1987 Pontiac Grand Am
You can have it all - Pro-Street looks with new car reliability!
- SPECIFICATIONS -
THE STARTING POINT
The idea behind this project was to cosmetically convert a stock vehicle into a Pro-Street style daily driver.
I wanted to complete it in a week without 'going crazy' to meet our goal.
I also didn't want to spend a lot of money.
ONLY ONE PERFORMANCE UPGRADE
We started with a stock Grand Am with a 3.0 Liter (181 CID) 125-hp V-6 engine and a 3-speed automatic trans.
The only performance upgrade we made was the addition of an NOS Nitrous Oxide System.
With the V-6 on nitrous, the car would run high 14-second 1/4 mile times.
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PRO STREET AND OTHER STUFF
Dark tinted side and rear glass
A narrowed rear frame
Large rear wheel tubs
A fabricated fuel tank to fit inside the rails
A sectioned rear 'axle'
15" x 6" Front wheels with radial tires
15" x 12" Deep-dish rear wheels with radial tires
A rear stainless steel wing
A foam-rubber packed parachute
Cool graphics down each side
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- PHOTO GALLERY -
- FACTS AND HISTORY -
FROM THE PACIFIC TO THE ATLANTIC
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The Grand Am was driven from The Hollywood Hills to New York City without any problems.
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As far as I know, nobody ever got on the ground and looked under the car. Although maybe when I wasn't around...
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Nobody ever questioned the validity of our Pro-Streeter.
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There were hundreds of 'thumbs-ups' along the way.
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For the entire trip, I averaged just over 25 mpg - although the taller tires in the rear were probably giving it
another mile per gallon or more.
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Dozens of people asked, "How fast in the quarter?"
To which I would answer, "Nines."
Then they would comment, "Cool..."
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- MAGAZINES -
- MAGAZINE QUOTES -
CAR CRAFT– NOVEMBER 1988 - THE RAD PACK - Kings of Pro Street - Brian Hatano - Feature Editor
"When you’re the King of Pro Street, what do you do for an encore? If you’re Rick Dobbertin, whose herd of performance cars are known worldwide, you build a car in which you can roll the windows up and turn on the A/C."
"Rick Dobbertin, perhaps the premier Pro Street builder of the decade, felt somewhat out of place with his front-wheel-driven, V-6 powered Grand Am."
"But while his latest ride is a drastic deviation from Dobbertin cars of the past, it represents what we feel is yet another innovative concept from the man who defined car crafting’s most popular trend."
The Grand Am was completed in one week to show that the "Pro-Street "Look" could be attained on a budget.
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