The Pontiac Grand Prix was introduced in 1962 as a performance luxury car, but by 1968 the emphasis was on luxury, and performance was no longer a priority.

When the 1962 Pontiac Grand Prix made its debut on September 21, 1961, the automotive press was on board. Here was the American sedan the writers been asking for, with less chrome gimmickry on the outside and greater comfort inside, offering generous horsepower and upgraded suspension and brakes. Motor Trend called it “the ultimate in luxury, performance, and value.” The editors at Car Life were especially impressed with the version they tested, equipped as it was with the 421 cubic-inch, 405 hp Super Duty V8. They declared the 421 Grand Prix “the fastest accelerating stock production-line car we’ve ever driven.”

But as the years went by, the Grand Prix added a few more inches and gained a few more pounds every season—like all of us, we suppose. Year over year, it wasn’t a tremendous amount. Compared to the 1962 original, the 1968 Grand Prix was not quite five inches longer overall and around 300 lbs heavier. But thanks to a 1965 exterior makeover with more ponderous styling and the addition of rear fender skirts, the Grand Prix now looked even larger and heavier than it actually was. From the original recipe of performance plus luxury, the Grand Prix was now leaning heavily into the luxury half of the formula. In 1967, the Grand Prix was briefly offered as a convertible as well as a two-door hardtop coupe.

The Car Life writers had described the original ’62 Grand Prix as “Pontiac’s answer to the bucket seat craze” of the early ’60s, and it was one of the specialty model’s key identifiers. But for ’68, the Grand Prix was available in multiple interior configurations that included both the bucket seats and console and a split-bench seat with a center armrest. Reportedly, only around five percent of Grand Prix buyers (estimated) opted for the bench seat in ’68. However, fewer than one percent opted for the four-speed manual transmission, with the rest choosing the automatic. In the factory brochures, the ’68 Grand Prix was unashamedly described as Pontiac’s “luxury car” with scarcely any mention of high performance.

Standard equipment for ’68 included hidden headlamps, along with the aforementioned fender skirts, and a 400 cubic-inch V8 with 350 hp. Options included a 428 CID V8 with 375 hp and the 428 CID H.O. V8 with 390 hp, but for economy-minded drivers there was a 400 CID two-barrel V8 with 265 hp that could run on regular gasoline. For one more year, Pontiac’s exclusive 8-lug aluminum wheels with integrated brake drums were available, but they were soon rendered obsolete by disc brakes. (See our feature here.)

Grand Prix sales and production peaked in 1963 at nearly 73,000 cars, then dwindled  to around 32,000 in 1968. In hindsight, there’s no mystery at all to the falling sales, or the Grand Prix’s steady evolution into luxury cruiser: The real performance enthusiasts  were selecting the smaller and sportier GTO (and later, the Firebird). For 1969 the Grand Prix badge was transferred from GM’s full-sized B-body platform to a modified A-body package, creating an intermediate-sized personal luxury coupe.