10 Of The Rarest Pontiac Muscle Cars, And What They're Worth Today

One of many now-retired brands that once flourished under the GM umbrella, Pontiac's golden years coincided with the peak of the muscle car. Competing against the likes of Ford and Chevrolet, Pontiac duked it out both on track and in showrooms to win over customers, adding an ever expanding list of options to its cars. Central to that options list were ever more powerful engines, but with such a wide range of options to choose from, it was inevitable that buyers would overlook a few of the most impressive variants. Some of those overlooked variants were vanishingly rare at the time, and have become increasingly sought after collectors' cars in the decades since their initial release.

These 10 Pontiacs are among the rarest ever made and include everything from a seven-figure golden era muscle car to an ultra obscure special edition from the '00s that even many owners don't realize is rare. To estimate a value for each one, we've compiled data from Hagerty's valuation tool, Glenmarch's auction tracking database, and from expert reports.

Undoubtedly one of the more underappreciated Pontiac muscle cars, the 1971 Pontiac GT-37 sat just below the GTO in the lineup but commands significantly less than its more famous stablemate. The base-spec 350 cubic inch engine wasn't exceptional for the era, offering 250 horsepower for '71, but the optional 455 cubic inch engine packed more of a punch. In LS5 form, it generated 335 horsepower and 480 lb-ft of torque.

The GT-37 is a rarity as a whole, with just over 5,800 examples produced for 1971, but the LS5 variant is especially unusual. Across the entire model year, just 54 examples left the factory. Valuing lesser known rare variants like the GT-37 LS5 is not a straightforward task, since there's very little market data available. Hagerty values a base-spec 250 horsepower GT-37 in #3 good condition at just $12,700, although being both more powerful and far rarer, the LS5 variant should command a significant premium over that figure. Hemmings estimates that the LS5 option should add around a 20% premium, while cars equipped with the desirable four-speed manual should command a further 15% premium.

The 1969 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am was the first Firebird to bear the Trans Am name. It served as the top-spec trim in the Firebird line and featured a long list of options, some of which are particularly prized by collectors today. No matter what its options sheet looked like, however, a '69 Trans Am is still a highly collectible car, as it's very rare. A total of 697 examples were built, with the convertible version being the rarest option — just eight examples made it to customers.

Each one was painted in Cameo White and featured Tyrol Blue striping to pay tribute to the American international racing colors. Various interior and vinyl top options were available, although examples that deviate from the stock colors are exceedingly rare. The Trans Am featured an L74 400 cubic inch V8 as standard, with an official output of 335 horsepower. However, most experts agree that figure is somewhat lower than the car's real world output. A 400 V8 with the Ram Air IV upgrade was also available, officially pushing the car's output to 345 horsepower.

No matter the Trans Am variant, collectors will need deep pockets to afford one today. The standard 335 horsepower Trans Am is valued by Hagerty at $102,000 in #3 good condition, while the ultra-rare convertible is valued at an eye-watering $835,000.

Nicknamed the "Swiss Cheese" in honor of the 120 weight-saving holes drilled into its frame, the 1963 Pontiac Catalina super stock car was built to excel on the drag strip. It was designed in response to increasingly stiff competition from the likes of Chevrolet and Ford, with the former debuting a new 427 CI Z11 engine for the 1963 season. The Swiss Cheese was powered by a 421 cubic inch engine making just over 400 horsepower, and combined with Pontiac's innovative weight saving technique, it proved to be highly competitive. Originally, the plan was to continue producing the car throughout 1963, but thanks to a last minute change of heart from GM bosses, production ended in January of that year. By then, only 14 examples of the car had been built.

Very few of those survive today, with most having lived hard lives on the track. The sole example to have appeared for public auction in recent years was subject to an extensive restoration leaving it in period correct condition, and that condition was reflected in its hammer price. According to data from Glenmarch, the car first appeared at auction in 2014, selling for $530,000, and then was sold again in 2017 for $430,000.

Unveiled right as the muscle car seemed to be on its deathbed, the 1973 Pontiac Trans Am SD-455 is often overlooked. It's true that it's not as powerful as the top-spec cars of a few years before, but it's still surprisingly rapid. It featured a new Super Duty 455 engine under the hood, which was originally touted as making 310 horsepower. However, thanks to the intervention of the EPA, it was later reduced to 290 horsepower in order to meet the freshly implemented, more restrictive emissions regulations.

The issue with emissions certification caused a significant delay on the production line, which is mainly why the '73 Trans Am SD-455 is such a rare car. Although orders had been piling up throughout the year, Pontiac only managed to build 252 examples before the transition to the '74 model year. The '74 is a rarity too, with only 1,000 or so examples produced that year before a new set of regulations saw the SD-455 axed altogether. Thanks to that rarity, Hagerty estimates that a '73 Trans Am SD-455 is worth $116,000 in #3 good condition. The '74 model is valued at significantly less, averaging $44,700 in the same condition.

The '66 Pontiac GTO is a muscle icon, and was incredibly popular at release. It sold around 96,000 units in a single year, making it one of the most popular muscle cars on the market, but not every variant sold in huge numbers. One very rare package included the 389 engine with XS upgrades – a new camshaft and valve springs – and Ram Air. Only 190 XS-code engines were built by Pontiac in 1966, although it's possible that even less made it to GTO customers. Some estimates claim the real number of cars with the package is likely to be around 180.

