Sean Tobin had only the broadest strokes of a plan when he walked into a Dodge dealership in 1989, but he sensed his life was about to change in a big way. Did he buy a Dodge? Nope. Not even close. “I was driving down Van Nuys Boulevard. I saw the car out of the corner of my eye and immediately did a U-turn. It was on the front line and I went straight for it. I knew the Grand Am. I’m one of those geeks. I knew it had to be only a 400 or a 455, that’s all they made it in. I knew if the emblem said ‘7.4 Liters’ then it had to be a 455.”
The ER nurse from Mission Viejo, California, was 25 at the time when he’d been driving through town on another task. He experienced a powerful flashback to the mid-1970s—to a time in Staten Island, New York, when he was about 10. Someone in his boyhood neighborhood had a 1973 Pontiac Grand Am. “I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it,” says Sean wistfully. He was just a boy and couldn’t act on his automotive fantasy at the time, but the dormant psychological seed planted all those years ago suddenly sprouted to life, triggered by the random spotting of the mint 1973 Pontiac Grand Am for sale for $3,300 on the front row of a Southern California Dodge dealership.
“I had to buy it and I’ve owned it ever since. I basically restored the car myself,” says Tobin, hesitating before admitting “I didn’t paint it, and the fabrication on the chassis and stuff—which is highly modified—was done by Cambra Speed Shop in the city of Orange.” Still, the feat is impressive enough without having to become a journeyman in both bodywork and fabrication. Perhaps the most prescient skill of all, however, was being able to recognize at the time that the 1973 Pontiac Grand Am—a colonnade-style Malaise-era GM A-body—would become so sought after, and at a time when guys Sean’s age were infatuated with IROC Camaros, Turbo Buicks, and 5.0-liter Fox-body Mustangs. It was, and remains, the road almost never traveled.
A total of 34,445 Pontiac Grand Ams were built in 1973, a smallish number considering over 7 million Colonnade A-bodies were produced in total between 1973 and 1977, yet it was the most built during the car’s three-year production run from 1973 to 1975. “I love this car so much because it’s very unique,” says Tobin. “Nobody else has one, you don’t see them at other shows, and it gets a lot of attention just because it’s such an oddball car.” The standard engine was a 170 hp 400ci V-8 but it could be optioned all the way up to a 250 hp 455ci V-8. The car’s original 455ci Pontiac was no slouch for its day, and Sean used his 455 for the first 25 years he had it, but it was no match for 21st-century performance. Today, Sean’s Grand Am features a built LS7 with CNC-ported Brodix heads, a hydraulic roller cam from Engine Power Systems, ported MSD Atomic Air Force intake and a Mamo-ported 90mm throttle body. Sean stitched it together with a GM E38 ECU, Speartech harness, and GM sensors. All this puts Sean’s Grand Am comfortably in the 550-600 hp range.
Though a four-speed manual was offered on 400ci-equipped Grand Ams in 1973 and 1974 (only a Turbo 400 three-speed slushbox was offered behind the 455), none were offered on 455ci cars. As an old-school gearhead, Sean wanted to select his own cogs, and installed a T-56 six-speed Tremec box. Backing the transmission is a McLeod RST dual-disc clutch assembly mated to the stock ten-bolt 8.5-inch rearend with Toms forged axles, an Eaton posi, and 3.73:1 gears. The near-total changeover of the drivetrain would put Sean’s 1973 Grand Am in C6 Z06 Corvette territory, so the plan would also call for similar upgrades to the chassis, suspension, tire package, and brakes.
As one of the first mass-produced OE chassis ever to be designed by computer (GM called the new mid-sized A-body suspension RTS, for Radial Tuned Suspension), a full-scale revision of the 1973 Pontiac Grand Am chassis was not called for. Instead, Sean had Cambria Speed Shop box and seam-weld the frame, reinforcing the crossbars and having it all powder-coated. All four corners were converted to QA1 double-adjustable coilover shocks, and Global West control arms replaced the stock units up front.
