Junkyard Find: 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix Model J

Murilee Martin
by Murilee Martin

We all know about John Delorean‘s big home run for Pontiac, the GTO, but Delorean’s Grand Prix probably made more money for The General during the 1960s. Here’s a thoroughly trashed ’69 that I spotted in a Denver self-service yard earlier this week.

The engine is long gone, so we can’t know whether it was a 400, a 428, or a 455.

The driver of the ’69 Grand Prix sat surrounded by this wraparound dash and console.

You could get a base Grand Prix, a J, or an SJ. This is the mid-level J.

A full set of hubcaps is still in the trunk. They’re pretty well banged up, but it’s rare to find any 1960s hubcaps in a yard like this.

You like patina? This car’s got it!

Break away with a ’69 Pontiac!








Murilee Martin
Murilee Martin

Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.

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  • Nick Nick on Sep 16, 2013

    Not surprised the engine is gone. 455s are getting hard to find (if that's what it was).

    • NoGoYo NoGoYo on Sep 16, 2013

      Probably a 428 (likely even HARDER to find) or a 400 (not exactly hard to find, but still prized and thus likely to be pulled if in good shape).

  • Earl Earl on Jan 13, 2023

    Is this for sale?

  • Probert They already have hybrids, but these won't ever be them as they are built on the modular E-GMP skateboard.
  • Justin You guys still looking for that sportbak? I just saw one on the Facebook marketplace in Arizona
  • 28-Cars-Later I cannot remember what happens now, but there are whiteblocks in this period which develop a "tick" like sound which indicates they are toast (maybe head gasket?). Ten or so years ago I looked at an '03 or '04 S60 (I forget why) and I brought my Volvo indy along to tell me if it was worth my time - it ticked and that's when I learned this. This XC90 is probably worth about $300 as it sits, not kidding, and it will cost you conservatively $2500 for an engine swap (all the ones I see on car-part.com have north of 130K miles starting at $1,100 and that's not including freight to a shop, shop labor, other internals to do such as timing belt while engine out etc).
  • 28-Cars-Later Ford reported it lost $132,000 for each of its 10,000 electric vehicles sold in the first quarter of 2024, according to CNN. The sales were down 20 percent from the first quarter of 2023 and would “drag down earnings for the company overall.”The losses include “hundreds of millions being spent on research and development of the next generation of EVs for Ford. Those investments are years away from paying off.” [if they ever are recouped] Ford is the only major carmaker breaking out EV numbers by themselves. But other marques likely suffer similar losses. https://www.zerohedge.com/political/fords-120000-loss-vehicle-shows-california-ev-goals-are-impossible Given these facts, how did Tesla ever produce anything in volume let alone profit?
  • AZFelix Let's forego all of this dilly-dallying with autonomous cars and cut right to the chase and the only real solution.
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