1973 Ventura Sprint... Complete At Last!
Al Pipher ( pipher1@rogers.com ) reports "I finally got the car on the road Tuesday August 12th" He has loads of photos of the car in action on his Facebook link, if it's OK with him I'll publish it at a later date. I picked the brake job photo because it shows the decal beautifully (Al had them reproduced and offers them for sale, see our Ad section), and because it shows the proper way to do brakes...get a friend to do it :-) Couldn't decide which front view was best, so that's why you see two.
The Last Real Ventura Sprint
1975 was
the last year that the "Sprint" name appeared on the Ventura. Let's
hear from a guy who made a lucky score:
"My name is Ty and I stumbled across your website, thought I would share my
car with you guys. I bought it a year ago for $500.00. It is all
original, has white bucket seats and the floor shift console. It looks
like it has the original paint with the factory stripes. The motor option is
the Buick 350 with the 350 Turbo trans. It runs good. Thanks.
Tyrone
A. Jones" (
tjones@skinstore.com
)
So
writes Carl Hicks, (
spoonministries@cabletv.on.ca
)
who was
involved with both of the cars you see here.
"I was wanting to buy a Acadian or a Nova, to make a Acadian clone... I bid
(e-bay) on a yellow 71 (327-350 corvette powered) Ventura in June, and lost
it...!!! In July, same guy in Oregon, has his tan 71 Ventura 307 on, and I
won it...!!! This week he got the yellow car back, with new cam, door
panels, Flowmasters, billet distributor and electric fans added ($2300.00)
GET this! I traded the tan car back to him, and the yellow car is coming
here next week!!!!!! I am one excited old 59 year old!!! My wife loved the color ...I loved
the price. -Carl"
Because the Oregon seller of both of these cars has referred to them variously as 1971 and 1972 models, I've refrained from trying to label the photos as to what they might be. It does look like each car shares half of a 1971 logo, however! Make sure you also check out the cool scrapbook photos that Carl sent of his original '72 Ventura Sprint, down in the "Memory Lane" section. -Ro
(L) Keith Roberts ( Vteagle42@aol.com ) snapped up this Buccaneer Red GTO. He writes: " I live in Vermont. This is my second GTO. First time I was in my late teens. I am now fifty years old. I found this "little goat" in Rochester NY. It has a shift kit in it with an auto trans. Someone put a 400 in it, unknown gears in rear end, and an extra electric fan in it to keep it cool. This goat sure is a different goat than before. My first one was a three speed. It was ok-fast, I guess. This new one chirps the wheels in normal shift to second gear. It's being restored now. I took the fenders off and have it pretty well stripped. It's in good condition but to be show quality it needs rear quarters and paint, plus time. Bless u all, Keith Roberts"
(R) Make sure you check out the Project Car section below to see what's lurking under the hood of Matt Workman's stealthy '71 Ventura.
(R) "I wanted to buy this car for a father/son project. Waited too long & the owner sent it to the body shop. It popped up three years later, painted and all new chrome. Not the same price, but I bought and my son doesn’t know it yet. I’ve had it stored for a couple months now. Waiting on the right time to spring it on him. Bare bones car, came with 307, 3 speed on floor, bench seat, rubber floor. Plans are: freshen up the interior and suspension; built small block, T-10, poverty caps and red lines, COPO style. License tag “HO COPO”. Make ‘em scratch their heads." Bill Van Sickle ( Wvansickle@carolina.rr.com ) He credits the cool cars on this site for inspiring him to choose our favorite Pontiac.
The Finishing TouchJerry out of New Hampshire ( 74gto@comcast.net ) now has his front bumper installed. Notice that he had the turn signal holes welded over and chromed, adding yet another custom touch to this car. The ominous cowl hood looks great as-is, I hope he leaves it black...it just looks 'right' to me.
The Price Was Right!Had I re-read the email before adding the titles to the pictures, I might have noticed the true owner of the car is: "...Anthony, I'm 17 and live in Inverness, FL. I bought my 1974 Ventura for $250 and I love it... it's got a Pontiac 350, all original, I'm the second owner. I bought it off this little old lady in Sarasota, she bought it brand new in June of '74' for $2,200. I just absolutely love this car... ( patrickwaugaman@yahoo.com ) "
Bruiser, Not a Cruiser
She's
definitely not a trailer queen, this car gets out there and mixes it up on
the strip!
