1964 Pontiac Le Mans Convertible Survivor Is No GTO but Still Wants a New Owner

Well, they called it GTO, actually, and the rest of the world called it ‘muscle car.‘ It was such a hit that its corporate hard-punching intermediate cousin, the ‘hottest numbers’ from Oldsmobile (the 4-4-2), went almost unnoticed. (Also, the fact that it was announced at the same event where the Mustang made landfall didn’t help at all).

Pontiac brass had all the reasons to pat themselves on the back with the GTO option for the LeMans – sales took a steep ascension for the following two years for both the base model and the muscle variant. Its own performance offshoot undeservingly overshadowed the LeMans, but the base still sold strong numbers. The muscle craze spread like wildfire, but not everyone was affected.

The LeMans was a relatively fresh nameplate in 1964, having been promoted to separate model rank in the year before after spending its first two years as a trim level for the Pontiac Tempest. You can see the pattern here – it was common practice back in the day: a trim level became a full-blown model, then sired another trim level that became its own series, and so on.

The Tempest derived into the LeMans, which spawned as the GTO, which was granted the Judge moniker in 1969. The ‘60s Satellite-Belvedere-GTX from Mother Mopar followed the same recipe as the Bel Air-Impala Chevys in the ‘50s. The LeMans, therefore, wasn’t a pioneer in this aspect, but that didn’t stop it from becoming a success.

The smaller V8 engine in the LeMans might not have been as appealing as the 389 cubic inches of the GTO option (6.4-liter), but it was no slug. The Poncho‘s ‘regular’ eight-cylinder motor was a 326-cube setup fed by either a two-barrel (yielding 250 hp) or a single quad (with 280 hp). It was pale compared to the 325-hp base output of the GTO’s 389-4V carb V8 and downright dismal when put side by side with the 348-hp two-barrel triplet version.

Nonetheless, the Pontiac LeMans 326 was still a strong choice for 1964, and 56,000 buyers would back this statement. Another 24,000+ units came with the six-cylinder plant, and the GTO garnered 32,450 units in its name. All in all, the LeMans sold over 112,000 cars in 1964, and one non-GTO V8s made it to 2024, where it is now looking for a new owner.

It had two owners, both residents of California’s Pleasanton/Livermore regions, and the geographic whereabouts explain the absence of corrosion on this convertible Pontiac. Mind you, the car needs some work – mostly cosmetic, if we are to take the seller’s word for it – but it should drive as is without issues.

Yes, the worn-out rugs don’t make for the most ‘red-carpet’ welcoming in the classics universe, and the livery is definitely a major turn-off. It’s a poorly executed repaint from a distant past, and that should be the most expensive part of a hypothetical upcycle. The wheels aren’t the original ones, and the tires, although still meaty, would best be driven with caution due to their old age.

Everything else on the car is what Pontiac’s workers put on when they assembled this example. The 326-cubic-inch (5.3-liter) V8 has 50,293 miles on record (80,291 km), all covered with the help of a console-shifted two-speed vacuum-operated slushbox with a torque converter. The two-speed automatic transmission was an all-new option for 1964 on the LeMans, the other two choices being a standard three-speed manual (column operated) or the four-speed manual.

Two barrels under the hood mean this engine is the 250-hp, 33 lb-ft (253 PS, 452 Nm) base version, and the rag top makes this car one of the 11,773 LeMans examples built this way. The instruments cluster sports a colorful and intricate engine vacuum and fuel pump tester gauge. The seller notes a minor oil leak and a lazy starter solenoid – nothing out of the ordinary for a 60-year-old automobile.

Although not seen in the gallery, the seller mentions the convertible top as ‘best to be replaced’—unless a potential buyer has plans that exclude rain or any other type of exposure to the elements. The high bid is $9,500, which is below the reserve set by the owner, but what would you consider a fair price? Since we're at it, what’s the best option for this rugged survivor (not all original): drive as is, refresh, or restore from the ground up?