It started out as a car, but it soon became a passion
Boy, how the times change. I still remember in 2000 when I bought my 1992 Pontiac Grand Prix Sedan. I needed something to replace my 1993 Probe SE with a GT makeover that got wrecked thanks to a careless lady in a Buick. About a week after my Probe died, I was looking around used car lots for a new car, and I saw this black Grand Prix sedan.
It looked like any other Grand Prix sedan to the untrained eye, except for two things: Dual exhaust in the rear, and 24-Valve V6 badges on the fenders. I remember them catching my eye, and immediately I needed to know more. I took it for a test drive and fell in love with it. Unfortunately, due to a fire, I no longer have any of the factory pictures of the car.
This is the cloest thing I have been able to find on the internet. The car looked just like this, but it was black, didn't have any emblems except the 24 Valve ones, and it had a sunroof. 92 and 93 sedans were special because when equipped with the 3.4, only certain colors were available and the chrome trim piece surrounding the car was painted red. Also sedans equipped with the 3.4 got the 2 door GTP tailights.
My Grand Prix must have been special ordered, because it came with everything except the HUD and leather interior. My car also has the Driver Information Center, and I'm told the only way to get it in 92 was either to get the STE package, or special order it. What wasn't available in '92 for the sedan was the manual transmission. But more on that later... :)
When I got it, it had 101,000 miles. In 2 1/2 years, I put on 50,000 miles, and the only thing that ever went wrong was a failed fuel pump. The car was a rock, unlike my Probe which went through two distributors in two weeks! Winter tires ensured a car that could plow through anything in the cold, and some Bridgestone Potenzas allowed me to have some fun in the summer.
I kept it pretty stock for about two years, and then a horrible break up got me looking for something to put some joy in my life, and that's when I found drag racing. Sure, it wasn't the fastest car out there, most nights I was in the low to mid 16s, but it was consistent, and I did pretty good most bracket elimination nights. One night I almost won the whole thing had I not redlightted by .003 in the final round to a hopped up Chevy Vega. D'oh!
Finally in the summer is 2002, the good job came along, and I decided it was time to do this car right. The first thing I did was replace those cheesy 16x6.5 5 spoke wheels for the GTP 16x8 crosslace wheels made for Pontiac by Enkei. An old friend of mine took to repainting the entire car, including modifying the hood by adding scoops and a cowl, adding the GTP spoiler, removing the red stripe and putting pearl blue ghost flames all over the front of the car.
Now you see them, now you don't!
