Not long for this world. 1975 Pontiac Catalina Junkyard Find

1975 Pontiac Catalina Junkyard Find. Another abandoned project hits the yard. This time its if the mid 70s poncho variety. This 75 2 door Catalina probably sat for maybe a decade. The outside was pretty straight and all was there under the hood. It was a 400 with a 2 barrel carb. They had gutted the interior and were working on crudely patching the floors. I would have liked for it to have had a full set of those ralley wheels but alas there were only three. This ol poncho was not long for this world as it was soon to meet the crusher.

[@randallderr8519]

Thanks again for showing....live in Pa....cold day...the 70's ...15 yrs old at the time of this car...remember all the real cars from back when.

[@trickyricky12147]

I'm guessing at the time you never thought twice back then that many of the 70s cars are desirable and hard to get now. At least the cool muscle cars, maybe not many of the regular cruiser cars. If I lived in the 70s, I probably would've never thought about it either. I would laugh my arse off if honda civics become collectors some day in the next 40 years or any front-wheel-drive sh!t box now.

[@brandaneakright6082]

That’s sad man that car was completely able to be restored, that’s gold around here cause that’s a solid car and it’s a 2 door. A lot of people would have fixed that car, or could’ve used parts off of it crying shame.

[@googleusergp]

Whoa Nelley, 1975 and soon not to be alive..... We got the tag, we can brag: ST75 for 1975 model year, 2BL57 for two door Catalina hardtop, PON for Pontiac, MI assembly, 63V for Saddle (tan) vinyl interior trim, 55 for Sandstone lower exterior paint, 55U for Sandstone upper exterior paint/vinyl top area, 01D for the fourth week of January 1975 production, A52 for front bench seat. We got the VIN, we win: 2 for Pontiac, L for Catalina, 57 for two door hard top, R for 400 V8 with two barrel, 5 for 1975 model year, P for Pontiac, MI assembly and the rest is the production sequence. The Pontiac, MI assembly plant closed in 1988 and the last vehicles to be made there were the rear-wheel-drive G body cars and the Fiero. It was considered the Pontiac 'home' plant. Yes, GMAC will also be doing a walkaround and when he does, I will post a copy there. Lots of good parts still left on this one, that's for sure. Pontiac engine brackets and accessories are always a good thing to grab, that's for sure. The 400 with a two barrel was a bit corked, but with some work, it can be made to run, although some of the mid-1970s 400 engines were the 500557 "lightweight" casting. You want the 491488 casting as that's what the W72 high performance 400 blocks were in the later years and some of the better 400s in the early years were that casting number. Whoa Nelley, the 'Cat is soon to be flat. 4-0-0 and gotta go. Poncho needs a new honcho. Sandstone and no one threw it a bone. Paint code 55 took a big nosedive. Like the Smithereens said in their 1988 song (with the late great Del Shannon singing background vocals), "Broken heart, time to go, torn apart....the world we know". That's it, time to quit. Going to be flat by GMAC and that's that. Going to get squished and the Poncho faithful along with the Google Man are pretty pissed.

[@garymckee448]

I had a friend who is no longer with us that liked those big Pontiacs and he had a Grandville or was it spelled Granville and if I remember correctly it had a 455 two barrel in it.

[@googleusergp]

@@garymckee448 May your friend rest in peace. It's actually two words "Grand Ville" and yes the 455 was standard in most years. In 1975, the 400 was the standard engine and the 455 was optional for the Grand Ville. The Grand Ville name was dropped for 1976 and it was just called a Bonneville Brougham.

[@garymckee448]

@@googleusergp was l correct in the vehicle having a two barrel 455, it was never messed with.

[@googleusergp]

@@garymckee448 Yes, this car is an example of the 455 with the two barrel, VIN code "R" as shown in the breakdown I provided. As for the Grandville, it possibly also had a two barrel option as they are both "B" body cars, but from what I read the brochure showed it only with a 4 barrel. Same engine that GM "reintroduced" as the 455-HO in the 1975 Trans Am after discontinuing it early in the model year. It's an "HO" by name only. It's the same 200 HP engine borrowed from the big cars that same year.

