1973 Pontiac Grand Ville Brougham
The full-sized Pontiac Grand Ville was in production from 1971 to 1975 and was the top-trim Pontiac model. It wore distinctive chrome trim and built atop a stretched-wheelbase version of the General Motors ‘B’ platform.
The 1973 Pontiac Grand Ville Brougham had a new grille similar to the Bonneville except that it had a script model badge located above the grille. They had body sill moldings, roof pillar nameplates, fender skirts, and full wheel discs.
While the name Bonneville had at least implied performance, the new Grand Ville Brougham badge suggested… well, grandness. The Motor City’s full-sized cars were entering their Brougham period, and this latest Pontiac model followed right along with rich velour fabrics, deep-pile carpeting, and the full complement of power accessories and conveniences. A 455 CID V8 was standard, and while the Grand Ville rode on the standard GM B-body platform, its formal roofline was shared with the corporation’s larger C-body cars. On the 1973-75 cars, among the popular options were fender skirts, an interesting throwback to the ’50s land-yacht era.
The interior features bench seats that were covered in red vinyl when new, with tufted seatbacks and a front armrest and headrests. Amenities include power windows, a tilting steering column, cruise control, and an AM/FM radio.
A red three-spoke steering wheel frames instrumentation that includes a 100-mph speedometer and an analog clock surrounded by inset gauges and warning lights.
The Pontiac Bonneville Brougham had always been bestowed with a longer wheelbase of the lesser Catalina/Ventura. This was an old tradition, back when a few extra inches of wheelbase was something to brag about. The Sloanian ladder was just a series of steps of ever longer wheelbases and accordingly higher prices. But that started to crumble, when cars like the 1958 Thunderbird showed that exclusivity could come in shorter packages.
The Grand Ville Brougham was a sales success at first, until the Arab oil embargo caused people to re-think buying an automobile whose name loosely translates as “large city,” and sales plummeted. In 1973, the Grand Ville was promoted to a Grand Ville Brougham, gaining some extra equipment in the process, restoring that nameplate’s prestige in anticipation of the downsized 1977’s release.
