“One exhilarating road machine”
The last of the rear-wheel-drive Grand Ams came in 1980. Unlike in 1978 and 1979, the sedan was no longer available—only the coupe remained.
The standard engine in non-California cars was the L37 155 bhp 4.9 liter/301 ci V8 with four-barrel Rochester carburetor and electronic spark control (California cars got the Chevrolet-sourced LG4 150 bhp 5.0 liter/305 ci V8). The only transmission available was a three-speed Turbo-Hydramatic TH200 automatic transmission. Mileage was 17 city/25 highway by the standards of the day. With the 18.1-gallon fuel tank, range was about 340 miles with a 10% fuel reserve. Period performance tests of the Grand Am are hard to come by, but 0-60 mph likely came in around 9 seconds.
New features for 1980 included a revised soft-fascia front end with three sections per side, an Ontario Gray lower accent color for the exterior, a silver upper body accent stripe, larger wraparound black-out tail lamps, and larger front and rear stabilizer bars for the optional ($45) Rally RTS handling package.
The Grand Am’s base price was $7,299—about $25,100 in 2020 dollars. Standard exterior and mechanical equipment included dual sport mirrors, dual horns, power steering, power front disc/rear drum brakes, and 205/75R14 black sidewall radial tires (a size still readily available) on 14-inch Rally IV cast aluminum wheels. Inside, Grand Am purchasers could expect cut-pile carpeting, Custom vinyl front bucket seats with center floor console, rally gages with clock embedded in a brushed aluminum instrument panel, and a Custom sport steering wheel.
Available exterior and mechanical options included a power sunroof—either metal ($561) or glass ($773), dual remote sport mirrors ($73), Soft-Ray tinted glass ($107), and electric rear window defroster ($107). Inside, air conditioning ($601), power door locks ($93), power windows ($143), a six-way power driver’s seat ($175), a tilt steering wheel ($81), automatic cruise control ($112), and an AM/FM stereo radio with a stereo cassette player ($272) were all available. A nicely configured Grand Am could easily push past $9,600—real money in 1980 and over $33,000 in today’s dollars.
Grand Ams didn’t sell at all well in 1980—Pontiac moved only 1,647 of them, after selling almost five times as many coupes only two years prior in 1978. Despite this, Pontiac would not give up on the Grand Am name—it would be back in 1985 as a small front-wheel-drive coupe.
Most of the Grand Ams being collected are the larger and more powerful first-generation Colonnade versions sold from 1972 to 1975. You do occasionally see second-generation Grand Ams for sale in the Hemming’s Motor News classifieds and on eBay Motors. I haven’t seen a Grand Am from this generation for many years.
Make mine Starlight Black, please.
Other G-bodies covered in this blog include the 1981 Chevrolet Monte Carlo Sport Coupe, the 1981 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme coupe, the 1983 Chevrolet Malibu sedan, and the 1984 Buick Regal Grand National coupe, and the 1987 Pontiac Grand Prix coupe. Another 1980 Pontiac I have written about is the Sunbird Sport Hatch.
Updated September 2020.
Eighties Cars 
I have one 😊
And it’s for sale….
Thank you for your comment, Glenn. Can’t remember the last time I saw one, whether up for sale or not.