1974 · Pontiac · United States
1974 Pontiac Grand Am: A New Face, a Steeper Drop in Production
A revised nose and 17,083 built, only 342 with a four-speed.
United States · researched through 2026-09-25
For 1974, Pontiac revised the Grand Am's face with a six-slot-per-side grille, raised the trunk profile, and moved the taillamps out to the car's sides, while inside the genuine mahogany dash trim of the earlier cars gave way to simulated wood. Production fell to 17,083 for the year, split 13,961 coupes and 3,122 sedans, a steep drop from the model's stronger first year that the record notes without explaining, since no source read gives a cause for the decline.1,2,3
The standard engine was a 175-horsepower 400 with a two-barrel carburetor and single exhaust, and Pontiac offered three steps up from it: a dual-exhaust version of the same 400 two-barrel at 190 horsepower, a 400 four-barrel with dual exhaust at 225, and a 455 four-barrel with dual exhaust at 250, the strongest engine on the sheet. Only 7,060 of the 17,083 Grand Ams got any of those optional engines, and fewer still, just 342 cars, about 2 percent of the year's production, came with the M20 four-speed manual, which Pontiac restricted to the 400 four-barrel engine only and did not offer in California at all. Those 342 four-speed Grand Ams made up a large share of the 833 four-speed Pontiac A-body cars built across the whole model line that year.3,2,4
Ward's Automotive Yearbook lists the 1974 Grand Am's factory list prices at $4,344 for the two-door and $4,434 for the four-door, a $90 gap between body styles. Underneath, the Grand Am kept its Radial Tuned Suspension standard: GR70-15 steel-belted radials on 7-inch wheels, front and rear stabilizer bars measuring 1.12 and 0.81 inches, Pliacell shocks, power front disc brakes, and variable-ratio power steering, a chassis package the 1974 sales folder singles out as standard equipment rather than an extra-cost option. The car itself measured 210.9 inches long as a two-door on a 112-inch wheelbase, or 214.9 inches long as a four-door on a 116-inch wheelbase, with a 25-gallon fuel tank shared across both body styles.5
Inside, the reclining front bucket seats came in wide-wale corduroy or all-vinyl Morrokide, set around a console with a floor shift and, per the same sales folder, mahogany trim, alongside a standard Rally gauge cluster with oil pressure, water temperature, voltage, and fuel readouts, an electric clock, and nylon-blend cut-pile carpet. The sales folder's mahogany-trimmed console sat alongside a main instrument panel that, per the overview, had already traded its own genuine mahogany for simulated wood that year, a distinction between the console and the dash panel worth keeping separate rather than treating as one uniform material change. All 1973-1975 Grand Ams, including every 1974 car, were built at Pontiac Motor Division's main assembly plant in Pontiac, Michigan.1,3
The options sheet leaned toward comfort and appearance rather than raw performance: color-keyed striping, power windows with door pods, a stereo radio with an integral 8-track tape player, a tilt steering wheel, a Landau top on two-door cars, honeycomb wheels, a NASA hood, a six-way power seat, and a tachometer were all listed as popular equipment in the same 1974 sales folder, none of them with a price or installation count stated.
Fact sheet · 1974 · United States
The numbers
1974 Pontiac Grand Am — A revised nose and 17,083 built, only 342 with a four-speed.
Coverage: Partial — researched sections are shown; missing ones are not yet sourced. Researched through 2026-09-25.
Every figure is labeled with how sure we are. Reported means a manufacturer, registry, or reference figure we cite but have not reconciled against factory records ourselves. Disputed means credible sources disagree and both are shown. Rows are separately scoped; don't add them together unless the note says they make up a total.
