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1969 Pontiac Grand Prix
The allure of powerful engines and aggressive design was a Pontiac trademark. So, their management wanted to widen its appeal and go beyond regular muscle cars like the GTO and Firebird. To enter the world of luxury muscle cars, Pontiac had the perfect candidate in the Grand Prix. The Grand Prix was a personal luxury coupe they introduced in 1962 in a coupe body style with powerful engines and a long list of options.
This model went against the Ford Thunderbird and Oldsmobile 98 as a so-called gentleman’s express. However, with the restyling of the Grand Prix for 1969, they had the chance to introduce trim packages to transform this comfy cruiser into a real muscle car. And Pontiac jumped to the opportunity. They used a cool-looking new design with a long hood and short rear end and with an interesting and driver-oriented dashboard.
The 1969 Grand Prix looked apart from the competitors and sales immediately jumped. Second, there was a cool trim option called SJ which featured a high output 428 V8 engine which delivered 390 HP and a host of other performance options. The moniker “SJ” was borrowed from the legendary Duesenberg brand.
Back then, they featured the SJ insignia on the most powerful Duesenberg cars. So, Pontiac wanted to get a piece of that legend with the Grand Prix SJ. The automotive press and the fans approved of this luxury muscle car, so the Grand Prix sold well. The powerful V8 propelled this big coupe to some respectable acceleration times. And despite Pontiac’s intention to make it a form of executive transport, the Grand Prix SJ was a respectable street machine.