Car: Pontiac Lemans Hardtop Coupe
Year: 1968
What makes it special: Lemans was a model name that was applied to subcompact and intermediate sized cars marketed by Pontiac from 1962 to 1981. Manufactured in five generations, the LeMans line was replaced by the downsized Bonneville for the 1982 model year.
What made it famous: For 1968, gone were the famed “Stacked headlights” of the 1965-1967 models, now replaced by side-by-side headlights surrounded by an all-new chrome nose, and taillights were embedded in a chrome rear bumper. The body now a “coke-bottle” design. A new engine replaced the 326. This new engine was based on all existing Pontiac engine architecture and using the 326, 389, and 400 engines crank at 3.75″ and expanding the 326’s 3.72″ bore to 3.88″ to give 353.84 cubic inches. It was marketed by Pontiac as a 350, just like the original 326 was called rather that its true size of 325.84. For 1968 the 350 could be had in two versions at 265 hp 2bbl and 325 hp 4bbl.
Why I would want one: Lately, these have caught my eye. They have a great body design and can be purchased less expensively than a same-year GTO model. They are just as fun.
Fun fact: The LeMans model was later resurrected from 1988 to 1993 as a badge-engineered version of the Daewoo LeMans car manufactured by Daewoo in South Korea. Most Pontiac fans prefer to forget this period ever happened.
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