Can't find your Dream Chevy? Consider a Pontiac!

Can't find the Chevy musclecar of your dreams? Consider a Pontiac. I know GTO's command just as high a price as SS Chevelles. However, every other model is substantially cheaper than the Chevrolet counterpart. Here's some examples supported by auction results and newspaper, internet, and Hemmings motor news listings. Want a big-block Camaro? At the last "Hot August Nights" auction in Reno, Nevada, a nicely restored 1969 SS396 Camaro sold for $15,000. At the very same auction a 1967 400 Firebird in great condition sold for $8,500. For second-generation models ( 1970-81 ) the gap really widens. A big-block was only available in the Camaro until 1972, and were produced in very limited numbers. By contrast, you could get a 400 in a Firebird Esprit, Formula or Trans-Am right up until 1979, and the 455 was available until 1976. Want a Rat-motored Monte Carlo? The Gran Prix is to the Monte Carlo what the Firebird is to the Camaro,-the better buy of the two. For the same reason. Big-block Montes built from 1970-75 are quite rare, and thus priced accordingly. Gran Prix's  from 1969-76 are the exact opposite. 400 power standard all years, and a good number of  "SJ" models had 455s! My sister had a 72 SJ in high school. That car had power everything, and it felt like a GTO! She showed her taillights to quite a few Camaros and Mustangs. The same goes for 1960-68 Full-size models. People fight with machetes to pay blood and a first-born child for 396,409, or 427 Impalas, Caprices, and Biscaynes. Meanwhile Pontiacs, be they Catalinas, Bonnevilles, or Gran Prix, can be bought for 1/3 to half the price. The reason is, most Chevys of this vintage have six-cylinder, or 283 or 327 small-block motivation. By contrast, practically every Pontiac built in this era had the venerable 389 as standard equipment, and a few had 421s. All 1967 and 68 models had 400s or 428s. Ditto for '70's full-size models. 402s and 454s were optional in Impalas and Caprices, but 90% of them had 350 small-block motivation. '70's Catalinas and Bonnevilles on the other hand, had 400 power as standard equipment and a good number had 455s. All through the years the Pontiacs had upgraded interiors and luxury options standard, that are sometimes rare on the Chevys.  I have nothing against Chevys, but the bottom line is they are generally more expensive than their Pontiac cousins.  Something to think about if your looking for a bargain. Mastermind