was very similar even with the shaping right behind the front tires. I miss that car!

These videos are good. The comments below; excellent !

My parents had a 73 LeMans and it was totally rusty at 10 years old. Things were always broken and I don’t remember it being especially fast.

This was the last of the mid sized A body gto’s. The gto continued to 74, but was based on the x body ventura and was only available with a Pontiac 350

I regularly attend car shows and I've NEVER seen a '73 GTO. They must be really rare.

My first car was a 1973 Pontiac Lemans with a 400. I wish I had that car back.

Had a '73 LeMans Sports Coupe which looked exactly like the blue one shown, just with a different hood. Miss that car.

Cool cars, cool video and a thumbs up.

Can definitely see what ended up turning into the Grand Prix/can am. Me personally would much rather have a can am. The 73 gto is a sad reminder that it's a end of the muscle car era.

I had a '73 Lemans Sport Coupe that I built up with headers, 4 barrel, alum intake, hot cam, shift kit, posi traction, T/A sway bars front and rear in high school. It was beautiful and bad ass. Got totaled when a drunk ran a red light and t-boned me in '83. Man do I miss that car. With my insurance money, bought a '73 Formula Firebird. Miss that car too. Now I drive a '19 Frontier. How things change...

Had a new '73 GTO when I was 24. Black 455. Only came with THM tranny. Mine had 342 posi rear,ps,pb and am radio. No air etc. 250 net hp. That is about 290-300 gross hp as pre 1971 engines were rated as. Kinda slow compared to earlier high perf. vehicles. Compared to other '73 hi-perf. cars it did quite well. Very few were around so I was often asked about it. It was based on the LeMans platform,while the last GTO of 1974,was based on the Nova platform! It came with a 350. It sold it in 1980. I then purchased a 14,000 mile '70 'Cuda from California. Also black. 440 6 pack,Torqueflite,373 posi,manual steering and brakes,no radio. Eagle GT tires. Equiped this way it was quick on the street. Very few,100 % stock non blown, cars were faster. The guys with the big block Ford's and Chevy's did not like my little Mopar.

Cool cars. I remember that body style from my youth. Too bad it didn't get the motor it really deserved.

Dad's friend had a '73 wagon, 400/4-speed! White with lower body woodgrain. He was always souping it up...a real sleeper!

My cousin still has his 1972 GTO 350V8/350HP 4 Speed Hurst Shifter Many have offered him big bucks for it but he's not selling... yet

i sold a lot of them in europe ,that the engine with such a powerfull capacity didn´t had the h.p. they used to have but sold a lot of them ,but very nice allthough i don´t know if in the U.S, was sold or not, i kept 3 pontiacs boats all from 1967 the coupé lemans ,the coupé Catalina and the only convertible i have the Grandprix that had to be restored at a transmition level ,also the only automatic i kept for me, the grandprix also with common design in the front with the catalina and the back in the coupé lemans(the catalina) also a pontiac firebird formula from 74 ,also coupé and from Ford i kept a excelent car it seemed to me at the time a mustang for rich people ,the mercury cougar with a 7.0L engine from 69 ,and also the split bumper Camaro as the firebird body but from 69 also all white with blue winshields ,i had but sold it a mercury that was made for the police with a manual 3 gears transmition it was fast as hell at least a friend in L.A. told me so ,being made for the police and i was ofered by a dutch friend so much money that i said "take it"either than the money he gave me a mercedes 500SL from 76 ,it was also fast as hell and came with soft and hardtop, now the laws are so prohibitive that it´s just impossible to do this business, GTO i sold them a lot but didn´t kept one and i remenber a ford having similar front with the gto but convertible and huge the most long car i had for only one month till i sold it for good money ,i was hearing everywhere ,"oh,i would like so much to have this and that U.S. car that i went for them ,and the initial investment i was almost sick of spending so much money that i phoned a girl that worked for me and had the listing of the first 20 cars i bought and when she tells me ,hi, all the cars are sold you have to bring more they ordered more 15 cars especific models , to what i replyed send me the list i´ll buy them and me, a dutch friend and the guy from L.A. went for a three days comemorative party it was 1977 and i was in my late 20´s i remenber doing things but not one of us remenbered when this or that happened, good old days, and we never had more fun than those days and we never forget pontiacs

I remember when the 73s came out. They were such a good looking car. For a while. The swept under side panels soon took the brunt of the stone chips, watr, mud, salt, and in a few years the sides had all rusted out.

