Gregg D. Merksamer
PCS Life Member / PCS Publicity Chairman / PCS Ele
My father Norman J. Merksamer took delivery of a metallic orange 1972 Pontiac LeMans Sport convertible with the 400 V-8 and energy-absorbing Endura nose brand new at Klinger Pontiac of Mamaroneck, NY in December, 1971, and it was really the only car he used on a regular basis until he purchased a yellow Mustang V-8 convertible in 1994. As my mother ran a 1968 Cadillac DeVille convertible at the time, my father always called the LeMans "the little car," even though it was bigger than the Town Car my mother owned by the 1990s. Though our local body shop had a hard time repainting dings in the Endura nose without cracking or flaking, the LeMans' incredibly long tenure was certainly helped by its sweet-running 400 CID V-8 and the absence of suitably-charismatic brand new droptops during the 1980s - a boxy K-car convertible simply could not have taken its place! I don't think it ever got gassed up WITHOUT attracting at least one purchase inquiry per fill-up, and I never thought twice about driving it 100 or 200 miles to Pennsylvania shows like the PCS Northeast Chapter's Lahaska meet. Thanks to our salty Northeast winters, however, there was more Bondo than sheetmetal in the cowl and rocker panels by the time we attempted a ground-up restoration that was badly-botched by two different shops. The second restorer even sold off the 400 V-8 and used the less-desirable 350 from the parts car, and it went downhill from there after the project leader had a falling out with the shop owner while my dad's car was deep in the disassembly stage. It was just a couple of years ago that we found a new owner through the local gas station owner who always admired the car in spite of our troubles refurbishing it.
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