In the fall of 1970, my father, Jim Rotella was driving a Bermuda Blue ’70 Firebird that he ordered earlier that year. He shared those memories in a previous blog post.
This was the ‘70 Firebird that my dad purchased new in May 1970. More can be read about that car in a previous blog post.
The 1971 models were beginning to reach dealership lots and he contemplated ordering something new. “I really liked my Firebird, but it was a base model without any convenience options,” he said. “It looked great and was fun to drive, but after a while I realized I wanted something roomier with an automatic transmission, power steering, and air conditioning.”
My grandfather had a ’70 Cutlass Supreme and he was planning to trade it for a new ’71 Monte Carlo. “The Cutlass was a very nice car,” my dad said. “It was like new and had the equipment I wanted. I was still in college and working part time, and I didn’t want a monthly car payment. Trading my Firebird for his Cutlass was an easy way for me to get into a new car without spending too much. He then sold the ’70 Firebird when he took delivery of the ’71 Monte Carlo.”
My grandfather originally ordered this ‘70 Cutlass Supreme. During the fall of 1970, my dad traded his ‘70 Firebird to my grandfather for it.
Fully aware that GM’s A- and F-cars were aimed at separate segments within the marketplace, I asked my dad how the Firebird and Cutlass Supreme compared. “They were both nice cars,” he said. “In general, the Cutlass was more practical than the Firebird. The Cutlass rode better and was more comfortable, but the Firebird looked more aggressive and handled better. Basically, the differences were about what you’d expect from the two chassis types.”
By the fall of 1971, my dad had driven the Cutlass Supreme for about a year and it was approaching two years old. “I really liked the ’70 Cutlass—it was a very nice car—but your grandpa was buying new cars each model year back then, and I thought it was time to get myself something new for 1972 if I could afford it,” he explained.
Pontiac’s ‘71-72 LeMans was attractively styled. The grillwork was revised for 1972 and the bumper was fully chromed. This photo is from the 1972 Pontiac brochure.
GM’s A-car was the right size for my dad. “I thought about ordering another Cutlass, but I liked Pontiac for its sporty image, and really liked the LeMans and GTOs we’d owned before,” he said. “I thought the front end changes on the 1971 LeMans looked good and ultimately decided that since I just had an Oldsmobile, I’d go with a Pontiac.”
On October 25, 1971, my dad went to Stan Olsen Pontiac in Omaha and ordered a ‘72 LeMans from salesman Don Marasco—who was also a family friend. “I wanted to pay cash for the difference after trade-in, so I had to keep the cost down.” my dad said. “I chose hardtop styling (D37) over the standard coupe (D27) because I felt it looked sportier without the side post. I considered the LeMans Sport option, but it was more money than I wanted to spend.”
Vinyl roofs were very popular at the time, but my dad specifically omitted that feature from his order. “I didn’t want one,” he said. “It added cost, but more so, I felt that body style looked better without it. I chose a Cameo White exterior and Saddle interior because a guy in the neighborhood had a ’71 Cutlass in that combination and I thought it was very attractive.”
My dad placed an order for a ‘72 LeMans at Stan Olsen Pontiac in Omaha, Nebraska on October 25, 1971. The original purchase order reveals the sale price was $3,580—a healthy discount off the $4,150 sticker price!
The first extra-cost item my dad selected was the L30 350-ci 2-barrel. “The 6-cylinder was standard, but I absolutely wanted a V-8,” he said. “I asked about adding a 4-barrel carburetor and dual exhaust for added performance, but Don said the L78 400 4-barrel was the only way to get that equipment. I thought about the 400-ci, but it was more than I wanted to spend and decided that the 350 2-barrel was good enough.”
The M38 Turbo-350 automatic transmission and C60 Air Conditioning were the costliest items my dad selected. “They were expensive, but I wanted the convenience and comfort. I added power steering, but didn’t think I needed power brakes, plus it saved money. As it turned out, even with manual drums, I felt the car stopped well.”
“I really liked Pontiac’s Rally II wheels and regretted not ordering them on my ’70 Firebird,” he continued. “When I ordered the LeMans, I said to myself, ‘I’m getting them, and I don’t care what they cost!’ Black wall tires in F78-14 sizing were standard, and I considered upgrading to white lettered tires, but I saw other cars around with Rally IIs and black wall tires and thought they looked racy and decided to go with the standard tires. It was one less thing to spend money on.”
For $41, my dad could have replaced the LeMans’ standard front end with the Endura bumper and dual-scooped hood from the GTO. Certainly a bargain for its time, he preferred the standard treatment over the optional equipment at the time.