[@garymckee448]

@@googleusergp Thanks my memory isn't as bad as l thought after forty odd years.

[@josephbrandt6778]

Had the same car back in highschool it was metallic flake green with white leather interior...gf loved the back seat in that love wagon....🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪😁👍

[@nathankim7664]

20-30 years too late to save, but an admirable attempt nonetheless. It's too bad there's no chance for it to get parted out. At the very LEAST it could've been a derby car instead of wasting all those parts! The gauge bezel looks to be decent and can fetch $$$ easy! Had the restoration been resumed 10 years ago, it probably would've been doable before the rust got bad! Anyways, I'm more interested in the red FORD in the background! Let's hope it's the next car you look at!

[@SpockvsMcCoy]

My aunt and uncle bought a new 1975 Bonneville...white paint, cranberry vinyl roof, rallye wheels.

[@jbb8382]

Thanks man! Ya not too much left on this Ole Pontiac

[@dereksmith3205]

So much glass those cars had all of em, GM will always reign 70 to 78

[@shanepoole527]

Oh man it hurts seeing that Pontiac Catalina in the yard I love the body style on them darn shame.

[@doug9066]

Wow this was a nice find in a junkyard. Pontiac Catalina.

[@TheBBodyBuilder]

Poor Poncho…such a shame. Thanks for sharing Benny! You should start grabbing the name plates from those Orphaned brands and stick them on your tool box at home. There will come a time when no one will remember the Catalina.

[@THROTTLEPOWER]

Cool old car!!

[@ianoneillpsychotherapy162]

Back in the day (April 1973) a real estate agent took my family to see a prospective home for my then 40 something parents to consider as a purchase. The estate agent's car was a brand new 73 coupe very similar to this 75 model, it was huge. Today it's hard to imagine the impression the car made as a new vehicle. April of 73 still predated the oil shock and a full size Pontiac was a very desirable car. By 75 their reputation had been tarnished by sky high fuel prices, so sales were falling off.

[@SpockvsMcCoy]

Full-size American cars were still a status symbol in 1973.

[@richardpalleschi4807]

Had a 73 Bonniville 400 2bbl 2 door. Car was great lots of torque. big and comfy. Bought it from a friend after an accident. fixed the bumper & drove it to 160.000 miles. Then sold it for what i paid.

[@dannycasler4959]

I saw this in the background of your last video of the Dart! I see you have the dart in the background of this one! I have a 1975 Pontiac Grandville Brougham convertible and I went crazy buying NOS Stainless mouldings for the bottom of the doors and rockers, plus all of the pot metal emblems , I''m only one tail lamp bezel from having it all! I even got the NOS 455 emblem for the grille! The name scripts and pot metal headlamp and tail lamp bezels cost bank!! Big money!! I couldn't find a Grandville grille for it so I bought a NOS Catalina Grille and center piece and emblem. I also got rechrome bumpers for the car too! I ended up with two front bumpers and two right side headlamp bezels because I got good deals on them after I bought the first one! I haven't driven my Grandville in almost ten years! But I'm hoping that this year will be the one! If I would find this in a yard near me I would buy it, You mentioned the Rally wheels on this and didn't get them because one was missing, These are a five inch bolt circle and quite rare so while they wont fit Firebird they're worth buying to resell!

[@ClassicRideSociety]

I also have a 70 Pontiac executive. I should have bought them for spares. Its 5x5 bolt pattern but I already have a set for it

[@dannycasler4959]

@@ClassicRideSociety Nice, I used to have a 70 Bonneville convertible back in the late 80's early 90's, It looked good and had a good interior and top but the frame was rusty, I bought it for $400 and drove it around for about 6 years in nice weather until it started to sag in the middle! It didn't have the 455 in it anymore but it had a 400 that I traded for a 71 Chevy pickup and a guy gave me $250 for what was left! I have 8 Pontiacs right now and about 40 of other makes so I'm an addict!

