I enjoy trips to the junkyard. You probably do, too. I was first introduced to junkyarding in the late-1980s when I’d accompany my dad, who was then gathering parts for his ’72 Trans Am. I’ve been visiting my local yards in regularity ever since. In fact, you may even recall the blog I wrote about it a few years back.
It was hard to differentiate surface rust from the original Anaconda Gold finish on this very-original ‘72 LeMans four-door.
With my free time much more limited today, my junkyarding ventures are far less frequent than in the past. I must admit, however, I still find great pleasure in filling my five-gallon bucket with essential hand tools while visions of the next great score play in mind—even if it’s now only a few times per year.
Fourth-gen Firebirds were not produced in large numbers, so finding one in the junkyard today is quite rare.
I’ve found the number of Pontiacs intermixed within the dozens of GM vehicles in my local junkyard at any given time has greatly declined in recent years. That’s unsurprising when considering that GM dropped the marque in 2009 and there are no new Pontiacs entering circulation to fill the void of the 2009-and-older models exiting it.
There was little left to pick on this ‘81 Formula..
Despite being exposed to Midwest winters (read: salt!), its body remained in surprisingly decent shape.
Until attrition has its way, it seems a good number of 1990s and 2000s Bonneville, Grand Am, Grand Prix and/or Sunfire donors remain in decent supply. And if you’re lucky, you’ll occasionally happen across a fourth-gen Firebird, too.
This ‘74 LeMans was found on my most recent junkyard trip. Now silver, it was originally Limefire Green.
Finding anything powered by a Pontiac V8 is a depressingly rare occurrence. Usually it’s nothing too incredibly exciting, but I was surprised to find a couple of late-second-gen Firebirds in the past couple of years. And because we all carry a camera in our pocket these days, it affords me the opportunity to photo-record such events.
The exterior was relatively complete. Notice the purposely-designed “pressure bugles” clearly visible above the front and rear wheels that then-Pontiac Studio Chief Bill Porter incorporated into the mid-1970s A-car.
A few weeks back I learned that a ’74 LeMans was placed in the yard. It immediately piqued my interest and I quickly planned a visit. With the understanding that the nearly-50-year-old Pontiac was well used and likely abused, I didn’t expect much, but when I arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to find a once-Limefire Green A-body that was fairly complete outside and largely untouched underhood!
The 350 2-barrel was largely untouched. Someone claimed the front accessory brackets by the time I was there, but the accessories remained under hood.
I thought this recent experience would be a great opportunity to share some of the Pontiacs I’ve seen in my local junkyard in the past couple of years. There haven’t been many, but seeing just one in the yard still gives me a rush. At the same time, however, I find myself lamenting that once the junkyard sentence is up, it’s off to the crusher and there will be one less Pontiac sentry to carry the torch.
There was very little left of its once-matching green interior.
How about sharing the Pontiacs that you’ve found in your junkyard visits?
This 1979 Trans Am had seen better days. There wasn’t much salvageable on it.