"I'm sending you a couple of pictures of my 1972 Pontiac Ventura II. It's my first car, and I received it on my 16th birthday in 1987. Sorry about the 'before' shot... I'm certainly no expert when it comes to photography. The 'before' was when it was orange and white, and 'after' it was Chrysler Blue.
"It now
has a 400 Pontiac with 1968 #62 heads. Comp Cams 280H, forged pistons,
roller tip rockers and a Performer RPM intake w/3310 Holley. TH350 w/2500
stall and 2.73 limited slip in the rear. I've changed the wheels since
these pictures were taken and added a hood scoop (see wedding photo, summer
2004) but it still looks pretty much the same... My wife likes the car and
manages to tolerate my hobby."
Don't worry about 'before'...that mountain photo is super... thanks, Shawn!
Owner Mathieu Bertrand ( joceduso@globetrotter.net ) lives in Pont-Rouge Québec Canada and this is his1972 Ventura (looks like the twin-scoop picture is the 'before' edition of the car). He restored the body in summer 2005, and for summer 2006 he's planning on installing a Chevy 400 small block with a Powerglide. The color is 2004 Chrysler Crystal Red.
Mathieu says "Thank you for your site, it is very cool!"
"What a fantastic web site! After years of explaining to people "..it's not a Nova", it's nice to see the sister Pontiac get its due. Here's a couple of photos of my 72 Pontiac Ventura. My father bought the car for my mother brand new. I still have the original window sticker.
"When I turned 16 the car was given to me and remained my daily ride until 1998 when I finally finished college and bought a new Pontiac Grand Prix. The original 307 has been replaced with a stock 350 coupled with a TH350 with a mild shift kit, Eldebrock alum. intake and Carter AFB. It has headers and stainless steel dual exhaust. The car isn't driven anymore, just sitting in the garage alone. My plans are to completely upgrade the car with a new fuel injected 350 crate motor and convert it to a six speed manual."
Get that checkbook ready :-)
(R) A few more worthy Ventura examples from the internet.
They just don't get any prettier than this...awesome color.
(R) This camera phone (?) photo doesn't quite do justice to what appears to be a very sharp looking car. Hope to see more of it some day!
You've seen Kenny Pierson's
(
Piersonkl@aol.com ) jet black '72 all over this site...looks like
he's got the hood scoop project finished, and check out the hood tach too!
"Hello from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I have two 1972 Pontiac Venturas. My first one I bought from my parents in 1980. They purchased it new in 1972.
"It was originally equipped with a 307 turbo 350 combination and has evolved from there. It now has an LS6 454 crate engine with a manual turbo 400, 12-bolt diff with 4:10 gears and runs really strong. The Sikkens paint on it is now 20 years old and still looks good."
"I just purchased a second 1972 Ventura that I found 600 miles away. It is a one owner car 250-6 cyl with Powerglide and 46000 original miles. Drove home 600 miles nicely without any problems. I am preparing to strip it down and paint/detail the car this winter(2006). It will probably end up the same Sikkens gold as my other vehicle."
"My suspension is all set up for the race track, or I thought it was. This past weekend I took it to a dyno near me, on the first pull at 6200 rpm/120 mph, the passenger leaf spring pad shredded, this sent my rear end into my quarter panel, it sucked pretty bad, but I got it fixed at the shop, and drove it home. Damage is minimal, and very fixable, it crinkled my quarter panel just a bit, but really screwed up the inside wheelwell, and the damage continued to a couple inches towards the outside of the lip.
"Anyway it still pulled 370hp/360ft lb at the wheels, and the guys there say they know they can get 400 out of it. Figuring 20% avg. power loss from flywheel to wheels, it should be close to 500hp. Man it's got some power, this is what all three gears in my TH350 look like laying on the pavement...8 inch tires of course, converted to Mickey Thompsons now, not much of an improvement, future chassis upgrades in process.
"I built the engine very reliable, I didn't want to rev it out to 7000 rpms to make power. So I picked the best combo with the flattest torque curve possible under 6000 rpm. My max power is pretty low at around 5700, and torque stays above 350 at the wheels for a good 2000 rpms. I drove it to the track, ran some 11.70's in the quarter mile and drove it home, ya can't beat that. Justin" Check out his track stats, too!
"Hello, my name is Eric and about 5 months ago I bought a 72 Ventura off of Ebay. The car was in pretty bad condition, major floor rust and rusty fenders, but it did have pretty low mileage with only 52,500 miles on it. Me and my dad finished the restoration about a month ago and looks as nice as it could be. We have made it into a Sprint clone. It has a 350 4 barrel engine with a blacked out grill, carpeting and the Sprint decals." ( heiny48@hotmail.com )
(R) So you dream of finding that solid, original, one- or two-owner project car? Over 30 years later, they still show up from time to time ...the trick is to have your cash ready when they do.