[@ClassicRideSociety]

@@dannycasler4959 wow, I'm jealous. I'm limited by the space I have. If I have some land, id probably have quite the collection as well. I have 12, 3 of which are pontiac.

[@googleusergp]

@@ClassicRideSociety Space is always a factor. I bought property and a garage for the sole purpose of storing my one Trans Am and my equipment. Fortunately, the deal was right and as everyone here knows the story, the property belonged to my grandparents for close to 40 years before I bought it from their estate. I stored the one Trans Am there for years when my grandparents owned the property. My grandfather didn't of course charge me rent and let me use the property as I wished. In return, I would do any repairs or upkeep needed on the house and property so he didn't have to worry about it in his later years. He used to worry when it snowed, but when I fixed up a few snow blowers for the property and he saw how easy it was to clear the snow with one of them, he never worried again. He lived to be 101.5 years old and passed away in 2012.

[@cmintsurfer]

@@googleusergp 101. The things I could have learned if my 4 GP had lived that long. They were born in 1890, 1895, 1908, and 1912.

[@mjg263]

Pontiac is cool and all but man I LOVE that Dart, absolutely LOVE IT!

[@ClassicRideSociety]

Unfortunately they were both crushed later that day

[@mjg263]

@@ClassicRideSociety💔😞

[@dowen1511]

Dang I like them big ponchos that is a sad deal there . I like the Grandville. With a 455. Clam wagons are cool too.

[@jdoe9588]

That's a nice car bro

[@oliverpetroski4205]

It looks like someone was fixing it, or at least started...but it is saveable, Ive seen 50 times worce than this being fixed, also plenty of parts on it as well.

[@bengomes8845]

Good derby build

[@Swaps-n-Stuff-WhistleGang]

love that body style ...my girl has one still.. but it ready for the crusher....my 73 needs the trunk pan

[@googleusergp]

Try looking in the Ames catalog as they have a large car catalog.

[@Swaps-n-Stuff-WhistleGang]

@@googleusergp appreciate the offer

[@googleusergp]

@@Swaps-n-Stuff-WhistleGang Sure thing.

[@ohioyodertoter6827]

The 70s 😍

[@wolfwagonc1727]

Wow I haven’t seen one of them since the 1990s. Looks just like the one on a movie called short time except that one had square headlights

[@corvetcoyote443]

Yes,the blue 4dr,that one was a 76.

[@bobmorrison5636]

Had one like her a chocolate brown drop top, fun cars

[@455GP]

Sport mirrors look good

[@googleusergp]

Likely RPO code "D35" Sport Mirrors.

[@tesytesy9531]

Good

[@AjAJ-qr4vo]

I had a 75 Catalina, baby blue and a more door.

[@CR7659]

Oh, I forgot. Bennie, if you run across a Chevy or GMC van like mid-80s-ish any chance you can grab a couple outside door handles with the chrome metal pushbuttons? I forget what year those stop, somewhere around 91 or 92. If it's a cargo van you don't even have to take anything off, it's just two bolts around 7/16 (they become 10mm on the 90s ones). Mine has the ones with the plastic pushbuttons and they're acting up.

[@southernman7692]

keep it and fix it

[@southernman7692]

u cant go wrong with tha old iron

[@Starman998]

It’s already been crushed.

[@reedb9039]

I would have been tempted to dump some gas down it and see if it starts just for the hell of it.

[@kc0lif]

I've seen those cars i was a kid.

[@oldskool1979]

Buy it Benny buy it !

[@ClassicRideSociety]

It was flattened soon after I made the video

[@corvetcoyote443]

She's rough, I would like a closer look at the Dodge Dart in the background, looks pretty good.

[@ClassicRideSociety]

I made a video in that one as well

[@PaulGadoury]

I am probably going to buy a super clean 74 for 2500 from the original owner this w/e. I would love to get 4 Pontiac mags

[@javierdenardo2607]

Unfortunately the 70s cars did not appreciate in value as the onee before them. But being a 2dr, it was rare even when new. These cars gave up their engines even in the 80s. My Dad bought a 71 mordor of these to get the engine, and put it into a 1969 Camaro.

