Hopefully, the supporters of GM’s W-entire body ’80s/’90s intermediates can forgive us, but we had quite much forgotten — or experienced under no circumstances really identified — that a single of the ways that era’s Pontiac Grand Prix bathed alone in glory was by serving as the rate car for the Daytona 500. In reality, the Grand Prix paced NASCAR’s marquee race every 12 months from 1988 to 1992, and yet again in 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2003.

That initial year, 1988, the Grand Prix was all-new, making its debut on the W-entire body system. It was also Motor Pattern‘s motor vehicle of the yr. The 1988 Daytona 500 marked the 17th year in a row that a Pontiac was picked to established the rate but the 1st time a front-wheel-generate auto was so honored. The ’88 Grand Prix followed a spate of Pontiac Trans Ams.

This ’88 Grand Prix, for sale proper now on eBay Motors, is offered as an genuine tempo automobile, although followers could order a total set of tempo car or truck decals for their really possess GP. The tempo motor vehicle is based on that year’s major-spec Grand Prix, the SE. In location of the typical car’s 2.8-liter V6, however, the rate auto utilizes a modified 3.1-liter V6, which is hooked to a five-pace handbook transmission. This Grand Prix is in any other case mostly conventional fare excepting the roof-mounted light-weight bar, the switches for which are positioned subsequent to the radio. The mechanical odometer tucked into the digital instrument cluster reveals just around 5,000 miles, and presumably, not all of them had been obtained on the higher-banked oval.

With 4 days to go in the auction, bidding sits at $4,000 with the reserve unmet. Whilst the reserve is not known, one clue is that this Grand Prix experienced been outlined by a classic-car dealership in Pennsylvania for $18,500.

In addition to the debut of the W-human body Grand Prix speed car or truck, the 1988 race is also noteworthy for its last lap: Bobby Allison held off his son, Davey Allison, to get the checkered flag, with the father-son duo making the most of a 1-2 end.

Now, who wants to re-dwell these Grand Prix glory days? Get on your Pontiac and trip!