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?

  • Dartman EBFlex will soon be able to buy his preferred brand!
  • Mebgardner I owned 4 different Z cars beginning with a 1970 model. I could already row'em before buying the first one. They were light, fast, well powered, RWD, good suspenders, and I loved working on them myself when needed. Affordable and great styling, too. On the flip side, parts were expensive and mostly only available in a dealers parts dept. I could live with those same attributes today, but those days are gone long gone. Safety Regulations and Import Regulations, while good things, will not allow for these car attributes at the price point I bought them at.I think I will go shop a GT-R.
  • Lou_BC Honda plans on investing 15 billion CAD. It appears that the Ontario government and Federal government will provide tax breaks and infrastructure upgrades to the tune of 5 billion CAD. This will cover all manufacturing including a battery plant. Honda feels they'll save 20% on production costs having it all localized and in house.As @ Analoggrotto pointed out, another brilliant TTAC press release.
  • 28-Cars-Later "Its cautious approach, which, along with Toyota’s, was criticized for being too slow, is now proving prescient"A little off topic, but where are these critics today and why aren't they being shamed? Why are their lunkheaded comments being memory holed? 'Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.' -Orwell, 1984
  • Tane94 A CVT is not the kiss of death but Nissan erred in putting CVTs in vehicles that should have had conventional automatics. Glad to see the Murano is FINALLY being redesigned. Nostalgia is great but please drop the Z car -- its ultra-low sales volume does not merit continued production. Redirect the $$$ into small and midsize CUVs/SUVs.
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