Pontiac does not build many cars like the Pontiac Ventura: a 2-door hardtop coupe / 4-door hardtop sedan / 2-door convertible with 389 cid Pontiac V8, built from 1960 to 1977 in the decade that gave the world the pony car and the mid-engined supercar.
The background
The Pontiac Ventura is an automobile model which was produced by Pontiac between 1960 and 1977. The Ventura started out as a higher content trim package on the Pontiac Catalina, and served as the inspiration for the luxury content Pontiac Grand Prix in 1962, then remained as a trim package on the Catalina until 1970.
Its name was derived from Ventura, California, joining other similarly derived contemporary models such as the fellow Pontiac Catalina, the Chevrolet Malibu, and the rival Mercury Monterey. The Ventura nameplate was also used on Pontiac's version of the Chevrolet Nova from 1971 to 1977.
The engineering
Under the skin sits 389 cid Pontiac V8; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. The gearbox is a 3-speed manual / 3-speed automatic / 4-speed manual. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 123 in. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Where it sits
Where it sits in Pontiac's history is not in doubt: the Pontiac Grand Prix followed it; it was built at Pontiac Assembly, Pontiac, Michigan. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Jaguar E-Type, the Dodge Challenger, the Nissan Patrol. Its Pontiac stablemates include the Pontiac 2+2 and the Pontiac 6.
The money
There is no federal ownership record for the Pontiac Ventura — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.