"Here are a
few photos of my 72 Ventura. I have been working on this car on and off for
4 years now. I still need to replace some sheet metal and repaint the car. Keep up the
good work on the web site. Thanks, Mark
(
MnRBarger@aol.com
)"
Four Doors of Fury!
A 4-door isn't the usual choice for a hot rod, but this one looked to be in exceptional condition, so let's show it to the world. Besides, these 4-doors are definitely few and far between.
"Hey,
just came across your site - cool! Just picked this one up 3 days ago from
the second owners of the car....it's a 4-door, but thought you might like to
see her anyway. The stock 307 was swapped out at some point for the 350, but
it still has the original Powerglide! Not sure about that combo, but so far
so good... stock
wheel covers (PMD centers) and mudflaps.
No real plans for it as of yet...I actually bought it as a daily driver, so
am just working the kinks out of it as it had been sitting for a while. It's
a great solid project car for the future though! Scott ,
-Calgary, Alberta, Canada
( scottdionne@shaw.ca
)
Bringing Home an Award from Carlisle
Our friend
"the Rail Guy" has been busy with his Omega... "I took
it to The All GM Nationals at Carlisle to show it , long story short I got
first place for a full-size modified Oldsmobile. I just got it inspected and
aligned the day before the show. I couldn't believe the way it drove
and handled on the Pa Turnpike. Probably the first time I drove it in
15 years.
(
shoop2@embarqmail.com
)"
Well, I hope the car drove unbelievably great on the freeway! You can also
see how this car used to look in the "Memory Lane" section below.
(R) Talk about a RARE animal, you're looking at only the 2nd Omega "S" from 1975 that I've ever seen. If you look carefully you can see the black and brown striping below the beltline, and the Omega S logo is on the front fender. This one had an unknown Cadillac motor installed, and oddly enough had the large taillights from the 77-79 model years. Go figure...
Lord bless, jc ( jcastrillon@econocaribe.com )"
Talk About 'Original Condition'...
Reader Steve Foreman called our attention to this recent ebay offering from Bonham Chrysler
in Bonham, Texas. "I found a
SWEET 77 Omega on ebay this morning.
Brougham package, red with white Landau top, velour pillow seat interior
complete with bucket seats & console and every option available. It looks original and has
only 33k miles. I almost had a stroke while looking at it."
Bidding ended at $4050, but this offer was not accepted. We're showing these photos because they illustrate how cozy Oldsmobile made this otherwise low-budget economy car. Check out the nice padded door panels and seats, the bone-stock AM radio, and nice view of the shifter.
(R) "I was in South Dakota on vacation and stopped at a roadside auto museum. The cars are all in barn like buildings with concrete sidewalks going through them and fencing to separate the crowds from the vehicles. I have a lot of pictures but the lighting was poor (none!) and the camera not so good either. Most of the cars are pre depression era. The web address is http://pioneerautoshow.com/ John Everett ( johneverett@mac.com )" What John found was an apparently unmolested 1971 Ventura belonging to well-known politician Tom Daschle. You just never know where these cars will turn up!
If you notice in the background, there are a pair of W-30 Cutlasses, a car I don't think is too common. According to the yard manager, they just can't crush the cars fast enough to meet the Chinese demand for metal. It even hurt to see a beautiful Mitsubishi Starion having its guts torched out prior to meeting its end. Don't think I could work in a place like this!
Got some cool non-Nova X-body photos?
Your pics are welcome, just email them to
pontiacv@pontiacventura.com
(jpg file format preferred)
We DO accept pics of the '77-'79 Nova Rally and '74 Spirit of
America, because they are cool and pretty rare, too.
Still more ways to zone out at work...
"I was here at
work at lunch surfing the internet for anything Ventura and found the
following video clips …thought you would enjoy. Take care, Jody
Ross (
Jody.Ross@amsi.com
)"
Ventura vs Camaro
http://videos.streetfire.net/video/Rea-VS-Anderson-Bean-72_149829.htm
Ventura
vs. Oldsmobile
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OxAEG6R5qM&feature=related
Following
Jody's lead, a brief search turned up this 9 second '72 Ventura:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pEDBXF1q2o&NR=1
Let's hope I haven't opened a Pandora's Box on this subject, but it seems like there's a thriving subculture out there waiting to be explored... have a look. -Ro
You've seen the box before, but never in such detail. Thanks to Eliezer
Perez
( eliezer@systemusa.com
) for these views.
