These are the posterity photos of the Grand Prix on the day that I brought it home.  I didn't own a digital camera so the Polaroid I borrowed provided these shots.  My intention is for a total frame-off restoration, as can be seen in the photos of the next section.

While I'm working on the Grand Prix, my 1984 Buick Regal allows me to enjoy the Manitoba Pontiac Association's activities in the mean time and once done, the Grand Prix will be my other vehicular pride and joy that I can share with my wife and children.

The car was in reasonably good shape for a 1971.  The inside of the trunk was in great shape, and the tire changing and option decals were as new.

Very little moisture had accumulated over the years so there were no rust holes to refurbish.  On the exterior, the major flaw was the vinyl roof, which shows obvious wear from summer sun rays and winter snow for an over two decade life.

These photos don't tell the whole truth, as there were some "deficiencies" that will need correction (see the next section for details).

It was the interior that really caught my eye, though.

Everything was pristine ... except the area immediately above the ash tray.  The previous owner was obviously an incessant smoker.  The ash tray was overflowing, there were extinguished cigarette butts on the carpet (but no burns, thank goodness) and the most disconcerting part was that the area immediately above the ash tray was stained.

Try as I might, I could not eliminate the stains of years and years of cigarette smoke and tar.  Unfortunately, the dash had to be replaced due to burn holes above the ashtray. I found a color
matching dash on eBay and got it for $20.00.

One item that I highly prize is the build sheet from the factory.  This is sometimes referred to as the broadcast sheet and is generally found in quasi-secretive locations such as between the gas tank and trunk floor, wedged in the springs of one of the front seats, or under a carpet.

The build sheet for the car was taped to the back of the passenger side door panel.  I have corresponded with several other Grand Prix owners and nobody had ever heard of the sheets being placed in this location.  I guess some assembly person had a little fun in Atlanta on February 24th of 1971 when the car was being finished.

To see a LARGE view of the build sheet, click on the icon at the left ... but please note that this is a HUGE file ... 640K in size.
                             For a smaller 64K file size, click HERE.