My Favorite Ride: Making a beeline toward a 1965 Pontiac Grand Prix coupe

SPENCER — Steve Toth’s invitation to see some interesting cars in Spencer served as an excuse to embark on a afternoon road trip a few Thursdays ago.

Back in May, I wrote about a roomy 1989 Oldsmobile hearse, with not a lot of body rust, Toth was “dying to sell you.” He sold it straightaway, before the column hit the newspaper. He attributes the quick sale to his carefully worded online ads.

Toth had purchased the 35-year-old hearse from a friend, a fellow classic car enthusiast who, like him, appreciates unique vehicles. Buying and selling cars has been a part of Toth’s life for decades. He admits spending much of his time “fooling around with used cars.”

After the hearse story, Toth asked me if I was interested in seeing some privately owned classics.

“I have a friend who has a few really nice vintage cars and of course I have a few also,” he said in an email. “I was thinking that maybe we could combine them and give you a place to start. I’m sure that you could create a great story from that.”Two, actually. This one, about Jay Thompson’s 1965 Pontiac Grand Prix. And one for next week about a 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado concealed by a faded green cloth tarp Toth vows he will restore, after rebuilding a 1958 Chevrolet Brookwood station wagon sitting in pieces nearby. Maybe I’ll write a third story about that one-owner, low mileage beauty.

Thompson, a Bloomington barber, buys, sells and collects older cars and is the friend Toth referred to who “has a few really nice vintage cars.” When I arrived at Toth’s home, about a dozen cars were parked in a circle in a field, sparkling in the sun.

I walked past a few 1970s-era Corvettes, a fast Dodge Challenger and a fancy 1978 Lincoln Continental Mark V with concealed headlights, stopping at Thompson’s two-door Grand Prix coupe. It’s white, all original and I saw no rust, just a few tiny chips of paint missing. It’s got a 389-cubic-inch V8 engine and about 50,000 miles on the odometer.

The Pontiac is beautiful and stood out from the others. Those chrome-heavy headlights!

"I've told him I'll trade anything I've got out here for that car, and he just says 'Nope,' back to me," Toth said.

The Grand Prix was considered a luxury car when it first came out in 1962, and a new 1965 model like Thompson’s would have cost $3,426, which equals about $33,400 in 2024. The nearly 60-old-year-old car in prime condition might sell for $25,000 or more today.

General Motors sold 57,881 new Grand Prix automobiles in 1965, and the number dropped to 36,757 the following year, according to GM production numbers. Sales increased to 42,981 in 1967, then decreased to 31,177 in 1968.

Thompson loves his Grand Prix, which he’s owned more than a decade and keeps garaged – most of the time. He takes it out on the road, and often. “I drive my cars,” he said. Someday his grandson may end up with this classic. But for now, grandpa is the one behind the wheel.

Toth’s vehicles are driven as well. “Trailer queens,” he said, referring to valuable vehicles that arrive at car shows on trailers instead of being driven, “are no fun.”

Next week: Steve Toth’s under-wraps 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado.

Have a story to tell about a car or truck? Contact My Favorite Ride reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.