By: Patrick Smith
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| Rolled out of storage for the fist time since 1989. |
The 1972 GTO and LeMans Y Code Registry has another new entrant this week with a stunning find. This is our third convertible LeMans Sport 455 car. Finished in Anaconda Gold metallic with Covert Expanded Morrokide custom interior, this car came with some nice options aside from the spectacular D port 250 horsepower 455 V8 and TH400 automatic transmission.
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| Sold new in one town and remained there all its life. |
Showing about 75,000 miles on the odometer, this rag top sports its original V8 engine, transmission and 12 bolt rear carrier. The car was ordered with air conditioning, power windows, power door locks, console, 14 inch Rally II wheels, M35 body color sport mirrors with driver side remote control, tinted glass and rocker guard moldings.Last but not least, it came with the T41 GTO appearance front end. Those are the major ones. One more cool piece of info. It is a GT option car. The owner reported there are traces of black decals on the wrap arounds of the doors. The car must have been repainted once.The dash instruments are plain with no clock or tach and no rally gauges either. There is a radio but the owner neglected to tell me what kind of features it has.
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| Visible options here include power windows, power door looks, air, sport mirrors. |
The car has some rust, but is by no means critical. Owner reports the lower quarters need replacing and rear wheel well houses need replacing but the trunk floor is sound. The floor pans are also solid. The car has more dents and parking lot dings than rust. The passenger front fender and lower valence are both wrinkled a bit.The interior is said to be decent with good dash, gauges. Owner reports it needs carpet and arm rests replaced. (It also needs a top!) The best part of this is the price. He got it for about $8,500 US! That's pretty good considering how rare it is. Pontiac only made Y Code convertibles in 1972. We have three of them in our database now, each one a different color. There is a Sundance Orange one as well but I have no info on what the options were other than it was a GT striped car.
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| Car has had one repaint and a minor fender bender before storage in the 1990s. Car was sold new and remained in the Chicago area all its life. |
It seems to be an as found, survivor type car. The air conditioning compressor is awol but the other hardware is still intact. It was sold new in Chicago and spent most of its life there. It had 3 owners.It hasn't been on the road since 1989. It was stored indoors judging from the looks of the car's interior. The convertible top is toast but it works and so do the other power options, Car starts and runs but owner says fluid leaks from everywhere, engine, tranny and rear. How many LeMans GT Y Code ragtops were made? it appears to be 1 of 10.This one has been off the radar a long time due to inactivity and indoor storage. Owner has purchased his partner's half of the title and is deciding what route to go with this car.
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| Engine is complete and running, compressor was removed at one point. The usual fan shroud crack is present, |
It needs work but is quite rare, possibly the third Y Code GT convertible. If he gets his PHS documents from Jim Mattison, he will know for sure. Those decal remnants could be D98 stripes without GT logos or it could well be a GT rag top. The GT package came with the following items; heavy duty 3 speed manual transmission, G70x 14 white letter tires, body color sports mirrors, Rally II wheels without trim rings, Rally Stripes, dual exhaust with side splitters GT decal callouts, With a repaint and higher than normal mileage we no longer can verify with certainty if it's a genuine GT. The 455 upgrade added a TH400 to the mix so the transmission isn't an issue.
Confirmed: PHS docs show it to be a geniune Y Code GT convertible, 1 of 2 made.
By the way, plans are proceeding with hard copy of Y Code Registry Certificates. We will have our proof copy to review in a few weeks and when we sign off with that, the first one will be produced for Miss Hot Stuff, followed by others for the verified Y Code registrants. To obtain a Certificate of Y Code Registry, you need to provide the following information. Proof of current ownership in the form of a State or Provincial vehicle registration, a copy of the Pontiac Historical Service shipping invoice showing VIN, options, selling dealer. etc plus the paint and trim combination of your particular car. $15 payable to Patrick Smith to handle the shipping and related expenses of producing the Certificate.
* Article (c) 2016 by PHS MEDIA ARCHIVES.
