|
|
|
|
Pontiac LeMans
|
| |
|
| |
The Pontiac LeMans was a model name applied to compact and intermediate-sized automobiles offered by the Pontiac division of General Motors from 1962 to 1981. The LeMans was replaced by the downsized Pontiac Bonneville for the 1982 model year. In 1988, for the 1989 model year a badge engineered Daewoo LeMans was sold briefly until 1993.
1961-1963
Introduced as the top-of-the-line version of the compact Pontiac Tempest at the end of 1961 on GM's new Y body platform, the Tempest LeMans was essentially a trim package featuring sportier and more luxurious trimmings than the Tempest, including different badging and bucket seats.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Pontiac LeMans' Start a new discussion about 'Pontiac LeMans' Answer questions from other users |
Encyclopedia
The Pontiac LeMans was a model name applied to compact and intermediate-sized automobiles offered by the Pontiac division of General Motors from 1962 to 1981. The LeMans was replaced by the downsized Pontiac Bonneville for the 1982 model year. In 1988, for the 1989 model year a badge engineered Daewoo LeMans was sold briefly until 1993.
1961-1963
Introduced as the top-of-the-line version of the compact Pontiac Tempest at the end of 1961 on GM's new Y body platform, the Tempest LeMans was essentially a trim package featuring sportier and more luxurious trimmings than the Tempest, including different badging and bucket seats. That year the name was used only on a two-door pillared coupe. In 1962, LeMans continued on this path, adding a convertible to the offerings and I4 4bbl carbureted engine. Though all four body styles -- coupe, sedan, convertible and station wagon -- were available as Tempests, there was no four-sedan or station wagon LeMans. There was also no pillarless hardtop version of either Pontiac. The next year, in 1963, the LeMans name was still used only on coupes and convertibles, but the name was officially made its own model. This would last for just one year. It's these 1963 cars of both nameplates that had the high-performance 326 CID V8 option (actually 336 cid for that one year only) and specially modified versions of them became the Super Duty cars of racing lore.
1964-1967
The Tempest line was upsized to an intermediate-sized car on the new GM A platform in 1964, and the LeMans returned to its role of Tempest trim upgrade with a new 215 CID six-cylinder and a redesigned 326 CID V8 (now actually 326 CID). Shortly after the start of the 1964 model year, the LeMans became available with a new performance package designated as the GTO, or Gran Turismo Omologato. The GTO option was priced at just under US$300 and included a larger 389 CID V8 from the full-sized Pontiac line that put out 325 or 335 hp, a four-speed floor shift Muncie manual transmission with Hurst shifter, heavy-duty suspension, red-line Tiger Paw tires, and GTO nameplates. GTO sales ended up at 32,000 for the first year, well beyond initial estimates of 5,000 units and accounted for a large share of Tempest/LeMans sales. The success and the image of the GTO helped increase sales of lesser Tempest and LeMans models in the coming years, placing the Pontiac brand into third place in total industry sales after Chevrolet and Ford.
The GTO became a separate model of its own for 1966, though retaining the same basic body as the Tempest and LeMans models. For 1966, all Pontiac intermediates got swoopier styling featuring tunnelback rooflines on two door hardtop and pillared coupes. While the GTO continued as a big-engined muscle car, the Tempest and LeMans models got a new SOHC 230 cubic inch six-cylinder engine as the base engine. The new SOHC I6, the brainchild of Pontiac Chief Engineer John De Lorean (who became Pontiac's general manager in 1965), was available in an economical one-barrel carbureted, 165 hp version that was standard equipment on all Pontiac intermediates except GTOs. Optional on all Tempest and LeMans models except station wagons was a Sprint package that included a hopped-up four-barrel version of the 230 CID OHC six that also included higher compression ratio and hotter cam, resulting in 215 horse power, along with an "all-syncro" floor-mounted three-speed automatic transmission with Hurst shifter, suspension kit, and body striping. Those who preferred a V8 engine could get either the base two-barrel 326 CID V8 rated at 250 hp (the most popular Tempest/LeMans engine) or a 285 hp four-barrel 326 HO V8 with higher compression ratio, high performance cam and dual exhausts.
The Sprint-optioned Tempest and LeMans models were not very popular during the mid-to-late 1960s as they were greatly outsold by the bigger-engined GTO that was heating up the muscle car wars. Buyers of regular Tempest and LeMans models definitely preferred V8 power, as the 326 and later 350 CID V8s were the most ordered engines. The Sprint option and SOHC six-cylinder engine were discontinued after 1969 with an ordinary Chevrolet-built 250 CID OHV six-cylinder engine, becoming the base engine from 1970 to 1976 in most Pontiac intermediates.
Initially, the LeMans included a pillared coupe and convertible for 1962 and 1963 as no hardtops were offered in the compact Tempest. For 1964, a hardtop coupe was added followed by a four-door pillared sedan in 1965, which was replaced by a four-door hardtop in 1966 and a four-door Safari station wagon in 1968. Generally, the four-door and station wagon models were differentiated from the coupes and convertibles by featuring conventional bench seats or notch-back bench seats with folding armrests as opposed to the Strato buckets seats standard in coupes and convertibles. Other LeMans upgrades over lesser Tempests included carpeted lower door panels, deluxe steering wheels, courtesy lighting, and full wheel covers.
