Pontiac Grand Am

Pontiac Grand Am
Overview
Manufacturer	Pontiac (General Motors)
Production	1973–1975 1977–1980 1984–2005
Body and chassis
Body style	2-door fastback coupe 2-door notchback coupe 4-door fastback sedan 4-door notchback sedan
Chronology
Predecessor	Pontiac LeMans (for 1973) Pontiac Phoenix (for 1985) Pontiac Tempest (for 1992 - Canada)[1]
Successor	Pontiac G6 (2005)

The Pontiac Grand Am is a car model that Pontiac Division of General Motors produced in various years between 1973 and 2005. The first and second generations were RWD mid-size cars built on the LeMans GM A platform. The Grand Am name was reused for a FWD compact car for the third- and fourth-generations. The fifth-generation versions was enlarged to a mid-size car.

The platform began development intended to be the next generation GTO, but the muscle car era was drawing to a close. Pontiac decided to make this model America's answer to European luxury sports sedans. The Grand Am name was derived from two other Pontiacs; "Grand" signifying Grand Prix luxury, and "Am" for Trans Am performance.

The first generation Grand Am featured innovations that included a deformable urethane nose (an evolution of the "Endura" bumper pioneered on the 1968 GTO) and was one of only three GM cars (Olds Cutlass Salon, Chevy Monte Carlo S) to debut radial-ply tires (RTS - Radial Tuned Suspension) as standard equipment. The intermediate sized Grand Am was canceled in 1980 when it was replaced by the Pontiac 6000.

A compact-sized Grand Am, based on the GM N-platform, was released in 1985, replacing the Pontiac Phoenix. It became Pontiac's best selling car and was later replaced by the Pontiac G6, so named as it was intended to be the 6th generation of the Grand Am.^[2]

All 1973 through 1975 Grand Ams were built in Pontiac, Michigan at Pontiac's main assembly plant. The 1978-1980 Grand Ams were built in Pontiac, Michigan at Pontiac's main assembly plant and in Atlanta, Georgia at GMAD Lakewood. All Grand Ams between 1985 and 2005 were built in Lansing, Michigan at the Lansing Car Assembly.