Weekend Edition Quick Hit – A Minty Fresh 1976 Pontiac Ventura Coupe with only 120 Miles on the Odometer!

Jim Brennan

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Well, look at what we have here… This is a time capsule that perfectly displays the state of the Car Companies during the depths of the Malaise Era. This is a 1975 Pontiac Ventura Coupe that has only covered 120 miles in its entire life… And it also shows how cars during this time period were optioned. Make the break, and discover this very unusual Pontiac for yourself…

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According to the eBay Listing:

Pontiac Historical Society (PHS)
options: Look at the documents from (PHS) i have in the pictures.
Power steering, Power brakes, Laundau Top, Power Locks, Stripe package, Remote Mirror,
The mileage represented on this vehicle is accurate and guaranteed. This is a smoke-free automobile. There are no signs of prior damage on this vehicle. There are no noticeable dings on the exterior of this vehicle. This is a garage kept vehicle. This vehicle has a smooth shifting transmission. All power equipment is functioning properly. The engine on this vehicle is running properly. This vehicle has no known defects. The exterior of this vehicle is extra clean. Extra clean interior. Absolutely no rips, odors or abuse. The tires on this vehicle appear to have no wear at all.

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About those options… this is a period in which the builder (General Motors) would build cars to spec, and they didn’t have the option packages that they do today. For example; This car has all the outside gingerbread (Rally II Wheels, White Sidewall Tires, Landau 1/4 Vinyl Roof, Stand-up Hood Ornament), But really none of the interior luxuries one expects today. This car has a vinyl and cloth Bench Seat with no power adjustments, Manual Crank Windows, an AM Radio, and no A/C. It does have Power Door Locks though (!!!), which is really odd.
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With 4 days to go until the auction ends, the high bid so far is $3,575 with an unmet reserve. I’m wondering what it would take to call this car sold… not that I would really want it. Oh who am I kidding… of course I want it. Tell me what you think about this preserved car after looking at the listing here: [sc:ebay itemid=”251812563108″ linktext=”1976 Pontiac Ventura Coupe ” ]

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Jim Brennan

Jim Brennan

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  1. hubba Avatar
    hubba

    I remember my family buying a new 1978 Olds with power locks and crank windows.

    Reply
  2. stigshift Avatar
    stigshift

    My grandparents bought a 1980 Dodge Diplomat wagon with woodgrain and most bells and whistles. And crank windows with power locks… Raising or lowering either front window would correspond with locked or unlocked doors and a bloody knuckle. Great design…

    Reply
  3. Land Ark Avatar
    Land Ark

    We had a 1975 Nova coupe that my stepdad inherited from his mom. It was a pretty good definition of a penalty box. It was an awful mint green (flat with neglect) and had virtually no options. The most common problem with it was that it had a permanent sag in the rear suspension. Which, combined with my stepdad's penchant to back into the driveway – poorly – and the location of the exhaust outlet meant we were in the muffler shop every 2 years to get it replaced.

    Reply
    1. Land Ark Avatar
      Land Ark

      Actually, I guess it was a 1976 as the only green ones I could find come up as that.
      <img src="http://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/CC-217-002-1200.jpg"&gt;

      Reply
  4. wunno sev Avatar
    wunno sev

    the hood release spring….that's pretty hood.

    Reply
  5. Batshitbox Avatar
    Batshitbox

    "Look at the documents from (PHS) i have in the pictures."
    Okay…
    <img src="http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTYwMFg5NzE=/z/lo8AAOSwxYxUyl7P/$_4.JPG"&gt;
    …that was very informative. Now could you tell me what size engine it has? What carburetor? If I have to consult wikipedia to find that out, you're being a dick.
    EDIT: Could be a 307 or a (Buick) 350, Rare option is the Oldsmobile 260 V8, Rarest option is the 260 V8 with a 5 speed stick! (700 sold) <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiac_Ventura#1971.E2.80.931977_X-body_compact” target=”_blank”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiac_Ventura#1971.E2.80.931977_X-body_compact

    Reply
    1. hubba Avatar
      hubba

      The oil filler at the top front of the engine usually is a tell for an Olds V8.
      AFAIK, the first year for the Olds 307 was 1980.