1968-1972
For 1970, Pontiac reshuffled its intermediate lineup a bit with the LeMans nameplate downgraded to the mid-line sub-series previously known as the Tempest Custom and included two and four-door pillared sedans, while the previous top-shelf LeMans series was renamed the LeMans Sport in the same three body styles including a four-door hardtop sedan, two-door hardtop coupe and convertible. This year, bigger engines - which had previously reserved for GTOs - were made available on lesser Tempest/LeMans models including a 400 CID V8 rated at 265 hp with a two-barrel carburetor or a 330 hp option with a four-barrel carburetor and dual exhausts.
In 1971, the Tempest nameplate was completely retired and Pontiac promoted the LeMans nameplate to full-series status to identify all of its intermediate models, which still included the GTO. At the bottom of the line was the Pontiac T-37, previously known as the Tempest.
For 1972, all Pontiac intermediates were now LeMans models as the GTO was downgraded from a sub-series to an option package and the low-priced T-37 line was replaced by a stripped LeMans pillared coupe. The top-line intermediate was the Luxury LeMans, available in hardtop sedan and coupe models, featuring plusher interiors than regular LeMans models. The LeMans Sport was available as a two-door hardtop or convertible featuring Strato bucket seats and plush interior fittings from the Luxury LeMans.
In the film adapation of The French Connection, Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle commandeered a 1971 LeMans coupe from a citizen. He then used it to chase an overhead train at high speed through the streets of New York, in what is widely considered one of the most exciting film chases in cinema history.
1973-1977
From 1973 to 1977, the LeMans and other GM intermediates were much larger in size than previous models due to evolutionary changes that resulted in larger cars year after year and federally-mandated 5 mph crash bumpers that added weight and length. During this period, Pontiac's intermediate lineup included the base LeMans, LeMans Sport Coupe, GTO (1973 only), Luxury LeMans (became the Grand LeMans in 1975), the Euro-styled Grand Am from 1973 to 1975, and the 1977 Can Am. Body styles were all based on GM's Colonnade hardtop design for both sedans and coupes (no convertibles offered after 1972) that included center pillars for improved rollover safety standards but eliminated true hardtop design, along with frameless windows similar to a hardtop.
1978-1981
In 1978, the LeMans and other GM mid-sized cars were considerably downsized and lost some 600-800 lb in the process, as part of GM's corporate downsizing program to reduce the size and weight of its automobiles in the aftermath of the Arab Oil Embargo induced energy crisis of 1973 to 1974. Engines were downsized as well with engine options reduced to a standard Buick-built 231 CID V6 or an optional Pontiac-built 301 CID V8 for 1978 (some 1978s, the Grand LeMans for sure, were available with the GM small block 5 liter 305 CID motor), compared to larger 350, 400 and 455 CID V8s offered in previous years. From 1978 to 1980, Pontiac's mid-sized lineup included the base LeMans, Grand LeMans and a revived Grand Am that was much more suited in size and concept as a Euro-style sport sedan than the larger 1973 to 1975 models. The Grand Am in this guise was not a tremendous seller as a sedan or coupe. Only a coupe was offered in 1980 before that nameplate was discontinued and mothballed for a few years before the Grand Am name was revived again for 1985 as a new compact car, the form which the Grand Am would take for the next two decades until it was replaced by the Pontiac G6 in 2005.
The final year for the mid-sized LeMans was 1981, with only the base and Grand LeMans models offered initially and joined at mid-year by a new LJ trim level positioned between the base and Grand models. The car was given a new slanted nose which made it popular in NASCAR, especially as a superspeedway race car. The car had such an aerodynamic advantage over every other body style racable at the time that NASCAR stepped in and reduced the allowable rear spoiler area to a point that made the car dangerous to run on the big tracks. This resulted to most of the teams moving to other makes, mostly Buick Regals. LeMan's did win the 1983 Daytona 500 however, and also the summer 1983 race at Pocono, PA. Engine offerings by this time included Buick's 231 CID V6, Pontiac's 4.3 L 265 CID V8, Pontiac's 301 CID V8, Chevrolet's 305 CID V8 (for California only) and Oldsmobile's 350 CID diesel V8.
For 1982, Pontiac dropped the LeMans nameplate for its mid-size car, rebadging it as the Bonneville, which had denoted the division's top-line full-sized cars for many years until the division discontinued all of its big cars after 1981. The LeMans-cum-Bonneville was reduced to one trim line in four-door and Safari wagon models and offered no Pontiac engines as the division discontinued V8 production after 1981 to concentrated on Iron Duke four-cylinder engines for GM's smaller cars. The engine lineup now consisted of the Buick V6 or Chevrolet 305 V8, along with the Olds 350 diesel. The mid-sized Bonneville wagon was dropped after 1983 while the sedan lingered until 1986. For 1987, the Bonneville nameplate was moved to a slightly larger front-wheel drive full-sized sedan that shared its basic platform with the Buick LeSabre and Oldsmobile Delta 88.
1986-1994
The Pontiac LeMans was the subcompact car Daewoo LeMans manufactured by Daewoo Motors in South Korea between 1986 and 1994, although LeMans sales ended in 1993. It was only available as a two door coupe and as a four door sedan. The LeMans took its underpinnings from a European Opel design. In the case of the LeMans, the GM T platform-based Opel Kadett E was the donor vehicle—badge engineered in the form of the LeMans, and later the facelifted Daewoo Cielo. In markets outside of South Korea, the car bore the Asüna GT, Asüna SE, Daewoo 1.5i, Daewoo Fantasy, Daewoo Pointer, Daewoo Racer, and Passport Optima names.
External links
|
| |
|
|