Unlike the Colonnade A-body’s RTS chassis, the malaise-era brakes were decidedly lame. The original single-piston front disc brakes got upgraded to Wilwood Aero six-piston calipers on 14.25-inch Spec 37 rotors, and the rear drums leapfrogged to Wilwood FNSL four-piston calipers with 13-inch Spec 37 rotors. These capable binders act on upsized Nitto NT05 tires (275/35R19, front; 305/35R19, rear) mounted on Modulare C1 three-piece alloy wheels.
We take for granted today the entire genre of luxury performance vehicles, but in 1973 the Pontiac Grand Am was somewhat of a unicorn. The name Grand Am was a portmanteau of the names Trans Am (Pontiac’s ponycar) and the Grand Prix (Pontiac’s luxury coupe) inferring the performance of the former and the luxury of the latter. It was conceived by Pontiac to combat a new crop of European performers, specifically from BMW and Mercedes, but with incoming regulations for 5-mph bumpers it would present a challenge for designers hoping to pen a gorgeous shape, a prerequisite for such a car.
The answer came in the form of a flexible urethane bumper, or “Endura,” as Pontiac called it. This allowed the federally-mandated 5-mph bumpers to be visually integrated into the flowing lines of the body, producing a shape far more appealing and forward-looking than other cars of its day. The wind-cheating shape of the 1973 Pontiac Grand Am was ahead of its time and even now turns heads (body-integrated bumpers are now de rigueur), but the styling would need a modern update to legitimately sit at the performance luxury table in the modern era.
Originally, Sean’s 1973 Pontiac Grand Am had a white vinyl top, white paint, whitewall tires, Rallye II wheels, and a black gut, and aside from the new rolling stock and lower stance already mentioned, the Colonnade A-body has been treated to a coat of BMW Donington Grey, once again by Cambria Speed Shop. But what’s arguably most striking of all is Tobin’s subtle incorporation of a Hurst Performance motif across the exterior and interior of the Grand Am. Hurst Performance produced several boutique models during the era, including the AMC SC/Rambler (1969), Chrysler Hurst 300 (1970), Hurst Jeepster (1971), Hurst Oldsmobile Pace Car (1972), and the Pontiac Grand Prix SSJ of 1971-1972, but Hurst never built a specialty Grand Am in 1973 or any other year.
For the Hurst treatment, Sean contacted Billet Badges of Ramona, California, to carve out the OE-look fender badges from billet aluminum, ordered a Hurst shifter and floor mats from Holley, then had Auto Interiors of Mission Viejo, California stitch the Hurst embroidery on a pair of repurposed seats Sean scavenged from a 2011 Honda CRZ. The Hurst treatment is just bold enough to warrant a righteous head nod from onlookers without looking like amateur night at the burger shop.
Sean Tobin’s 1973 Pontiac Grand Am is a roadmap for how many of today’s best home-built hot rods are built; Sean served essentially as his own speed shop, contracting out jobs too specialized or that required unique skill sets (paint, fabrication, upholstery) while performing the lion’s share of grunt work, like disassembly, parts cataloging, cleaning, plumbing, and reassembly, in his home garage over a four-year period between 2014 and 2018. And while there’s nothing new about this approach, what is most refreshing is Sean’s eye for hitting just the right aesthetic note, which speaks to a level of sophistication usually reserved for contemporary OE special editions from the likes of Roush, Shelby, or Saleen.
Now that the first part of Sean’s Grand Am journey is complete, he has started on part two, which is to say it’s time to enjoy the fruits of his hard work. That process began this past January with a win at the prestigious Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona in the Mild Hardtop/Sedan 1970-’79 class, but that’s just a start. “I want to take it to the track and do some drag racing with it,” enthused Sean. “I’d love to do a track day with the car, a little autocrossing as well, because the suspension’s set up for all of that.”
At a time when America’s health-care workers are strained to the max in the struggle of their lives, we think life behind the wheel of this 1973 Pontiac Grand Am is a well-deserved reward. To Sean Tobin and all the country’s front-line health-care workers: We hope you have the time and peace of mind to enjoy the drive!
Keyword: The 1973 Hurst Pontiac Grand Am That Never Was