#hurst ssj

[stone-cold-groove]

American motor racing personality, Linda Vaughn - 1971.

[purepontiac]

Only 157 Pontiac Grand Prix Hurst SSJ's were produced in 1971

[purepontiac]

1971 Pontiac Grand Prix Hurst SSJ

[purepontiac]

After completing the Pontiac order form, the salesman would then fill out a Hurst order form that specified the SSJ package and any additional Hurst options the buyer desired. Once the Grand Prix was assembled, it was drop-shipped to a Hurst facility, where it was converted into an SSJ.

The process consisted of painting Hurst Fire Frost Gold metallic accents on the hood, roof, doors (and decklid ’71-’72) and outlining them with hand-painted pinstripes. An electrically operated sunroof was installed, a black or white landau-style half-top was applied, the wheels were painted Fire Frost Gold metallic, and die-cast SSJ emblems were added to the front fenders, decklid and console.

[purepontiac]

 The retail cost of the SSJ package was $1,147.25 (the Hurst window sticker for our featured ’72 SSJ reveals that the price later increased to $1,275.00) over the price of the Grand Prix. Dealers paid $975 for the conversion.

[purepontiac]

1971 Pontiac Grand Prix Hurst SSJ

[purepontiac]

Furthering the exclusivity of the Grand Prix was the limited edition 1970-’72 Grand Prix SSJ produced by Hurst Performance Research Corporation, a subsidiary of Hurst Performance, Inc. As the story goes, with an idea already in mind to do a special Pontiac, when George Hurst saw Pontiac adman Jim Wangers’ ’69 GP SJ decked out in white with Tiger Gold accents applied by Royal Pontiac, he loved it. So much so, according to Wangers, that George bought the GP from him to use as the prototype for the SSJ.

[purepontiac]

Purchasing an SSJ entailed going to a Pontiac dealer and ordering a Grand Prix Model J or SJ (1970 only). There were restrictions for body and interior color and mandatory wheel and tire options.