1972 Pontiac LeMans

The degradation of the American Musclecar during the 1970s was rapid, but Pontiac's GTO was determined not to go down without a fight. The 1972 GTO continued to wear body styling that debuted in 1970, and it remained one of the most aggressive-looking muscle cars on the market, backed by available 400-CID and 455-CID engines. The top 455 HO with 300 rated horsepower and plenty of torque maintained the GTO's swagger best, and testing by Motor Trend in its October 1971 issue cited a 14.6-second ¼-mile ET at 95.2 MPH through the traps.

The 1972 Pontiac LeMans was available as a coupe, station wagon (with seating for 6 or 9 passengers), 2-door hardtop, and four-door sedan. Power was from a six-cylinder unit with V8s available as optional equipment. Standard equipment included bench seats with cloth and Morrokide trim, foam seats in both the front and rear, loop-pile carpets and ashtrays in the armrests (except for Coupes), teakwood dash accents, windshield radio antenna, deluxe steering wheel, and moldings on the roof gutters, windshield, and rear window and body sills. Ventipanes were available on all models except the hardtop. Concealed wipers were on all models except coupes.

The WW-4 option included a 400 cubic-inch four-barrel V8 engine mated to a four-speed manual transmission with floor shift controls. It also included a heavy-duty Safe-T Track differential, disc brakes in the front, ride and handling package, and custom carpets (on just the coupes).

The WW-5 option included a 455 cubic-inch four-barrel HO V8 engine mated to a Turbo-Hydramatic or close-ratio four-speed manual transmission. It also included a heavy-duty Safe-T- Track differential, body-color outside mirrors, roof drip moldings, Formula steering wheel, Rally gauge cluster with tachometer, ride and handling package, RAM AIR hood, and unitized ignition system, and carpets (on just the coupes).

In total, there were 120,299 LeMans vehicles built. The most popular was the 2-door hardtop which saw 80,383 units produced. 6,855 were the 2-door Coupe and 5,266 were the 4-door station wagon with seating for 9 passengers.

The LeMans Sport came as a 2-door Sport Convertible and sold for $3,225. In total, Pontiac produced just 3,438 examples. The LeMans Sport included special 'Sport' signature scripts, custom door and rear quarter trim, special front fender nameplate, and bucket seats. The LeMans GT option package included a three-speed heavy-duty manual transmission, G70-14 white-letter tires, body-color mirrors, vinyl tape stripes, dual exhaust with side splitters, 'GT' decals, and Rally II wheels.

The Luxury LeMans Series included a unique front end with a grille that featured twin cavities divided by horizontal blades. They had full-length bodyside moldings, fender skirts, and roof pillar letter badges. Standard equipment included all the items found on the base LeMans plus all-Morrokide bucket seats. Morrokide or cloth and Morrokide upholstery were for the upholstery, there were carpeted lower door panels, custom cushion steering wheel, door assist straps in the front, armrest accents, astray and glove box lamps, and pedal trim plates.

The Luxury LeMans series was available as a 2- or 4-door hardtop and pricing began at $3,200. 8,641 examples of the 2-door hardtop were sold while the 4-door version proved to be much more popular, with $37,615 units sold. Most had an automatic gearbox, and just 269 customers selected their Luxury LeMans with a synchromesh gearbox.

The popular GTO model was no longer a separate series. The GTO option package, code 334, was available for the style number 2D37 LeMans hardtop and the 2D27 LeMans two-door coupe. The GTO package included the Code T engine, three-speed heavy-duty manual floor shift transmission, body-color mirrors, Endura styling option, special twin air slot hood, front and rear stabilizer bars, firm shock absorbers, front fender air extractors, and G70-14 Blackwall tires. The price for the GTO package was listed at $345 over the base model cost. In total, just 5,807 GTOs were produced by the factory.

by Daniel Vaughan | Jun 2014