New Y Code LeMans Sport Convertible : Factory Freak

                                                                        By: Patrick Smith
                                 

Yep, that's factory paint, car was special ordered Iris Mist metallic by the original owner.

  This is a milestone for the Y Code Registry; we have landed the first rag top in the database. It's one lu lu of a car as well. Check it out, special order paint code car. That's right, the cowl tag is blank where there normally would be a number code. The PHS documents were ordered and it confirmed the special order paint code and Y Code 455 4 bbl D port engine option along with automatic transmission. A Pontiac plant assembled car late in the calendar year, the VIN number is quite high up as a result making it a June build date from the looks of things.

  This is a two owner car and it still sports the original fender 455 die cast emblems from new. The current owner is Dom Sawicki in Massachusetts. The special order paint is Iris Mist, a 1965 GTO special order color and was regularly available for Impalas. It's a fine metallic Lilac paint, so the interior is Parchment with black accents, regularly called Tuxedo among enthusiasts. Other options his LeMans Sport has includes the T-41 front end. This one-two punch likely is going to push my car off the factory freak pedestal. A position I cheerfully relinquish.
     

Lots of options on this car besides the big bore V8, power windows, custom cushion steering wheel, electric clock, sport mirrors, T 41 front end, Rally II wheels just to name a few.

  For those who are counting, there were 235 Y Code GTO hardtops produced, 5 Y Code GTO coupes and Y Code LeMans hardtops made. They're rare anyway you slice it. There were of course, no 1972 GTO convertibles made. Instead they made 36 LeMans Sport Y Code convertibles. Alas, there isn't a direct breakdown on the total of LeMans Sport convertibles with the T41 option.The total production of LeMans with T 41 for the 1972 year is at 16.8 percent.

   We know production of the 1972 LeMans series ended on June 30th, '72. We also have confirmation that GTOs stopped production early in June when the last batch build ended. The VIN for this car is 2D67Y2P******is near the end of production. This could be one of the last 1972 Y Code 455 LeMans made. I only know of one car with a later VIN than mine, it was special order Starlight Black hardtop GTO in Peachland, BC. Alas, the car has vanished from sight and I lost the VIN. It's in one of several work books I have but haven't seen it yet.

As it's a LeMans Sport, the grille has the Arrowhead and Pontiac script on driver side. No GTO convertibles were made in
1972, this was the closest you could get to owning one.

   As for options, this convertible has a few; M35 sport mirrors, L75 455 4 barrel 250 hp V8 with dual exhaust, M40 TH400 three speed automatic, console, power windows, tinted windshield, radio,14 inch Rally II wheels, custom cushion steering wheel, electric clock, rocker panel moldings, wheel well moldings and tilt steering are all visible to the naked eye. Most remarkable is the over all condition of the car. Word is that Dom Sawicki is the second actual owner of the car from new.

   Dom purchased the car from a woman in Attleboro Massachusetts.The seller's mother bought the car new from Fiore Pontiac in Warwick, Rhode Island. She owned a Beauty School for girls so that's why she ordered a convertible with white interior with the flashy special order Iris Mist paint.She also ordered all the GTO options including a 455 engine with a turbo 400 transmission.Somewhere between late 1973 and 1974, Pontiac installed a new 455 engine under warranty for some unknown reason. Dom couldn't find out what it was.

The home plant ( Pontiac, MI) LeMans most often had the Pontiac letters on the trunk lid where cars at other plants
often had no letters. 

   A correct  Y code 455 for that year was installed.Her daughter could no longer garage or maintain the car so Dom purchased the car in 2013.He stripped the interior and carpeting and found all the floor pans and bracing like new. Dom also installed the new jute underlay, carpet new upholstery, front and rear new door panels and top boot.The undercarriage was pressure washed primed and black satin enamel.The finishing touch was a new Flowmaster dual exhaust system.The engine compartment was also cleaned and detailed. It also sports a new set of Cooper Cobra tires on the Rally II wheels since these pics were taken. Dom of course, has the PHS documents to go with his awesome find.
                  *Article (c) 2016 by Patrick Smith PHS Collector Cars Registry