      Reply
      1. Scout_dude Avatar
        Scout_dude

        Yup definitely an Olds. I'd have to guess it would be a 260 which really makes me think WTH. This was during the time period when they could not produce enough Olds engines for actual Oldsmobiles and the Seville. That resulted in them putting Chevy 350s in the cars of customers who had payed extra to get a Rocket 350. The problem was that the Olds brand and specifically the Cutlass had taken off and become the best selling car in the US. That resulted in a class action lawsuit with GM either letting customers order new cars (that often still had a SBC), GM footing the bill to replace the engine with a real Rocket, or just giving them some cash back. The upside to that fiasco was that it resulted in GM producing the universal bellhousing patterned TH350.
        I guess this car could have been from early in the model year when they didn't know how bad the situation for Olds engines would be. I guess it could also be due to the fact that they had selected Olds to make the downsized engine and converted some of the tooling that wasn't all that cheap or quick to convert back to producing 350s.

        Reply
      2. Batshitbox Avatar
        Batshitbox

        See Waywords comment below, this thing has been on Hooniverse before. From the comments back in 2010 it sounds like it's got the Olds 260 in it.

        Reply
        1. dukeisduke Avatar
          dukeisduke

          It's the Olds 260 (the valve cover shape and oil filler tube told me it was an Olds), and the "F" in the fifth position in the VIN tells me it's a 260 (see Page "G-68" in this VIN decoder):
          http://www.shopkeysupport.com/sk5com/vin/vin.pdf
          The way the car is optioned (no a/c) sounded weird to me, until I saw the Washington plates in the trunk. The power locks and tilt column (but no power windows) still seem weird. Also, the "L" in the seventh position says it was built in Van Nuys, which makes sense, given that it was originally sold in WA.

          Reply
      3. Smells_Homeless Avatar
        Smells_Homeless

        Yeah, Buicks have front distributors.

        Reply
  6. Van_Sarockin Avatar
    Van_Sarockin

    Top is bid is just a bit less than original MSRP, which is hilarious. But you get a padded landau top and a spot of woodgrain on the dash. The platform is pretty basic and bulletproof. But it's also no technological or performance marvel – particularly being a mid-Malaise strangulated, underbiting miracle of amortization.

    Reply
  7. zetep Avatar
    zetep

    Judging by the looks of the engine compartment and the wear on the glove compartment ( those door is iron, and the paint used to come off when you used it, just in the way you see in the picture) I simply do not believe the miles he claims.
    But I can be wrong, I admit it.
    Over the years I owned 3 Nova's, and I must say, still one of my favorite bodystyles, aldo I do prefer the sedans.

    Reply
    1. Batshitbox Avatar
      Batshitbox

      I guarantee it's gone at least 120 miles! And from the look of the engine compartment, those were on the proving ground track in Flint!
      I looked up PHS Automotive Services and they don't verify mileage, so I wonder how this seller can guarantee accurate mileage? Can anyone do that? You'd be a fool to try it, as a business model.

      Reply
  8. Waywords Avatar
    Waywords

    This looks a whole lot like one shown in this very spot back in August, 2010 – advertised at that time as having 119 miles. It's only gone a mile in the last 4+ years?
    http://hooniverse.info/2010/08/30/a-malaise-era-po…

    Reply
    1. Scout_dude Avatar
      Scout_dude

      Great catch. I wouldn't expect anyone to buy this car to actually drive it so it doesn't surprise me that it only gained a mile in that time, enough to take it on and off a trailer a couple of times.

      Reply
      1. Rover_1 Avatar
        Rover_1

        And reversing winds the miles off.

        Reply
    2. Batshitbox Avatar
      Batshitbox

      No, it's gone more like 2500 miles. That CL post is from Seattle, and this EBay seller is in Pennsylvania!

      Reply
      1. Scout_dude Avatar
        Scout_dude

        They make these things, I think they are called trailers, that allow a person to move a vehicle without driving it.

