1962 Pontiac Grand Prix: A Personal-Luxury Hardtop with a 405-hp Option

This record's own dek and overview state that the Grand Prix was new for 1962, a performance-oriented personal luxury car built on the Catalina two-door hardtop body with little exterior chrome, standard with Morrokide bucket seats, a center console carrying the shifter, a tachometer, a 303-hp four-barrel 389 with dual exhausts, and a 3.42:1 axle. This record's own overview also states the list price before options was $3,490 and that 30,195 were delivered, with the 421 Super Duty available at $2,250 on the Grand Prix as well as Catalina two-doors, and Rocky Rotella's count of 16 documented Super Duty Grand Prix cars.^1,2,3

This record's own engines section carries a five-step ladder above that standard 303-hp 389: an optional Tri-Power 389 at 318 hp and 430 lb-ft, an optional Trophy 425-A four-barrel 389 at 333 hp, an optional Trophy 425-A Tri-Power 389 at 348 hp, and the 421 Super Duty itself, two Carter four-barrels at 11.0:1 compression rated 405 hp at 5,600 rpm, sold only on Catalina two-doors and the Grand Prix. This record's own conflicts section flags a dispute over that Super Duty's torque figure: the Over-Drive fact sheet prints 430 lb-ft at 4,400 rpm, while Car Life's road test, Rotella's article, and Motor Trend's separate Catalina 421 test all print 425 lb-ft at the same rpm, and this record's own treatment note states both should be shown pending the factory AMA sheet.^1,4,3,5

This record's own transmissions section lists a three-speed manual standard, with a console-mounted four-speed manual and a Hydra-Matic each optional at $231.34. This record's own options section, drawn from the full-size Pontiac line and not marked item by item for Grand Prix applicability, itemizes a Safe-T-Track differential at $42, a Bi-Phonic rear speaker, Tri-Power induction from $116 to $174 depending on model and transmission, the Trophy 425-A four-barrel from $199 to $294, the Trophy 425-A Tri-Power from $312 to $401, air conditioning at $430, aluminum 8-lug hubs and drums at $107, an electric antenna at $30, E-Z Eye glass at $43, Guide-Matic headlamp control at $43, heavy-duty springs at $19, Magic-Cruise at $16, power brakes at $43, power windows at $104, a Safeguard speedometer at $19, and a six-way power seat at $97.¹

This record's own paint table lists fifteen full-size Pontiac colors by code and name, from Starlight Black and Cameo Ivory through Mandalay Red, each carrying the same note that the source does not mark which colors applied to the Grand Prix specifically and that no per-color production was published. This record's own interiors section carries a single entry: Morrokide vinyl bucket seats, nylon loop-blend carpet, the center console and shifter, tachometer, padded instrument panel, and a deluxe steering wheel.¹

This record's own specifications section gives a 120.0-inch wheelbase, 211.6-inch overall length, 54.5-inch overall height, a standard 3.42:1 axle, and a 3,835-pound shipping weight for the Grand Prix, while Car Life's own test car weighed 3,990 pounds at the scales; Motor Trend's own test car, a 303-hp Hydra-Matic Grand Prix, is given a manufacturer-stated dry weight of 3,984 pounds, a standard 3.23:1 axle with 3.42, 3.64, and 3.90 available and special-order ratios to 4.89, and a 33.2-cubic-foot trunk with the spare in place. Full-size Pontiac dimensions not specific to the Grand Prix appear alongside these: a 78.6-inch overall width, 62.5-inch front and rear tread, and 8.00 x 14 standard tires with 8.50 x 14 optional.^1,2,4,6

This record's own performance section carries two separate 1962 road tests. Car Life tested a Grand Prix at its $3,490 list price fitted with the 421 (405 hp), limited-slip, aluminum wheels, power steering and brakes, gears of 2.49/1.59/1.00, and a 4,330-pound test weight, priced as tested at $4,173, recording 2.7 seconds to 30 mph, 6.0 to 60, 13.4 to 100, and a 14.3-second quarter mile at 103 mph. Motor Trend, in the same month, tested a standard 303-hp Grand Prix with Hydra-Matic, a 3.23:1 axle, power steering, aluminum hubs and drums, and 8.00 x 14 tires, two aboard with 2,513 miles on the odometer, recording 8.0 seconds to 60 mph, a 17.2-second quarter mile at 85 mph, a 153-foot stop from 60 mph, and 9 to 17 mpg across acceleration testing and moderate driving.^4,6

This record's own identification section gives the Grand Prix as Series 29, body 2947, a five-passenger two-door hardtop coupe. This record's own production notes describe the 30,195-unit total as drawn from three copies that share a common Standard Catalog lineage, and mark the 16-unit Super Duty count as disputed, since the Over-Drive fact sheet's own all-model Super Duty figure is incompatible with Rotella's documented count; this record's own note points the reader to the separate Catalina 1962 record for that reconciliation rather than resolving it here.^2,3