Diz Dean ( dizpontguy@aol.com ) says: "If Don Gay had raced a Pro Stock Ventura it would have looked like this. Panther pink with a 455!"
Check out the partially-rolled-up driver's side window!
Diz also decided to build a very convincing replica of his full-size GTO (see it in the background?) using the 1972 AMT kit. How cool is that? He notes that he has a travelling display of over 350 models!
The AMT kit again, had these pics on my computer a long time. This car
would have a pretty rough ride :-)
Lots of 1975 kits out there...note that the Lindberg kit says "1976" but we can tell it's a '75. The lines and proportions don't look quite as good as the MPC kit.
Rounding out the collection, here were some other 1976 and 1977 model kit refugees hiding on my computer as well.
Where your old photos come back to life
"I bought this car new in 1977 in Beckley WV and had it until 1985 when I sold it. After moving three times before it was sold and twice since then, this was the only picture I have been able to find! The 35mm print hasn't held up well in 30 years. I'm just grateful for the improvement in technology in that I can scan it & keep it in electronic format. I hope the car has had a better fate & is still out there running strong." James Maurin jimmaurin@verizon.net
1972 Ventura Sprint
Ah, more vintage photos, we
can never have too many of these! My Photoshop skills aren't yet
good enough to bring back the color, and leaving the scratches and other
damage just adds to the charm of these souvenir shots. -Ro
"My 72
Sprint had the word Sprint on the trunk lid, I was the original owner and
bought it in Moncton N.B. in Feb 72. Sorry this is the best
it shows...
One photo shows 350
emblems on it, I took off the 307 signs... I swapped the 3 speed for a
Muncie 4 speed, added Headman headers, added a used QUAD carb and REAL
Corvair turbo mufflers. Car was a blast to drive!! I was 23 and married
for 5 years and had a new baby in these photos. p.s. car ran
15.1@93
with 3.08 open rear...
Carl Hicks (
spoonministries@cabletv.on.ca
)"
And Further Reminiscing...
Remember this Car?
"Hi. I
was the owner of the brown 1971 Ventura on page 1, third picture down on the
left, “guy named Tim”. I owned this car for about 4 years. It was an
original 307 car but replaced it with a 355 Chevy with a tunnel ram. Rear
end was from a 68 Firebird with 4:11 R17s. Very fun and quick but ended up
selling to buy a '71 from down south (sold car in 1992). I saw the car around
town for about 6 months, then it disappeared.
"5 years later I found it
sitting in a field –no engine, no rear end - and not a straight body panel
was to be found. Interior was junk other than the back seat (which I bought
for $10). There wasn’t anything else on the car that was worth using!!! It
made me sick to my stomach!
"The Vent I have now is another 1971 (original
6cyl. 3-on the tree, no options). It now sports a 468 BBC with a Muncie 4 speed., 3:73 posi. I’ve had this car now for 14 years and never had it on the
road yet. I took it home (in '92) did a frame off resto... I
am currently collecting parts to start work on it again. It’s a part of my
life I can no longer ignore. If interested, I can send pics of the brown one
after I found it destroyed and pics of my current Ventura. Thanks
for your time… Also, love the website! A+ Tim Connor (
TGCONNOR@GAPAC.com
) "
"Just happened to be looking through your site and realized you have pictures of our car. We just purchased this car last weekend and the pictures you have really do belong to our car right down to the custom interior and the faded out carpet on the door. It is the black one with the "intriguing paint job from Miffilintown, Pennsylvania". (see photo at left)
"Would love to know who owned it before and if they have any other details they would like to send along. Darrell and Loretta ( bell09@shaw.ca ) Winnipeg Manitoba, Canada."
X-Bodies Far From Home
You really should look up this location on the map. You'll wonder, 'how the heck did a Ventura get there?'
I'm not certain if this car
is in running condition, or what the owner's plans are, his note was pretty
brief. But you can see how the salty air is taking its toll on this
survivor.
"Dear sir, these are some photos of my 1975 Pontiac Ventura. Please
reply. Mr. Robby Murray,
Netherlands Antilles, Curacao (
robby-_django@hotmail.com
)" I'm sure some email would be appreciated; I haven't heard back from
him yet, hope he sees his photos here!