Despite the performance improvements, Pontiac kept the XS 389's officially claimed output the same as the standard 389, at 360 horsepower. However, like many high-spec cars of the era, that figure is very likely to be conservative. Since the 389 XS Ram Air was marketed under the GTO banner, pinning down a valuation is not an exact science. Hagerty estimates the standard 389-equipped '66 GTO to be worth $43,000 in #3 good condition, but the rarity of the XS package should command an additional premium.

As one of the rarest and most sought after Pontiacs ever built, it's no surprise that the 1970 Pontiac GTO Judge Ram Air IV Convertible is expensive. However, even the most seasoned Pontiac collectors must have been shocked to see one example sell for $1.1 million in early 2023. That makes it the second most expensive Pontiac ever sold, only behind the one-off 1954 Bonneville Special Motorama Concept Car. Most examples of the Judge sell for an order of magnitude less than that figure, but the record-breaking example's exceptionally rare spec is what made it worth the cash to one particularly wealthy collector.

Only 17 examples of the 1970 GTO Judge Convertible were built with the Ram Air IV option, and of those 17, a mere seven were equipped with an automatic transmission. The example in question had also benefited from a full restoration, leaving it in showroom condition. It wasn't the only GTO Judge Ram Air IV Convertible sold that year either –- another of the 17 sold at the same auction for $572,000, while a third example appeared at auction in May 2023 and sold for $445,500.

Collectors whose budgets don't stretch to seven figures can still get their hands on plenty of very rare Pontiacs, like the 1968 GTO Ram Air II. Just 246 examples were built, with 199 of those featuring a four-speed manual transmission and 47 featuring an automatic. The 1968 model year GTO spent most of its production offering only the original Ram Air package – the Ram Air II was added as an option relatively late into production and not treated as a separate variant by Pontiac. Despite that, it was significantly different to its predecessor, boasting superior performance thanks to a long list of specially developed components.

It was short-lived too, with the Ram Air III introduced in 1969. Despite that, the Ram Air II's performance was considered to be superior to that of the III, at least in the real world. That combination of top-tier performance and extreme rarity has kept values for the '68 GTO Ram Air II high. Hagerty estimates that an example in #3 good condition is worth $86,000, but the most pristine concours-ready examples can stretch well into six figures.

Unlike many of the other muscle cars on this list that were high-priced, high-powered variants that got overlooked by buyers, the Pontiac GTO 455 is a rarity primarily because it was a downgrade from previous model years. Thanks to new regulations and rapidly changing market tastes, Pontiac abandoned its plans to fit the '73 GTO with the newly developed SD-455 engine, instead fitting it with a standard 455. That meant a factory output of 250 horsepower, a far cry from the glory days of a few years prior when the most potent cars boasted outputs topping 400 horses.

The Trans Am of the same year did receive the SD-455 engine, albeit in slightly neutered form, but the GTO had to make do without it. The GTO wasn't slow –- at least, not compared to the cars that would be unveiled later in the decade – but since few buyers were willing to pay up for a car that was less potent than previous model years, it was a sales failure. Only 544 examples were built with the 455 engine, while 4,262 examples with the base-spec 400 engine found homes with buyers. While there's little reliable data available for 455 values, Hagerty estimates the base-spec '73 GTO 400 to be worth $11,900 in #3 good condition.

[Featured image by Greg Gjerdingen via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY 2.0]

Much like the previous 1970 model year, the 1971 Pontiac GTO Judge Convertible is both extremely rare and highly prized among collectors. A mere 17 examples were built, all of which featured the Ram Air IV engine package and boasted styling tweaks to differentiate them from the previous model year. The 1971 model was the final Judge model year, with low demand from buyers and incoming stricter regulations leaving Pontiac with little choice but to ax it.

It was already slightly diminished even before it was axed, with engine output reduced to 335 horsepower in anticipation of the new regulations. Just 357 examples of the GTO Judge were sold throughout 1971, making it rare both in hardtop and convertible form. It's the latter that's by far the rarest, however, and as a result, it's the most valuable by a significant margin. The most recently sold example crossed the auction block for $440,000 in 2022, according to data from Glenmarch.

The 2004 Pontiac GTO W40 is perhaps the strangest special edition Pontiac muscle car ever made. It was sold for one model year only, during the launch year of the revived GTO, which was a rebadged Australian Holden Monaro. The idea of an Australian GTO was controversial in itself, and despite ample horsepower and an iconic badge, it failed to connect with buyers. It was this slow demand for the car that led Pontiac to half abandon its W40 special edition, which featured a unique paint color, Pulse Red, special gauges, and "GTO" embroidery.

It was designed to commemorate 40 years of the GTO nameplate, but with such weak demand for the car, the decision was made to simply sell it alongside the regular GTO, without any edition-specific marketing. As a result, many of the 794 buyers of the GTO W40 had no idea they were buying a special edition variant – in fact, it's probable that some owners still don't know. As a result, values of the GTO W40 aren't notably higher than the standard car, which is valued by Hagerty at $16,900 in #3 good condition.