The LeMans was equipped with a bench seat. “Cloth seating covering was standard. I didn’t feel it was sporty, so I paid extra for vinyl interior. I’d much rather have had bucket seats and a console, but it was costly. I knew I didn’t want a dark trunk compartment, and it didn’t cost much to add a trunk lamp, so I went with that option as well as a glove box lamp.
Pontiac was touting its T41 Endura Nose option in 1972 LeMans advertising as a reasonably priced upgrade over the standard nose treatment. “I considered the T41 front end for my car, but I felt the standard LeMans front end looked better overall, especially with larger chrome bumper for 1972. Back then, the GTO nose and hood seemed a little overstated to me, but looking back, I should have added it,” he said.
In looking back, my dad says he wishes he would have added the T41 option to his order. It certainly lends an attractive appearance!
About four weeks after placing his order, my dad received a phone call from Don Marasco saying that his ’72 LeMans was ready for delivery. “The car arrived right before Thanksgiving,” he recalled. “I went straight to Stan Olsen Pontiac to pick it up. It was parked inside the service area waiting for me. It looked so nice. The color combination was perfect. It was the first car I’d owned with a styled wheel from the factory and the 14 x 6-inch Rally IIs looked great on the black wall Firestone tires it came with. The car was everything I hoped it would be.”
This June 1972-dated photo is the only one that my dad has of his ‘72 LeMans. That’s him, headed to a softball game.
The day before Thanksgiving, my dad returned to Stan Olsen Pontiac to purchase a bottle of Cameo White touchup paint should he ever need it. That purchase, however, proved fateful. “I parked the LeMans on the street next to the dealership and went inside,” he said. “When I came back out, I found someone had pulled out of the service garage and swung out too wide and hit my new LeMans. They put a crease in the left front fender just behind the tire. I was very unhappy—the car was only a couple of days old—but the driver was apologetic and paid to have it repaired. Fortunately, the body man at the dealership did an incredible job. You couldn’t even tell it had been damaged.”
The LeMans’ original window sticker reveals exactly how my dad ordered it. Rather sparsely equipped, he was trying to keep the cost down so as to pay cash for the trade-in difference. It stickered for $4,150.
My dad drove the ‘72 LeMans for the next several months and truly enjoyed it. “Without a vinyl roof or body side moldings, the car had a sleek appearance,” he said. “The Rally IIs made it look really sporty. Of course, I kept it clean, and it always got a lot of looks. In fact, several people mistook it for a GTO. I really liked the interior, too. The Saddle interior was attractive, and the dash layout looked great.”
When I asked about its performance, my dad responded, “I went from the ‘70 Firebird with the 350 2-barrel, to the ‘70 Cutlass with the 350 2-barrel, and the LeMans had a 350 2-barrel, too. It performed about the same as the others, which was sufficient for me, but I do think that the LeMans performed a little better than the Cutlass. That’s probably because the Cutlass had a 2.56:1 rear axle ratio, whereas the LeMans had a 2.78:1 ratio. I can still remember the sound that its 350 2-barrel made through the single exhaust. It was mellow, but not racy. And it rode and handled well for the time, too.”
After accepting it on trade for his ‘71 Monte Carlo, my grandfather placed an classified ad in the September 23, 1972 edition of the Omaha World Herald to sell the ‘72 LeMans. With only 4,700 miles and in like-new condition, it sold in a single weekend.
In the fall of 1972, my dad was still happy with the LeMans and wasn’t looking to trade it, but another opportunity presented itself. “Your grandpa had the ’71 Monte Carlo that was like new, and he was going to trade it for a restyled ’73 Monte Carlo. The car was Mulsanne Blue (same as Pontiac’s Lucerne Blue) and I thought it was absolutely beautiful. Trading my ’72 LeMans for his ‘71 Monte Carlo was another chance a getting a new car. He then sold the ’72 LeMans and I never saw it again.”
My grandfather ordered this ‘71 Monte Carlo during the fall of 1970 and likely waited a while for its delivery because of the 67-day UAW strike that began on September 15, 1970. My dad went on to trade his ‘72 LeMans for it in September 1972, when my grandfather ordered a new ‘73 Monte Carlo.
In retrospect, my dad said, “I really did like the ’72 LeMans. It was sporty looking and perfectly fit my needs as a college student who was working part time. I always wished I had ordered the 400 4-barrel with dual exhaust. Maybe I would have kept the car longer if I had, but your grandpa and I were buying new cars just about every year back then. Unlike today, automakers made them looked different from year to year and it was—and still is—exciting getting something new.”
While I have yet to own a Pontiac A-car, my dad frequently reminisced about his ’72 LeMans over the years. It created within me a fondness for those models. I truly enjoy seeing them at car shows today and visiting with their owners, and often think that a ’72 LeMans or GTO might make an excellent addition to my garage!
Do you have any memories of the Pontiacs you bought new? Share them in the comments below.