I have a 1973 Pontiac LeMans Sport Coupe. It's almost the same as the GTO-- though not all GTOs are the same. The Sport Coupe does not have hood vents. Mine has the 400 L78 engine and a shifter on the floor. I think some GTOs with the same engine had a better carburator and better transmission. I really like it on the open road. very very smooth to drive. relaxing.

In 74 you could get a grand am with a 455, and in 75 - 76 you could get the LeMans sport, and then 77 you could get the CAN AM.. Pontiac kept going making as much performance as they could over other gm a bodies

I had a 1976 Golden Anniversary Trans Am with a 455 and a 4 speed transmission. I loved that car even though it only had about 220 horsepower (I think)!!!

I owned a '74 LeMans Sport Coupe with a 350 engine, buckets, console shift and aftermarket sunroof in '82. After much under hood cleaning, l came across a sticker that read: Notice, this engine is designed to be run on 98 or better octane. The bulb lit. At that time in Houston you could still get 105 octane. Ran down to 1/4 tank and filled up with the good stuff. Boy Howdy did that car love it. Woke up from a mediocre "old car" to a respectable bone stock runner able to get a legit 2nd gear prolonged "chirp". Never should've sold it.

The GOAT.

Definitely a would have preferred a 1972 Goat that needed restoration over the 1973.

The 4 door Colonade cars had a newly added pillar between the front and rear side windows, while the 2 door version had the pillar as well as rear glass that was bonded in place. I don't imagine that last feature was much appreciated by rear passengers of un-air-conditioned cars, but it probably contributed to the structural integrity of the body, which was passed through the rubber mounts to the chassis, part of the reason the '73s were better handlers than the '72s.

My personal preference as to which body style is "better"... 72 or 73. I could be partial but after owning a very humble 73 LeMans Sport Coupe, with a 350 it was too under powered (base model?), but as far as style points... WOW, what a sexy car!! Those curves!! And in the right places, timeless, with lots of room for future upgrades! The 72 model of GTO/LeMans SC's etc. etc. etc... may be functional but those look like a fat brick with a few bends and some soft corners. The only reason I would take one today would be to sell it off by the part and then fund the hunt for another 73 model.

In the mid 70s the camaro n firebird were probably the only muscle cars that still looked good

The Colonnades had in fact been slated for introduction in 1972 but a strike delayed them a year.

I had a 1973 luxury Lemans that I loved!, but I wrecked it. I later got a 1974 GTO that was a real rust bucket out of New Hampshire... It ran 14.3 at Moroso in WPB FLa. and that's when it met its end when the rusted out leaf spring mount broke and I had to junk it.

The Pontiac A-body Colonades were the best of the Colonades from GM. And 1973 was the best year. I’d take any.

I always liked the Grand LeMans with the fender skirts and chrome.

I've had several mid-70s A body cars. My favourite to drive was the '73 Grand Am. The quickest was a '73 Malibu. Originally a 350 2bbl. single exhaust car. I added an Edelbrock performer intake, custom dual exhaust and a re-curved HEI distributor.. I had to retard the timing to stop the tires from spinning on wet roads. But I really like the B body cars; I'm currently building a '63 GP. 400 5 speed, SD Performance heads, long branch exhaust manifolds. Gonna be a nice 400hp cruiser.

The most sad car loss of my life was my straight, clean, rust free '73 LeMans 350 2 dr. Not a Goat, but got me in plenty of trouble in 1990.

I had a '73 Lemans... Looked identical down to the honeycomb (except the color--med. blue). But a Poncho 350 2bbl, instead of 455 4bbl.

Excellent topic! Well researched and presented. I like the look of the 73-77 Pontiac A-body for similar reasons I like the 70-72 Monte Carlo. That means really great - for someone else. They are not near enough the "real" performance design of the Chevelle 70-72, or Le mans 70-72 etc. So I would much rather spend $25000 on a 72 in complete, but grimy shape than a mint 73. Particularly with top of the line options in both. I would not restore any car beyond daily driver abilities. If I can't use it, it's of no use to me. Refershed engine, carb, distributor, transmission brakes and suspension. Maybe a new paint (orange, black, silver, yellow - something I like, regardless of original color) if it looks horrible. 15*8 inch wheels with 275/60 in the rear for sure.

