Our '70 LeMans before the restification: Our only recent pre-restification photoWe have a 1970 Pontiac Le Mans Sport convertible. We bought it in 1995, as a 'mental health' vehicle for Teri, as she had been tooling around in a Ford Aerostar minivan and was slowly losing her mind (understandable given the circumstances).
The Le Mans (or Tempest) is the base model upon which the Pontiac GTO is built. The main differences as far as I know are engine/transmission, suspension (disc brakes standard on GTOs), and body styling appearance (different bumper/grillwork.) The nice part about the Le Mans is that you get most of the looks without the premium price associated with the GTOs.
In a previous life (the one before children), Teri had a Triumph TR6 convertible, so we had to find a suitable substitute for that car. We shopped around for about six months for a 60's or 70's era convertible. After looking at numerous 'clean' cars that needed paint, bodywork, or interior work, we found this car in Petaluma, California.
It was owned by a man claiming to be the second owner. The first owner was supposed to have been an employee of the G.M. plant in Fremont, California, and had it built to order. We have not verified this information, however. We do have the original registration and Protect-O-Plate (warranty card) showing the original owner's name, which matches the registration papers, and the VIN code shows that the G.M. manufacturing plant was Fremont, so we believe that the story may be true. We have received a copy of the dealer invoice and other historical information from Pontiac Historic Services, which should help us verify some of this.
It's been repainted in something close to the original silver (the factory color name is "Palladium Silver", paint code 14). The previous owner had it painted at Maaco (moderately inexpensive paint job, the paint quality is ok, but the underlying prep work was not done, so there are a lot of minor flaws in the paint.) The body is in pretty good shape, with only a few very minor parking lot dings. The hood has been repaired (it 'cracked' according to the previous owner) and it has been welded (poorly in my opinion) and there is a slight bulge about midpoint down the hood on the driver's side. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that, if I can find a clean replacement I'll go for that. Otherwise, it's going to be a chore to straighten it out.
I have not seen any 'deep' rust on the car, so it appears that it has been well preserved. There is a light surface rust on some of the metal components which is understandable given the car's history.
The interior is in reasonably good shape; some carpets are a bit worn, and the upholstery, while having no rips or tears, is black vinyl and showing its age. We would prefer to have the seats rebuilt with new cushioning and cloth inserts (originality be damned - the car must be comfortable!) Actually, I fantasize about modern Recaro bucket seats, saving the original seats for later.
We installed after market 15" alloy wheels & radial tires, and an aftermarket stereo and CD changer (mounted without cutting the dashboard or instrument panel.) Everything else is original.
The engine and transmission in the car have matching VIN numbers -- they match the VIN number on the car chassis. This may add value, and is a good sign (the motor hasn't been replaced, so the ownership story seems to hold water). Also, all bits and pieces appear to be on the car (brackets, heat shields, etc.) so it looks as if the original motor has never been out of the car.
Please visit the Restification page for up-to-date information on the project.