Reasonable, Reliable 1970 Pontiac LeMans Sport

PLYMOUTH, CT – Unlike so many classic car owners who pamper their vehicles to excess and restrict their use out of rightful concern over inclement weather and traffic hazards, Keith Barilla of Plymouth has no limitations on how much he drives the 1970 Pontiac LeMans Sport convertible that he bought approximately 17 years ago.

“I’ve had good luck with the car. I’ve put on over 100,000 miles on it since I’ve had it,” he said on a sunny afternoon back in early October. Some 20,000 of those miles have been amassed in the past two years since Barilla got the ragtop’s 350-cubic-inch V8 engine rebuilt.

Barilla has taken the LeMans Sport to a friend’s place near Lake Champlain, twice to Florida, and “a number of times” to the Carolinas. It’s a familiar sight at car shows.  

“Unless you’re a Jay Leno or somebody like that that’s just a car collector, and they’re exquisite and they’re high-end and they’re worth a lot of money, drive ’em,” he advised of owning a classic car. “They’re so much fun to drive.” 

Barilla first spotted the LeMans Sport in an online ad. “I found it in Middletown. It’s a Connecticut car,” he said, reporting that its previous caretaker was a garage owner. 

“He had young children, and I don’t know if he was just flipping it or just couldn’t afford to have it any longer. The wife wanted a convertible – I didn’t care what make it was – and this one was in good shape and it was reasonably priced so we got it.”

It was a fast transaction. “Looked at it. Actually bought it the same day I saw it. It was in his garage. The top was beyond repair. It was just so faded I couldn’t bring it back but it was the same color. It was in very good shape for a Connecticut car. Its been repainted but bodywork, I haven’t done anything major to it.”

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See the 1970 Pontiac LeMans Sport in action on this YouTube video…

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Before getting the Pontiac, Barilla did look at other makes and higher-profile models. “I wasn’t going to go out and spend (an) unreasonable amount of money just to say I had one. This one just came along and, like I said, was reasonably priced, and a lot of people didn’t have Pontiacs.”

The LeMans Sport has an automatic transmission, bucket seats, disc brakes and factory air conditioning. Its original silver exterior color was changed before Barilla acquired it. While he’s unable to provide a name for the current color of the car, he was able to get it repainted the same scheme it was when he got it.

“Except for the reupholstering of the bucket seats, the whole interior is original,” he said, noting that the dashboard has held up. “I’m lucky, it’s in good shape.” 

Barilla said his purchase of the LeMans Sport was also a result of midlife crisis that coincided with his getting rid of a motorcycle. “I had to have something to tinker with, so I went into the cars,” he said, reporting that the car is “Dependable. That’s all I care about. I like to drive it. If you don’t go anywhere, it just sits in the garage.”

With the car show calendar packed with hundreds of shows across the state every year, Barilla never has a shortage of destinations. “There was a time I was at a show every night, or a cruise, every night of the week, and whatever show was on on a weekend. I would be almost seven days a week just to get out. And I didn’t care how far away it was because this car is just nice to drive.”

The LeMans Sport is nice to look at, too. “It’s really nice when you drive down the street and a young kid’ll give you the thumbs up because all the new cars, they all look alike, (whereas old cars are) fun to drive. They’ve got appeal. I just say, ‘Drive ’em.’” 

Barilla repeated his “Drive ’em” advice for classic cars owners several times when chatting with RIDE-CT about the LeMans Sport. “It’s like anything else. If you let it sit, it’s either going to rust or the engine isn’t going to run properly. You’ve got to drive them to have them work properly, and they’re just so much fun.”

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He does have one item on his bucket seat list. “I’m hoping one time before they put me six feet under, I’d like to go back to California and take this with me and drive Highway 1 south to north ’cause I did it north to south and they say it’s better if you drive it south to north.” 

However, with the ongoing Los Angeles wildfires stretching just north of Santa Monica to Malibu, this may not be the best year to drive the Pacific Coast Highway. Nonetheless, it’s always good to have a goal. 

(Photos by Bud Wilkinson)