I think to a lot of people, it's all about the style, maybe the 73 handled better but the 72 had better style, so most GTO pureists would probably pick 72 and earlier in my humble opinion.

I took a 72 grand prix motor and turbo 400 spruced. It up a bit and stuck it in a square body truck what a burnout unit that was with a 373 :1 posi it was indeed the fastest truck around w out a doubt even the 454 camper special trucks were slow in comparison to that poncho powered truck

My grandparents had a Pontiac and buick dealership and when they passed my dad took it over for a few years but remember seeing in the show room what I think they called it a pontiac lemans A/FX can't remember what engine was in it but it had large factory installed cheater slicks on it was only around 12 or 13 but thought it was so cool

I think pontiac was trying to make a splash with the grand am.

I had a 73 Pontiac Grand Am in high school, same 400 as the GTO. The front grill and bumper were different, as was the center console, but everything else was damn near the same. I still kick myself for selling it b4 I joined the Army.

in 73 the Grand Am was taking over this area of the market.

One side note - I saw and tried to buy a 1973 GTO with the SD-455 from a Pontiac dealer in Torrance, Calif. I tried to trade in my 1969 Ram Air III GTO Judge with Hurst M-20 wide ratio 4 speed and 3.55 gears. However, the car was already sold to someone else and they low balled me on my 1969 Judge. I do not know if the SD-455 was put in the car as a "special edition" or original. They did not have any 1973 SD-455 Firebirds on the lot and sold the only two they were able to get from Pontiac. I kept the Judge for a couple more years and bought a Dodge Van when the van craze took over in 1975. The good old days

The GTO was pretty much forgotten as a new car in 1973. This was the beginning of the personal luxury car craze (Monte Carlo, Regal, Cutlass Supreme) and European like 4-door performance sedans (Laguna and Cutlass Salon). The Pontiac Grand Prix and Grand Am overshadowed the GTO with much prettier styling. Further choking the GTO nameplate out of the market was the LeMans GT, which you could pretty much option like a GTO for less money.

I believe you're right, they should have been equipped with the 455 and i would live to own an original big block car if i could find one in decent shape . But have to say my favorite of this Ara would have to be the Can Am that i think didn't get enough recognition for it time or performance. ? You should do a peice on that car . I would love that.

I grew up in Detroit. In 1974, I was shuttled back and forth from swim practice by the mother of one of my teammates. She drove a 1973 GTO Station Wagon. It was her company car, her husband was a GM exec who was very highly placed at Pontiac. Super nice family, they owned the vacant lot next door to their house and had a go kart dirt track and let us neighborhood kids take a rip every now and then. I do not want to name them for obvious reasons. So, it was silver with black interior, buckets and console auto. It had the turned dash, GTO graphics, honeycomb wheels and the shaker. I don't remember what motor was in it but my guess it would be something special. I know the lady was about 5'4" and could not see over the shaker;) I got to ride in the front seat a few times, it was cool. Is it still out there????

Sadly, the Pontiac Division doesn't even exist anymore. It is questionable how long GM might continue after loosing billions creating electric cars for which the general public doesn't want. Our whole country and lifestyle has turned to sh*t. It's not just the loss of Pontiac and the GTO. Good comments about the 1973 model as I found it to be very informative. Plate C

The Goat was also made in 74 on the Ventura platform.

That is a handsome car.

I always liked that body style in both Chevrolet and Pontiac. the 1974 "GTO" was a sad one. had a 1969 Judge in High School.

Similar but not quite as rare was the 73-76 442. Although the compression was cut, you still got a 455 and ordered with say a 3.23 gear, installing a set of headers, they moved pretty good for a heavy car. Going a little further and for not that much money, an aluminum intake-holly carb, even a hotter cam/ 11" torque converter, 13s in the quarter weren't out of the question.

My 68 firebird 400 would leave it in the dust but that is a cool body looks a bit like a firebird from behind. Nifty

I have a 1966 GTO

Should've had the SD455 option. With a Muncie, and SD, would've really been a fun Goat. Saw the clone in the video.