        Reply
        1. Batshitbox Avatar
          Batshitbox

          There was a Car Talk episode on this month some time, and a caller had called to settle a question her and her husband were in contention about, posed by a trivia game:
          A V-8 engine has…
          a.) 8 pistons
          b.) 8 valves
          c.) 8 timing belts (or something ridiculous)
          The caller's husband maintained that a.) and b.) were true: a V-8 engine has both 8 pistons and 8 valves. Tommy agreed with the statement. Ray thought the more correct answer was a.) because a V-8 has only 8 pistons. Tommy and the husband knew that 8 valves were a sub-set of 16 valves (or 24, or 32, or 128 valves) The true statement being if you have more than 8 valves, you have, arithmetically, 8 valves. A V-8 also, accordingly, has one valve. And one piston.
          I'm telling you this story because there is a 2500 mile (approximately) linear distance between Washington state and Pennsylvania. If the evidence points to this car being in Washington in 2010, and Pennsylvania in 2015, then it must have traveled those 2500 miles. Even if it was loaded onto a train, taken to Chile, put on an Ekranoplan and flown to Guam, loaded into a rocket and shot around the dark side of the moon and landed in Buzzard's Bay, where it was put on, yes, a trailer! and driven to Houston, PA… the very least we can say about it is that it has gone 2500 miles since the last time we featured it here on Hooniverse.

          Reply
  9. Waywords Avatar
    Waywords

    This looks a whole lot like one shown in this very spot back in August, 2010… Claimed 119 miles then – it's only gone a mile in 4+ years?
    http://hooniverse.info/2010/08/30/a-malaise-era-po…

    Reply
  10. Roger Henry Avatar
    Roger Henry

    The fifth digit in the VIN is the engine code. The VIN listed in the ad shows an "F"…which does not correspond to any Pontiac engine code I can find.

    Reply
  11. mr smee Avatar
    mr smee

    Malaise-y like crazy, but if properly equiped these could be pretty OK. My big bro had a 1976 Nova coupe, but the dealer was a friend and put in a COPO order to get the police-package goodies on a 2-door, that was a cool car.

    Reply
  12. Dave Avatar
    Dave

    This is an interesting snapshot of the past, but there's not much here to be excited. The 260 may be the least interesting V8 this could have housed. The car would hold much more interest for me without the padded landau top and even more without the body side moldings. If I would have to choose, I would much prefer a Nova from the same era. I always thought this was the weakest looking of the GM foursome from this year.

    Reply
  13. Gwilson Avatar
    Gwilson

    The engine compartment is always a giveaway. This may be an extremely low mileage car, but I just don't see it only having 120 miles on it. With that in mind, it's just a potentially low mileage example of a car from a certain era, but I wouldn't let the quoted mileage push the price into the stratosphere.
    Was there a mechanical reason why so many of these Nova-type cars seemed to crab their way down the road? I can remember riding behind lots of them that looked as if the rear end was heading for the next lane over.

    Reply
  14. OttoNobedder Avatar
    OttoNobedder

    Gwilson: These have a subframe for the front suspension, engine and trans. The big rubber bushings that attach it to the body will go bad(or the metal parts of them will rust away) This causes the front wheels to be in a different plane from the rear wheels.

    Reply
  15. turboregal Avatar
    turboregal

    As small, efficient cars (yes, I know…) from this era go, the GM X body cars were all very good. Tilt steering column and power locks would be unusual luxuries at this car's typical price point. If the selling dealer ordered it for stock, the sales manager no doubt had a good feel for what "extras" helped a car sell in their customer market. GM haters won't like it because it IS so GM…slightly different grilles, taillights, and wheels, and a Pontiac dealer gets a sale. It's an attractive car to some of us now, because there were so many like it on the roads back then. Remember — just two model years prior to this car's birth, Pontiac used the '74 Ventura as the base car for the 11th and final year for the (American) GTO. It's got solid DNA. And, in the USA of 1976, whether you like it or not, nothing from the Far East came close to the selection, value, and convenience of Mopars, Fords, and GM's available within a few miles of just about everywhere in the land.

    Reply
  16. Don Crabbe Avatar
    Don Crabbe

    I’ve, always, been a Pontiac(R.I.P., sadly)fan and, blue is my favorite color. I think this vehicle is wonderful!

    Reply