[grantprix]

I purchased this 1971 Model J from the original owners here in CA in early December. I've known of this car for 10+ years back when I had another '71 GP and was building a registry for other cars like mine. Like my last '71 GP, this car is 1 of 52 built with a factory 4-speed. The original owner "Denny" had some trouble getting the car built as ordered. After placing the order, he received a letter from GM asking him to sign a release to accept the car with an automatic. As it turned out, they were discontinuing the manual trans, both the standard 3-speed & optional 4-speed as of May 1st 1971 on the GP and a few other models making the automatic standard equipment. Denny called his dealer and told them that if he couldn't get the GP as ordered, then he didn't want the car at all. Denny got a call back later and was told that the CA Zone Manager, a long-time friend and drinking buddy of the dealership's manager, said he would pull strings to get the car built and it worked. Denny believes this may be the last '71 GP 4-speed built because of the trouble it took to get the car as ordered. Per the build sheet and invoice, this car was was built on April 27th and shipped on April 28th, just three days before the deadline. I would have to guess that if it isn't the last '71 4-speed, it's certainly one of the last few.

I haven't taken many good photos of the car yet, but have a few garage shots. I did get one photo with Denny and his wife Jane with the car here at the house just before they left. And I also have an old photo from when the car was new, notice the paper temp tag on the rear bumper.