[@xpelon209x]

Did you get the tilt column?

[@monarch1957]

There is a guy on another site looking for to chrome piece on the passenger side door by the front fender.

[@tillivanilli6481]

This was such a nice Project Base Car for build something like an vintage Nascar, then it isn´t a problem about the missing interior and also not about dent out the body, what hasn´t much terrible dents or anything else, it was so great to safe this car, what doesn´t must need much money.... But what is with these cars on such an jard, does they go in the crusher for sure or what goes on with that? Because crushing it was really a shame. If yards like these would safe or even store such pre 80´s cars in an seperate area, i´m sure that they would get a lot more money for these than the could get for the metal recycling prices and costs & for sure, they would do the right thing when they don´t crush any vintage car of such an age and time

[@garycorbin2789]

Oh I'm glad your buddy didn't crush that dart 🎯 .. yet hats off to G Money for using commonsense Like I said If I could ship to Oz I would and I take that poncho as a early Easter egg 🥚 lol.

[@googleusergp]

The Dart is flat, he posted it on a video the other day.

[@trickyricky12147]

@@googleusergp Quick! Get the dent puller! Lol

[@googleusergp]

Going to take a lot more than that. Lol.

[@starchiefgrayflake8224]

custom front & rear roll pans would make a world of difference in looks of this car.

[@morgansword]

Yet if I had found this car out in the ding weeds, had to get it towed out of said location to home.... Yes I would of fixed it up. I at least would of got running, used that frame with running gear to put a old forties truck cab on it. If a guy could only find a real nice old car body with steel rails, lets say a 51 five window ford truck to make whole again. I liked how much torque these engines developed, so hard to decide which is right for a person who wants it all. I love power and I like old cars and trucks... see that is a really solid old rig and they don't make them anymore... what I am getting at is like using that engine running gear and floor pan under like a shoebox ford. I am losing what I want to say

[@MidnightinSavannah]

That Catalina has a lot of small parts that are still good. It would be a shame if it got crushed with that tilt wheel.

[@ClassicRideSociety]

I should have pulled rhe column. They crushed the car later that day

[@jamesatkins3992]

I bet that motor is good

[@googleusergp]

+1. I'd bet it runs with some fresh fuel.

[@backpi]

All I want to know is which one was uglier the Catalina or the dart in the background. 😳👊🏾🤣

[@purpurahaze9179]

Does this yard advertise the old vehicles they have ?

[@ClassicRideSociety]

No, its a private yard where they bring vehicles to get crushed. Every now and then one gets saved.

[@unclebob7937]

Good project engine tho.

[@MD-zo7cl]

Should be saved, rare 2 door. I owned a "74" 4 door.400/400 😪

[@gr8fulpn]

That’s a shame, pretty straight car. Could be fixed

[@ajspencer2571]

I need that hood dude... What's up

[@ClassicRideSociety]

Unfortunately that car was crushed later that day

[@gavindesjarlais8289]

Are any of the cars you post for sale

[@moonbeamskies3346]

Most of them are just sold for parts I think. But what if someone said he wanted to buy every part left? I don’t see why they wouldn't sell the whole thing.

[@googleusergp]

@@moonbeamskies3346 They may not be able to (or claim that they can't) because the title has been turned into the state of TX. Where there's a will, there's a way, but it's not easy.

[@Starman998]

This car has already been crushed. G money posted a video of it.

[@dowen1511]

Should buy this just to at least give it a chance at a derby car if nothing else or Posibly ? Someone will buy it and you will make money on it 👍 regardless, guys will spend up to a grand on that stuff for derby cars these days cause of how much they can potentially win, or even just the fun value .

[@stevenbaker673]

I see a DART back thair

[@ClassicRideSociety]

Yep made a video on that one too. Here it is. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bICogoiCodqMosU

[@lutomson3496]

someone save these cars before cowboy crushes these

[@devinwhitlock5918]

Hello my friend, could you do a video of the Dodge dart behind the Pontiac it's the same color as the one you were showing anyone else wants to see the dart click like and leave a comment below thanks hope to hear back from you soon thanks my friend and God bless you always

[@ClassicRideSociety]

I did a video on it. I uploaded 2 days ago.

