Pontiac Grand Prix SJ

Grand Prix SJ at a glance

John DeLorean and the 1969 G-body

DeLorean, Pontiac's general manager, ordered an all-new Grand Prix for 1969 because buyer tastes were moving away from the full-size Catalina-based car. Pontiac built it on a stretched version of the intermediate A platform, named the G-body, with a 118 in wheelbase, three inches shorter than before. Hagerty describes it as having the longest bonnet on any production car of the day, and the Grand Prix was the first production car with a radio antenna built into the windscreen.

Inside, the "Command Seat" layout wrapped a cockpit-style instrument panel around the driver. The names came from the 1930s: the Grand Prix was sold as the Model J and the more powerful Model SJ, after the Duesenberg J and SJ. The formula worked at once. Sales reached 112,486 in 1969, the best figure for this generation, and in 1970 the same G-body went to Chevrolet as the Monte Carlo.

What the SJ added

Car Life lists the SJ package as option Y97 at US$244.34 over the Model J. Wikipedia gives US$4,182 for a 1969 SJ, which placed it above a Bonneville hardtop and below a GTO Judge convertible in Pontiac's price list. The 1969 SJ had the 428 four-barrel as standard, with the 428 HO as the next step. A four-speed manual was meant to be exclusive to the SJ, although some J cars were special-ordered with it.

For 1970 and 1971 the SJ included automatic level control, power front disc brakes, a high-performance suspension, special tyres and extra instrument gauges. The 1971 package, a US$195 option on the 455 SJ, added body-colour mirrors with a remote-control driver's mirror, vinyl pinstripes, courtesy lamps in the doors and boot, a Rally gauge cluster and a Delco X heavy-duty battery. A leather interior was available in 1969 and dropped for 1971.

The 428 and 455 engines by year

The 455 replaced the 428 for 1970 with the same 370 hp rating and more torque. The bigger change came in 1971, when compression fell from 10.25:1 to 8.4:1 and the gross rating dropped to 242 kW (325 hp). For 1972 Pontiac quoted net figures, and the sources disagree: a restoration feature on a 1972 SJ gives 186 kW (250 hp) at 3,600 rpm and 508 Nm (375 lb-ft) at 2,400 rpm, while Wikipedia lists the optional 455 at 224 kW (300 hp) net. In 1972 the 455 and the Turbo Hydra-Matic 400 became standard on the SJ.

Car Life and the tiger in a tuxedo

Car Life tested a 1969 SJ with the 428 HO in its February 1969 issue and gave the car its Engineering Excellence Award. With the Turbo Hydra-Matic and a 3.55:1 axle it reached 30 mph in 2.9 seconds, 60 mph in 6.7 seconds and 100 mph in 16.0 seconds, and ran the quarter mile in 14.1 seconds at 95.3 mph. The 30-70 mph pass took 5.4 seconds. The car weighed 1,896 kg (4,180 lb) at the kerb and cost US$6,095 as tested.

The editors called it "a tiger in a tuxedo". They praised the flat, predictable handling, the pleasant ride and the variable-ratio power steering with 2.9 turns from lock to lock, and they saw no reason to choose a manual gearbox over the automatic. Their complaints were the placement of some controls on the dashboard and the lack of a tachometer on the test car. For comparison, Car and Driver's lighter L78 Nova of 1968 needed 14.5 seconds for the quarter mile.

Luxury muscle: where the SJ fits

The SJ had muscle-car engines and muscle-car times in a body built for comfort. Its price sat above the Bonneville, and its brief was personal luxury, so it falls outside the definition used in our muscle car guide, which asks for a mainstream price. Collectors often call it luxury muscle, the same niche as the Plymouth GTX, Plymouth's "gentleman's muscle car". Pontiac's own muscle car of those years was the GTO.

Sales fell to 65,750 in 1970, about 40 percent lower, as the Monte Carlo and the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme took buyers, and to 58,325 in 1971. The 1971 restyle added a semi-boat-tail rear deck, a Duesenberg-inspired grille and dual headlights. The 1972 car recovered to 91,961, second only to 1969, and Hurst built about 60 of its own SSJ conversions that year. In total Pontiac built 328,522 Grand Prix of this generation. The SJ name continued on the larger Grand Prix from 1973, when an SJ cost US$4,962, and was dropped in 1981.

Grand Prix SJ today: what to check

The sources used here give no reliable year-by-year SJ total; one magazine's estimate of about 11,000 SJs for 1969 is marked as guesswork. That makes documentation essential. Pontiac Historic Services can confirm how a car was built, which matters because SJ badges are easy to add to a Model J, and Pontiac's 400, 428 and 455 share one external block design, so the engine codes need checking. A 428 HO car is rare, with 1,105 built, and a four-speed SJ rarer still.

The automatic level control and the 1969-1970 leather interior are SJ details that are hard to find in good condition. The Pontiac-Oakland Club International publishes owner stories of individual SJs with their original options, a useful reference for what a correct car carries. Other Pontiacs of these years are listed in the Pontiac catalogue, and the brand's wider story is on the Pontiac history page.