Key facts
Production
| What was counted | Count | Basis | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Am, all bodies2,3 Grand Am · not stated by source Hagerty says just over 17,000. | 17,083 | built, model-year | Reported |
| What was counted | Count | Basis | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Am 2-door coupe3 Grand Am · 2-door coupe · not stated by source | 13,961 | built, model-year | Reported |
| Grand Am 4-door sedan3 Grand Am · 4-door sedan · not stated by source | 3,122 | built, model-year | Reported |
| What was counted | Count | Basis | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Am with an optional engine2 Grand Am · optional engines combined · not stated by source | 7,060 | built, model-year | Reported |
| What was counted | Count | Basis | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Am with M20 four-speed manual4 Grand Am · M20 4-speed · not stated by source From Pontiac Car Distribution notes supplied by Fred Simmonds. | 342 | built, model-year | Reported |
| What was counted | Count | Basis | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| All 1974 Pontiac A-cars with M20 four-speed (context)4 all Pontiac A-body models · M20 4-speed · not stated by source Not a Grand Am figure. | 833 | built, model-year | Reported |
Coupe and sedan rows partition 17,083. Engine and transmission rows are subsets.
Prices when new
| Model | Price | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Grand Am two-door, V85 | $4,344 | factory list price as compiled, 1974 model year |
| Grand Am four-door, V85 | $4,434 | factory list price as compiled, 1974 model year |
Prices are the nominal dollars of the day, not adjusted for inflation.
Engines
| Engine | Factory rating | Availability | Built |
|---|---|---|---|
| 400 2-bbl3 400 cu in · 2-barrel, single exhaust | 175 hp (not stated by source) | standard | Not yet sourced |
| 400 2-bbl, dual exhaust3 400 cu in · 2-barrel, dual exhausts | 190 hp (not stated by source) | optional | Not yet sourced |
| 400 4-bbl, dual exhaust3 400 cu in · 4-barrel, dual exhausts | 225 hp (not stated by source) | optional | Not yet sourced |
| 455 4-bbl, dual exhaust3 455 cu in · 4-barrel, dual exhausts | 250 hp (not stated by source) | optional | Not yet sourced |
Ratings are the manufacturer's advertised figures under the standard shown (SAE gross before 1972, SAE net after). They are not dyno results, and gross and net ratings can't be compared directly.
Transmissions
| Transmission | Availability | Built |
|---|---|---|
| M20 · Four-speed manual4 | optional | 3424 Reported |
| Turbo Hydra-matic | standard | Not yet sourced |
Options and packages
| Code | Option | Price | Installed |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Color-keyed striping | — | Not yet sourced |
|
Power windows with door pods | — | Not yet sourced |
|
Stereo radio with integral 8-track tape player | — | Not yet sourced |
|
Tilt steering wheel | — | Not yet sourced |
|
Landau top (2-door only) | — | Not yet sourced |
|
Honeycomb wheels | — | Not yet sourced |
|
NASA hood | — | Not yet sourced |
|
6-way power seat | — | Not yet sourced |
|
Tachometer | — | Not yet sourced |
Interiors
| Code | Trim | Built |
|---|---|---|
|
Reclining front bucket seats with adjustable lower back supports in wide-wale corduroy or all-vinyl Morrokide; console with floor shift and mahogany trim; distinctive instrument panel with standard Rally gauge cluster (oil pressure, water temperature, voltage, fuel); electric clock; trip odometer; nylon-blend cut-pile carpet. | Not yet sourced |
Specifications
| Measure | Value | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Power teams | Standard 400 2-bbl V-8 with Turbo Hydra-matic; available 400 4-bbl and 455 4-bbl V-8s; 4-speed manual floor shift available with the 400 4-bbl only and not in California | Grand Am 1974 as advertised |
| Overall length, 2-door / 4-door | 210.9 / 214.9 in | Grand Am |
| Overall width | 77.7 in | Grand Am |
| Wheelbase, 2-door / 4-door | 112.0 / 116.0 in | Grand Am |
| Track, front / rear | 61.9 / 61.1 in | Grand Am |
| Fuel tank | 25 gal | Grand Am |
| Chassis | Radial Tuned Suspension; GR70-15 steel-belted radials on 7-inch wheels; front and rear stabilizer bars 1.12 in / 0.81 in; Pliacell shocks; power front disc brakes; variable-ratio power steering | Grand Am standard |
Identification
- Exterior changes
- Grille revised to six slots per side, higher trunk profile, taillamps moved to the sides.1
- Assembly plant
- All 1973-1975 Grand Ams were built at Pontiac's main assembly plant in Pontiac, Michigan.3
Identification
Read a 1974 Pontiac VIN
The VIN decoder runs in your browser and never sends the VIN anywhere. How the factory numbered this year's cars:
Same model year
Also in 1974
- AMC AMX The final Javelin AMX: 4,980 built, with the Go Package's cowl induction dropped and a production run that stretched into November 1974.