(R) This Iowa '72 has been fixed up after a run-in with some horses that caused "over $8000 in damage". I've included it here because the 3-spoke wheels are an interesting choice for the car.
"Hello, my name is Terrance, and I am an owner of a 1972 Pontiac Ventura 2. My Ventura was given to me for graduation in 2000 it was an $1,800.00 buy, non-running car which I believed I could turn into a Dream. Over the years, the car has been through a few changes from gold to black to gray to what ever I come up with next. I have changed the motor from its Pontiac setup to a Chevy setup only because the parts were a dime a dozen, but I still have the original motor in good condition. I have a page I made for my cars on MySpace under dirtydlux@yahoo.com. The pages will show the Ventura, my 1980 Malibu, my 66 Nova, and soon a 53 Bel Air."
" Hey I love your website. I'm sure it will be a great source of info as I begin rebuilding my Ventura. This was my first car. Here are a few pics of the car as it was when I had it in high school, and as it looked when I found it (with no motor/trans) behind a shed in my hometown a couple of years ago. I bought it back for the amazingly low price of $50.00 and have just started the rehab project." Another car saved, right on!
You may have noticed a proliferation of Venturas in the muscle car mags... here are excerpts from 4 different issues of Car Craft and Hot Rod. I was rather distressed to read that editor Dave Frieburger took his '72 Ventura apart for a floorpan restoration story, and wrote that "it may never run again". There was a huge level of reader interest when he first procured the car, so we shouldn't let him off the hook so easy :-)
Car Craft mags are Sept05, Mar06, Nov06. Hot Rod is Jul04.
(L) Now here's a new style for the Ventura, "Surf's Up"! Former owner Derrek Verlaan ( Dgverlaan@esi-fl.com ) of FL is trying to find out what may have happened to his old ride and buy her back if possible.
"Thought I would post this to see if anyone here owns/owned this vehicle or may know where it is now. Even if you're not interested in selling it, wondering if it's still around, restored, etc.
"It's a 1972 Pontiac Ventura II, 2 door, 307 small block V8, Factory AC. I sold the car in Cape Coral, Florida in late 1991 or early 1992. It's my recollection the guy that bought it was named Robert and lived in East Fort Myers or Fort Myers Shores area. At the time it was sold it was blue with a white top (painted white, not vinyl) and blue interior.
"Some identifying characteristics include a Sporlan sight glass
installed
in the AC suction line, the rear view mirror was from an Olds
Delta 88
and had a map light in the bottom, door panels were cut for 6" speakers,
Factory
radio dash opening had been trimmed for a DIN style radio. At the time it
had
Daytona Radial SR White letter tires on factory steel wheels with smooth brushed
stainless disc hubcaps, typical rust around the rear window trim and the
taillights,
front end was spray painted blue to cover red fenders, different shade from
rest of
car. If you think you have this car or know where it might be please drop an
e-mail.
Thanks. Derrek
dgverlaan@esi-fl.com "
(R) In functional primer and wearing distinguished Buick Rally rims, owner Aaron Buchanan took the time to display his car in some very un-typical Texas snow..."Last week we got some snow in Dallas, and I didn't want to dig out my Civic, but the Ventura was nice and warm in the garage. Here's a pic for ya."
"I'm attending my second semester at the University of Akron for mechanical engineering. Restoring my Ventura inspired me to take course into the automotive engineering field, pure performance-based though. Thanks alot Ro, take care. Justin Makosky" jmm114@uakron.edu
As you've seen elsewhere on the site, this car has the GO to back up the SHOW!
"I spent the winter working on rebuilding the 1972 Pontiac Ventura I acquired in the summer of 2006. Located a donor 350 small block Chev from a '76 Caprice with low miles and did a complete teardown and overhaul of the 350. Installed a comp cams 268h, edelbrock carb and intake, hei ignition, hooker headers, and an electric fan in place of the stock fan, aluminum pulleys, 100 amp alternator and a switch over to internal regulator round out the package.
"I intend to freshen up the stock 3.08 geared posi rearend as well. The stock powerglide has only 40,000 original miles, so it will have to do until funds become available for a 4L60 4 speed automatic conversion. I plastic blasted the original finish off the body and before repainting all weatherstrips, gaskets, and required hard parts are to be replaced. Only 1 rust spot found on the car and it is in the process of being repaired at this time. No fillers or repairs found on the body at all. I am still debating on the choice of colour for the car and if I should paint it the same Sikkens Sahara Gold as my big block chev powered '72 Ventura. I'm open to colour suggestions if anyone has some unique ideas. I will send further updates as work continues. " ( sirrahm@shaw.ca )