[@corvetcoyote443]

Yeah, I like the Dart too👍

[@CR7659]

This one is kind of depressing. The first car I really remember is my grandparents had a 76 Catalina 4-dr. The front was identical. And I like this sort of semi-hardtop coupe styling. I'd kind of like to take one of these coupes and build it with a 1972 front end and rear fascia, '72 is about the best looking year for these Pontiacs. If nothing else these are high demand demo derby cars, so it's odd to see it just end up here and crushed in a day. Looks like the way it's gutted maybe it is an aborted demo build. For what they charge for wheels I think I would have taken the three rally's anyways, and maybe popped the tilt since most of the work is done and the dash is all out of the way for the floor bolts. That era tilt is a bear to change the lock in without a key.

[@DanKirchner5150]

these cars have the facial personality of a starving lobotomy patient

[@JohnShinn1960]

Mid 70s styling 🤮 crush em all! 👍👍

[@77impalaboy53]

Better styling than anything made since the 90s

[@MrJaime4044]

The car is wasted.

[@walterbatman7949]

It’s really sad to see how our automobile industry has went to building crap

[@tonyfriend7413]

I like The Cars and Trucks of Today, WAY Better, than this old stuff! No more Points or Carbs to mess with! They Last 300,000 miles Now instead of 75,000 or 80,000 Then Ready for The Field/ Behind The Barn, ECT!!

[@SpockvsMcCoy]

Zero collectability

[@googleusergp]

Au contraire. They are collectable in the Pontiac circles, albeit not as much as the other models, but this was the top dog Pontiac series (B body) in 1975.

[@googleusergp]

@Dan Cline Plenty of the large barges at Pontiac events. It's all in the audience. They reproduce some parts for it and Ames has a catalog for the big cars (probably because they had a convertible in some years), so there's a market for parts. That means there are people collecting them.

[@googleusergp]

@Dan Cline At a Pontiac only club/event, you will surely see one of these "large barges". Like I said, if there's a reproduction parts market for it, then someone needs/wants those parts as things are expensive to tool up, so the aftermarket only does that if there's demand for it. The "bottom up" theory has pervaded the car market. Some years back, no one wanted a 400 equipped Trans Am, especially the later years, they wanted the 455 and 455 SD cars. Now everyone realizes that they are: a) gobbled up by collectors, b) sitting rotting away somewhere by the "I know what I got" owners, c) in the process of being fixed up. So what happens? People go to the next best thing, say a later 2nd gen Trans Am with a 400. Now it's hard to find a solid 400 car, so the turbo cars are coming into their own, especially the SE and LE cars. Doesn't matter what car it is, it happens. 3rd gen F body cars were throwaways 10 or 15 years ago. Now they are worth something. Fox body Mustangs are hot when you couldn't give them away some years back as the market was saturated with them. Try buying Craftsman tools today---the USA made ones are fetching a premium because the new ones are made overseas. What used to be 50 cents to $1 a socket at a yard sale is $5-$8 a socket. Deals can be had, but you have to search them out. All depends and it's supply and demand. You can find a million snow blowers thrown to the curb for free in the summer, so that's when you get them (as I do). Try finding them in the winter, fat chance. LOL.

[@googleusergp]

@Dan Cline That's why you don't see them---the Pontiac clubs would be showcasing them. I've seen them there. You can't compare a 1995 GM to a 1975 Pontiac. The former isn't even eligible for historic plates in NYS, the latter is. Plus, the OEM still offers many parts for the 1995 GM because it shares parts/designs with newer models. Virtually nothing in GM's line today would share a part with a 1975 Pontiac, so the aftermarket takes up where GM left off and discontinued the parts.

[@googleusergp]

@Dan Cline Go to Pontiac specific shows and you'll see the large cars. That's a fact. That's the point, nothing to argue about here. LOL.