- AMC Gremlin X and Spirit AMX The Gremlin X gained a 'hockey stick' stripe. The 304 V8 remained available, but no X or V8 counts for the year were found.
- AMC Javelin The Javelin's final year: 22,556 non-AMX cars on a production run extended into November 1974.
- Buick Riviera Colonnade pillared roof; 20,129 built, 1,698 with Stage One and 4,119 with the GS handling option.
- Buick Skylark Gran Sport, GS and GSX The last year a 455 Stage 1 could be had in a Buick intermediate Gran Sport; 3,355 were built, 478 of them Stage 1.
- Chevrolet Chevelle and Malibu SS The SS was gone; the new Laguna Type S-3 coupe carried the Chevelle's performance image, with a 235 net hp 454 still on the engine list.
- Chevrolet Chevy II and Nova Spirit of America Nova (RPO Z51) offered on the Custom hatchback per the source. Enthusiast-compiled production: 390,537 cars; Super Sport 21,419.
- Chevrolet El Camino SS Colonnade-era El Camino; Chevrolet's 1974 data pages define the RPO Z15 SS option for the El Camino Classic. Team Chevelle's production totals give 51,223 El Caminos built, 4,543 of them with SS equipment.
- Dodge Challenger The last original-era Challenger shared a catalog with the Dart; the 360 replaced the 340 as the optional engine and production ended in April 1974.
- Dodge Charger The last B-body Charger before the 1975 personal-luxury redesign, with 5-mph bumpers, carried-over powertrains and an SE that accounted for 30,957 V-8 cars.
- Dodge Dart GTS, Swinger and Demon The 360 replaced the 340 in the Dart Sport, and Flory's production table counts 3,951 Dart Sport 360s at a $3,244 base price.
- Ford Maverick Grabber Grabber production fell to 23,502 by Classic Industries count.
- Ford Ranchero GT The Ranchero GT continued on the 1972-76 Ranchero; 11,328 GTs were built, per reference-site counts in the Standard Catalog lineage.
- Ford Thunderbird Sixth-generation personal-luxury Thunderbird; the record holds the production total and the luxury-group option prices only.
- Ford Torino The 1974 Torino grew again and added the Gran Torino Elite; the Gran Torino Sport survived only as a formal-roof hardtop, with 23,142 built.
- Mercury Cougar Outside the muscle focus: 91,670 Cougars for 1974 per Wikipedia's table.
- Oldsmobile Cutlass, 4-4-2 and Hurst/Olds The Hurst/Olds paced the Indianapolis 500 again and offered a 350 for the first time: 1,800 coupes, 380 of them with the 455 W-30.
- Plymouth Barracuda and 'Cuda The final year: Barracuda and 'Cuda hardtops with a standard 318 and a new optional 360, and 11,734 built before the line ended.
- Plymouth Duster 340 and 360 The 245 net hp 360 replaced the 340 in the Duster's best sales year: 3,969 Duster 360s among 281,378 Dusters, with Twister, Gold Duster and Space Duster packages priced separately.
- Plymouth GTX, Belvedere and Satellite In 1974 a GTX nameplate came with the Road Runner's optional 440 four-barrel, TorqueFlite required; Mueller's Muscle Car Source Book counts 386 of them.
- Plymouth Road Runner The last Satellite-based Road Runner; production roughly halved from 1973.
- Pontiac Firebird and Trans Am A new nose and the last Super Duty: 10,255 Trans Ams, 943 with the SD-455.
- Pontiac GTO The last original GTO: a package on the compact Ventura with a 200 hp 350; 7,058 built.
- Pontiac Grand Prix The 455 remains the SJ engine as Grand Prix volume falls to under 100,000.
- Pontiac Tempest and LeMans With the GTO moved to the Ventura, the LeMans GT package became the intermediate performance choice, backed by 350, 400 and 455 V8 options.