I have a 73 Grand Am with 455 and turbo400 myself, with an original power sunroof. They sold pretty well in 73, the first year. 43,136 were produced. So, the 73's weren't that rare. Few have survived though, probably because the soft urethane noses didn't hold up over the years, with hardly any surviving to this day. Fortunately, a company named InDesign started making a fiberglass replacement nose, probably about 25 years or more ago. I have one of those InDesign noses, and glad to have it. The company changed hands and is now called Motorealm, and they have a website, where they still sell the 73-75 GA noses. Unlike the original soft urethane nose, a fiberglass nose can be repaired if damaged, so it's really better. Not sure what makes this car a "tribute". Does it say that in the ad? Maybe it came with a 455, like mine did. It has an automatic, which is what came with a 455 in the 73 GA. A 4 speed was not available with a 455, so if you see a 455 4 speed GA, it's not original. You had to get a 400 to get a 4 speed. Production of the Grand Am decreased quite a bit in 74 and 75, after the oil embargo of late 1973, which was early in the 74 model year, which really affected the 74 and later years, and not the 73's. The Grand Am was discontinued after 75 due to low sales, about 10,000 in 75. Plus the fact that the 76-77 Lemans front nose and grille were going to be restyled with rectangular headlamps, which would necessitate a total restyle of the GA nose. With low sales of the GA already, Pontiac decided it wasn't worth the expense of a new redesign of the GA nose. Speaking of the Grand Prix dash...it is true that in 73, that dash only came in the Grand Prix and the Grand Am. But In 75-77, they also put the Grand Prix dash into the Grand Lemans. And the 77 Can Am actually did come with the Grand Prix Dash. It was one of the things that differentiated the Can Am from a Lemans. Also, the instrument panel bezel on this car has been changed to a 75-77 simulated wood panel. The 75-77's came with that RTS badge on the instrument panel. The original panel was real mahogany wood, and didn't have the RTS badge on it. Even though the 73 GA was the first year for RTS on the car, it didn't have an RTS badge anywhere. 74 was the first year for the RTS badge and they put it on the glove box door. And in 75 they put it above the a/c control panel, as it is in this car. The 75-77 simulated wood instrument panels held up much better and look better than the old wood ones. I got a 75-77 NOS simulated wood panel for my 73 GA, because the original wood didn't hold up well at all. I believe the color of that car is called Burnished Umber, a 73 Pontiac color available on the GA, and not seen often. The NASA hood was an option available for the car, so could have been original on it. The build sheet would tell of course. The hood scoops were never functional, although they were originally intended to be. So they wound up just being for looks. Pontiac was forced to cancel the fresh air induction setup with operating scoops on the cars because, supposedly, they made the car too noisy. They did get so far as to make a very limited number of setups and made those available over the parts counter to customers who wanted to add it to their cars themselves. There may be 3 cars in existence with those original setups. But no cars with factory installed setups were sold to the public. They had even intended to offer the SD-455 engine in the Grand Am, but that was cancelled too. I agree that the aftermarket sunroof is a negative, but it looks well finished in the headliner. It does have power windows and door locks, so that's a positive. Probably has a tilt. Another unique for 73 feature of the Grand Am was that the front seat backs reclined and had lumber adjustment. Edit: Okay, I just found the ad. It does say the original engine has been replaced with a 1970 455 which is more powerful than a 73 engine would be. Doesn't say whether it came with a 455 originally or not. And the color is Burnished Umber as I thought. Also it does have a tilt wheel and power driver seat. It even has the clock below the radio, with a tach in the dash. So, the car came pretty loaded, not what I'd call a base Grand Am.
These were introduced to compete with the Euro cars. The horn was made to sound European. Wood grain dash and Euro style steering wheel. I had one, great car to drive.
A nicely presented rare car
I have a 73 Grand Am with 455 and turbo400 myself, with an original power sunroof. They sold pretty well in 73, the first year. 43,136 were produced. So, the 73's weren't that rare. Few have survived though, probably because the soft urethane noses didn't hold up over the years, with hardly any surviving to this day. Fortunately, a company named InDesign started making a fiberglass replacement nose, probably about 25 years or more ago. I have one of those InDesign noses, and glad to have it. The company changed hands and is now called Motorealm, and they have a website, where they still sell the 73-75 GA noses. Unlike the original soft urethane nose, a fiberglass nose can be repaired if damaged, so it's really better.
Not sure what makes this car a "tribute". Does it say that in the ad? Maybe it came with a 455, like mine did. It has an automatic, which is what came with a 455 in the 73 GA. A 4 speed was not available with a 455, so if you see a 455 4 speed GA, it's not original. You had to get a 400 to get a 4 speed.
Production of the Grand Am decreased quite a bit in 74 and 75, after the oil embargo of late 1973, which was early in the 74 model year, which really affected the 74 and later years, and not the 73's. The Grand Am was discontinued after 75 due to low sales, about 10,000 in 75. Plus the fact that the 76-77 Lemans front nose and grille were going to be restyled with rectangular headlamps, which would necessitate a total restyle of the GA nose. With low sales of the GA already, Pontiac decided it wasn't worth the expense of a new redesign of the GA nose.
Speaking of the Grand Prix dash...it is true that in 73, that dash only came in the Grand Prix and the Grand Am. But In 75-77, they also put the Grand Prix dash into the Grand Lemans. And the 77 Can Am actually did come with the Grand Prix Dash. It was one of the things that differentiated the Can Am from a Lemans. Also, the instrument panel bezel on this car has been changed to a 75-77 simulated wood panel. The 75-77's came with that RTS badge on the instrument panel. The original panel was real mahogany wood, and didn't have the RTS badge on it. Even though the 73 GA was the first year for RTS on the car, it didn't have an RTS badge anywhere. 74 was the first year for the RTS badge and they put it on the glove box door. And in 75 they put it above the a/c control panel, as it is in this car. The 75-77 simulated wood instrument panels held up much better and look better than the old wood ones. I got a 75-77 NOS simulated wood panel for my 73 GA, because the original wood didn't hold up well at all.
I believe the color of that car is called Burnished Umber, a 73 Pontiac color available on the GA, and not seen often.
The NASA hood was an option available for the car, so could have been original on it. The build sheet would tell of course. The hood scoops were never functional, although they were originally intended to be. So they wound up just being for looks. Pontiac was forced to cancel the fresh air induction setup with operating scoops on the cars because, supposedly, they made the car too noisy. They did get so far as to make a very limited number of setups and made those available over the parts counter to customers who wanted to add it to their cars themselves. There may be 3 cars in existence with those original setups. But no cars with factory installed setups were sold to the public.
They had even intended to offer the SD-455 engine in the Grand Am, but that was cancelled too.
I agree that the aftermarket sunroof is a negative, but it looks well finished in the headliner. It does have power windows and door locks, so that's a positive. Probably has a tilt. Another unique for 73 feature of the Grand Am was that the front seat backs reclined and had lumber adjustment.
Edit: Okay, I just found the ad. It does say the original engine has been replaced with a 1970 455 which is more powerful than a 73 engine would be. Doesn't say whether it came with a 455 originally or not. And the color is Burnished Umber as I thought. Also it does have a tilt wheel and power driver seat. It even has the clock below the radio, with a tach in the dash. So, the car came pretty loaded, not what I'd call a base Grand Am.
These were introduced to compete with the Euro cars. The horn was made to sound European. Wood grain dash and Euro style steering wheel. I had one, great car to drive.