1986 Pontiac Grand Prix - Old Man Smell

Back in 2002, I was commuting to Manhattan on the Long Island Railroad and having had my then daily driver broken into and vandalized at the train station more than once, I bought a well-worn 1986 Pontiac Grand Prix, not unlike this '86, as a "station car". Or so I told the wife. Total out of pocket was $300. Asking price for this one for sale outside of Indianapolis on Facebook Marketplace is $1,200. Poster of the ad claims it runs but the brakes and the battery are bad. "Bring a trailer" as the saying goes. I know inflation is out of hand but give me a break. 

I dreamt of hot-rodding it turning it into a 1980's "GTO" complete with a crate engine, shortened rear end, Hurst shifter, track suspension, big wheels and tires, black paint to go over its patina soaked white paint and so on. Little did I know at the time I was ahead of the curve. Older, what are known as "G-bodies", were still de rigueur to classic car cognoscenti, but over the past ten- to fifteen-years, as those classic Chevelles, Monte Carlos, Cutlass' et al have appreciated up and out of the stratosphere, much love has bloomed for the last bastion of General Motors, body-on-full perimeter frame, rear-wheel-drive goodness and simplicity. 

Problem was, with the GP I bought only 16-years-old at the time, replacing its asthmatic little Buick V-6 wasn't so simple. Sure, pulling the engine and dropping in something interesting would be straight forward enough, but things got complicated what with the car having to pass very strict New York State emissions. I couldn't just go onto Craigslist, find something and drop it in - again, it had to be something that could get under the e-check bar for all vehicles made in that model year. That limited my options not to mention jacking costs up past the point of reason. 

I never got around to doing anything with it. I never even plated it; my wife hating it didn't help matters either. Its interior was that lumpy, GM "throw pillow" that looked comfortable but broke your back. It also had that musty, old man pee, wet dog and stale cigarette stench that plagued many a GM car back in the day too. With a young family and my insane commute, I had little time for it. 

I stored it in the garage of my in-law's condo until they sold the place. On the occasional Saturday or Sunday morning I'd take it out on back roads where I knew cops were scarce. It handled well enough, but it had no go and of course, the smelly interior. I ended up selling it for $400 to a guy who thought he had roped the moon.