What an “urban” barn find! We found this rare 1966 Pontiac LeMans Sprint hiding in a garage in the heart of LA. It had been sitting since the late 80’s after its owner passed away and truly was a time capsule. The trunk was filled with period era car ads, receipts, shop manuals, even old oil cans still filled with oil and brand new, still sealed, oil can spouts! This poor Sprint needed its mojo back! While mostly complete, the car was in desperate need of body work and had not run in almost 25 years. The interior though was a diamond in the rough and needed little to be beautiful and kept original. With less Pontiac LeMans Sprint made then GTO and its European style OHC, high revving engine, it was as unique then as it is now today. After dragging the car out from behind the house it was kept, we immediately set our sights on restoring this rare bird. And there was no better place to send it then the Mecum Auctions!
Despite living a dry Southern California life, some areas where not immune to the long arm of rust. The trunk floors were replaced with aftermarket pans curiosity of Ames Performance. The rear tail light panel where it met the trunk floor required a hand formed lower section to be grafted onto the metal. The rear windshield channel was rotted through as well as portions of the sail panels near the channel. The bottom channel was repaired again with reproduction metal from Ames and the side and sail panels were repaired with hand fabricated pieces custom made for the car. A few minor rust repairs were made on the body as well. After addressing the metal, the car was sealed with SPI Epoxy Primer, SPI 2k High Build Primer and tediously block sanded laser straight. After, the car was painted in a beautiful deep white. Though the Sprint was available in white from Pontiac, we felt GM offered a much deeper white in its Cadillac lineup for 1966. The color is called Strathmore White which is a white with light touches of blue and black, which results in one of the deepest, glossiest whites you could imagine!
With the body finished, the Sprint was dying to get its heart back pumping! After sourcing a rare NOS fuel pump, rebuilding the carb and a new ignition, the OHC Sprint roared back into life! Turned out the engine had been stored with oil in the cylinders as well as other wise storage tricks. Compression was fantastic and it ran like a top! After a few seals and flushes of fluids and a re-cored radiator, the Sprint was ready to rev! All of the trim was hand polished and chrome redipped to a perfect shine! The LeMans also received all new brakes, undercoating and tires and was ready for the road! Arriving at Mecum, it garnered LOADS of interest and was television worthy by the powers that be. To which, the announcers raved about the Sprint as a car, and this car in particular. See the auction on Mecum’s website and on Velocity Mecum programming!
This LeMans is a great example that the old car in your driveway, or that one you have been eying in the papers or online still has life! We at Dietz MotorCraft are truly happy to see these cars brought back to their former glory. The era of the car enthusiast only remains if there is passion to support it, and we embody that passion wholeheartedly. We are always happy to chat about your dream car, so click Contact in the upper right hand of the page and tell to our knowledgeable team about your goals!
1987 Jeep Grand Wagoneer 
