The history of Grand Am begins with Pontiac executives noting incursion into the US market by Mercedes, BMW, Toyota and Nissan. Notably, the American sports car was usually without luxury features, and the luxury car without sport features. Foreign makes mixed these features, that introducing to the market luxury performance coupes and sedans that had balanced handling along with powerful engines. Pontiac hybridized the
Grand Prix with the
Trans Am to create the Grand Am, a naming tactic shared with the luxury
Pontiac Grand Ville. Built on the A-body platform shared with the
Pontiac LeMans, the intended GTO body was re-badged and fitted with the top-level Grand Prix interior, and using the larger engine from the Grand Prix, Bonneville and Grand Ville. A total of 43,136 Grand Ams were built during the first year of production. The Grand Am could be had with a standard 2-bbl
V8 engine with single exhaust producing , an optional 4-bbl version of this engine with single exhaust producing that was only available with a 4-speed manual transmission, an optional 4-bbl version of this engine with dual exhaust producing , or an optional 4-bbl with dual exhaust . The engine displacement, expressed in liters, was displayed on the bootlid in an effort to accentuate the car's supposedly European character. All engines were available with a
Turbo-hydramatic 400 automatic transmission as standard equipment. A 4-speed manual transmission was available with the 400/4-bbl engine in 1973 and 1974, but this was not popular. The 1973 Pontiac Grand Am style had a unique flexible urethane front fascia center nose (known as the 'Endura' nose) that was squeezable and could return to its original shape following a minor collision along with the new energy-absorbing bumpers, a total of six grille openings with vertical bars, round front turn signals with a cross-hair design, horizontal rear taillights, and chrome rear bumper. Additionally, Grand Ams featured a Radial Tuned Suspension (RTS) as standard equipment that included radial-ply tires, Pliacell shock absorbers, and front and rear sway bars. The springs were advertised as being computer selected. Grand Ams also were among the first U.S.-built cars with a turn-signal mounted headlight dimmer switch that had been common on imported cars for decades. Other standard equipment included concealed windshield wipers, a front stabilizer bar, and an in-the-windshield radio antenna. Engine choices were a 2-barrel with single exhaust producing , a dual exhaust version of the same making , a 4-barrel 400-ci V8 with dual exhaust rated at , and a 455 cubic inch 4-barrel with dual exhaust producing . All four options were available with automatic transmission, while only the 400 4-barrel was also available with manual transmission. Sales were down more than 50 percent due to the
1973 oil crisis, and while the recession continued, prices increased for all 1974 model cars. Only 17,083 Grand Ams were built in 1974. 1974 Pontiac Grand Am Coupe.jpg|1974 Grand Am two-door hardtop 1974 Pontiac Grand Am two-door Hardtop in red, rear right.jpg|1974 Grand Am two-door hardtop, rear
1975 The 1975 Grand Am looked the same as the 1974 model, but had vertical front grille bars, a body-colored rear bumper, and a
catalytic converter single-exhaust, which mandated the use of unleaded fuel, along with GM's High Energy Ignition and other items promoted as part of Pontiac's maximum mileage system. In addition to the standard roofline with louvered rear side windows, Grand Am coupes with the optional vinyl roof could be ordered with a full triangular rear side window or a vertical opera window similar to that found on the Grand Prix. Inside, the Strato bucket seats received revised vertical trim patterns, the adjustable lumbar support controls were dropped, and only the passenger seat had a recliner, a "safety practice" which would continue at GM for a decade. New this year as a no-cost option was a 60/40 bench seat with a center armrest. Engines were also detuned to meet the
1975 emission regulations with the
compression ratio dropping to a new low of 7.6 to 1 on some engines. Standard was the V8 with two-barrel
carburetor, optional were a 400, or a - both with four-barrel carburetors. Turbo Hydra-matic was standard equipment and the only transmission offered this year. Performance from 0-60 was 7.7 seconds. A total of 10,679 Grand Ams were built in 1975 and the series was dropped after this year due to declining sales and rising gas prices as a result of the
1973 oil crisis. Another factor leading to the Grand Am's cancellation were plans for all 1976 Pontiac A-body cars receiving the newly approved rectangular headlights, which would necessitate a complete redesign of the Grand Am's Endura nose and Pontiac officials decided that the expense of such a redesign could not be justified based on low production numbers. The basic GM A-body design remained until 1977.
Production Transmissions • M40 =
TH400 3spd automatic • M20 4-speed manual not available in California • Model year 1973–1974.5, M20 =
Muncie 4spd • 2nd half of 1974, M20 =
BW Super T10 4spd
Engines • 1973–1975 L65
V8 with 2-barrel carburetor (standard engine, others were optional) • 1973–1975 L78 V8 with 4-barrel carburetor • 1973–1975 L75 V8 with 4-barrel carburetor Notes: • A SD-455 equipped engineering prototype Grand Am was built and tested, but was later dismantled and destroyed. • 1973 engines may have point or unitized ignition. • 1974 engines may have point or unitized ignition or starting around May 1, 1974,
HEI ignition. • 1975 engines have HEI ignition. • 1975 was the first year for the catalytic converter. ==Second generation (1978–1980)==