1973 Pontiac Ventura                     Page 4

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 Hold on to your seats! Check out this superb '73 Ventura Custom Sprint owned by Al Pipher in Ontario, Canada.  The shadows on the nose shot were so nice I was able to do a comparison to the '74 model year (see slide toward bottom of page). 
 Here's a bit of history on Al's car:  "This car is an Original. The car was bought new in July 1973. It had Ziebart (rust proofing) applied. The original owner stored the car in late October and put back on the road in May. Thanks to him the car is still in this condition. I obtained the vehicle in June 1980 prior to finishing high school. The car was driven 4 summers and was stored since the fall of 84.  During that time I don't know how many people would say to me 'what kind of car is that, is it a NOVA?'. NO it is not a NOVA. Hence the plate!! I just recently brought the car home. I dropped into the driveway, and everyone that drove by had to stop and have a look.

"The car has a 350 blue block, with a 4 speed factory Hurst shifter. The only alterations to this car: 4 BFG tires, rims painted to match car color. The vehicle has 63,851 miles on it. 37,000 of those miles where mine and they were all fun.
I plan to have the car back on the road in the spring of 2004. Twenty years off the road is long enough. Thanks for building this site, it's the Best!!!.

"P.S. You can post my email address if you want ,I don't mind answering questions on the car...Hope the other Ventura owners will enjoy these photos." Al & Julie Pipher   pipher1@rogers.com
 (L) My notes say these two Sprint shots were from www.pontiacpower.net , owned by someone named Adrian.

 (R) Being on a roll with these Sprints, this slide created by Doug at  www.nonnova.com  caught my eye.  Some interesting modifications to this one!
Check out the moon hubcaps on this 6-banger Sprint from Loveland, Colorado.  The car had an original 3 speed floor shift, too.  What a wonderful relic!
An October '03 ebay offering, out of Vancouver BC.  This car was selling for a hair over 4 grand.  Check out the '74-style console...does anyone know if this is original? Round shift knob appears so.
You may have seen this ex-grandpa car advertised in our "For Sale" section...a buyer was quickly located out in Maryland.  This car originated in Spokane, Washington.  We'll be looking forward to the new owner's modifications in the future.
   

(R) A present for you: a dynamic duo of up-gunned '73s

Check out the 'honeycomb' rims...cool!

 Here's a hot addition to the site.  The photos and tech data are courtesy of proud owner  Michael Messer ( pontiac455freak@hotmail.com ) 
 "...I've had the car for about 3 years now and have went through it front to back, top to bottom. I did the body work (which was very little, it was a southern Tennessee car). I painted it myself 72 Trans Am Laursen Blue, added a 74 GTO hood and scoop, sport mirrors, removed the 350 emblems and welded the holes shut.  Put on some GM weather striping, door handles, and some hard to find n.o.s. emblems. The engine is a '73 4 bolt 455 which now boasts 465 cubic inches. It has TRW pistons, Warrior rods, ARP fasteners, a set of '71 "96" heads sit on top which now flow 260 cfm via a nice port&polish job and a set of Milodon stainless valves. A Lunati cam works the valve train with a 488 intake lift and a 510 exhaust lift with a 234/245 duration @ .050. Gas is sent through a '72 455 HO intake & carb. It's all fired by a MSD Probillet distributor, 6AL box, and a Blaster 3 coil. A set of Headman headers and 3" exhaust pipes with Flowmaster mufflers makes for a nice sound. A Griffin radiator keeps the temp were it needs to be. The tranny is a 400 turbo that has been built with a shiftkit, valvebody, and a 2800 rpm stall. Out back is a 10 bolt rear with a Auburn posi unit, Superior axles and 3:42 gears. A set of Centerline wheels with M&H Racemaster slicks gets it all to hook. It ran 12.22 on street tires spinning all through 1st gear.  I have not been to the track with the slicks but I would guess mid to low 11s would not be out of the question. All in all the car is real head turner and a whole lot of fun."
 The Ventura Spotter was at work and captured this well-worn but intact '73.  The "X-Body Sighting" series is meant to encourage other Ventura owners, letting them know that these cars are still out there.  Of course, we always wipe out the license plates and any other clues that would cause privacy concerns.  And you can always request that your vehicle be deleted from the site, of course.
  Hey, remember this car?  It's resurfaced again, and looks much better without the whitewall tires.  The buyer's friend Larry Parks ( GEARMAN69@netzero.net  ) writes: "This is my buddy's Ventura we bought in Oklahoma, the one in the Blue/White collection on your web site. It now resides in Texas with a .060 over 455 Poncho with H-beam rods, ported heads, etc, replacing the 85K mile 350 2-V. Also added a  Positrac, Hooker headers & 3" X pipe exhaust, recovered bench seat and new carpet. It is a hatchback and has factory disc brakes. Currently rebuilding frame off and new paint".  WOW!  Thanks for the update, Larry.

 
An e-bay item from May 2004.  Could this be the car from Missouri shown on page 1 of this section?  This was being sold by someone in Costa Mesa, California.