1967 Pontiac GTO Hardtop
The Pontiac GTO became known as "The Goat" due to an interpretation of the letters that make up its name. Figuratively speaking, the car's "defiant, stripped-to-the-basics personality" also had a hand in cementing the moniker, according to Edmunds.com. It is speculated that the acronym GTO, which stands for Gran Turismo Omologato, was taken from the Ferrari 250 GTO. American consumers have a history of shortening the names of cars with multiple syllables, and this likely influenced the nickname of this Pontiac brand. "The Goat" is catchy, easy to remember and was essentially born out of convenience.
We often say here at Classic Auto Mall you never know what is going to show up at the door on a daily basis, and when this beauty arrived, we all just smiled, and pushed each other out of the way to do our test track drive! With a complete restoration and engine rebuild in the early 90's it still has its luster, bark and bite of the original version.
Exterior
This writer's favorite version of the venerable GTO, the Pontiac division got it all right this year. Stacked dual headlights framed with pristine mirror-like bezels flank a woven wire chromed grille with signal lights and GTO badging, and a lower bumper with nary a mark or dimple on it. The hood forms the Pontiac "beak" in the center and breaks the grille in half. Looking down the line towards the rear we can see only straight steel, well minded gaps, and miles of Starlite Black paint covering broken up by a lower stainless rocker cover again with the GTO badge up front next to the wheel well. Side view mirrors and door handles as well as glass surrounds add to the shine. A long straight scooped hood backs up to clean glass all around all framed by shiny polished trim. There is a tachometer also rising from the hood facing the driver. Moving to the back a long laser straight trunk lid curves downward to the foursome of horizontal thin rear tail light clusters, and more gorgeous framing of chromed trim and a snappy rear bumper. There are paint jobs and there are PAINT JOBS and this is certainly the latter, just buffed out to a luxurious gleam and smooth as glass all around save for a few areas of chip offs, a few very small rust bubbles and some notable loss of shine behind each of the rear wheels. You've gotta love those flying buttress B pillars that frame the rear glass deep set within them. 14-inch Pontiac Rally 1 wheels are all around and sport some black accenting within the wheel nuts and the machined caps all wrapped in BFG radial T/A's.
Interior
The consignor states you are looking at the original interior and the black vinyl is just beautifully preserved and pristine. The door panels, front buckets, and rear bench are like new. A wood appliqu© covers the center console which races through the front buckets making room for a Hurst manual shifter and goes forward hiding under the original dash. More perfect wood appliqu© for the gauge cluster, and center panel which houses the airflow levers and an aftermarket radio. The gauge bezels have some wear off on the edges. To add more wood, an aftermarket wood rimmed steering wheel fronts the appliqu©. A duo of aftermarket gauges hangs below the dash and provides more driver input as to the vitals of when this car is off and running. Black carpet floods the floors, a crack free padded dash top in black as well as a black headliner floats above all this interior beauty.
Drivetrain
A lift of the hood, and we are being stared at with the steely blue gaze of the restored engine block and intake manifold, and its chromed valve coverings. This not original to the car and is a 1970 400ci V8 pumping out 265hp as per the factory rating. There is a recently rebuilt 4-barrel Holley carburetor on top and a Muncie M20 4-speed manual transmission, circa 1968, bolted to the back. The rear axle codes out at 3.42 and it is a 12 bolt posi version. Headers and a Turbo muffler provides the purr and a beautiful job in this clean engine bay.
Undercarriage
Plenty of surface rust, road dirt and patina under here. It appears all original and unrestored. Some chip off of the rust proofing is noted and the exhaust has surface rust on the pipes. The front suspension is independent coil springs and the rear is a 4 link w coil springs. Drum brakes are on all 4 corners.
Drive-Ability
As mentioned, myself and my decoder/muscle car expert/all around good guy were clamoring to take it for a test and it certainly did not disappoint. This baby lit right up, had an awesome exhaust tune, and ran just fab! It handled nicely, gave great acceleration, and showed good bias free braking. The horn is did not honk, the heater blower did not blow on high and the reverse lights didn't glow.
A true highlight and if you are even a lukewarm fan of the GTO a must see when visiting the ever-changing halls of the expansive and very impressive Classic Auto Mall. A nicely preserved earlier paint job, and a well buttoned up restoration worth its weight in muscle car gold, (although it's Starlite Black!).
242177B122652
2-Pontiac
42-GTO
17-2 Door Hardtop Sport Coupe
7-1967
B-Baltimore, MD Assy Plant
122652-Sequential Unit Number
TRIM TAG
02D-4th Week February
ST 67 24217-1967 GTO 2 Door Hardtop Sport Coupe
BODY BAL4763-Baltimore Body #
TR 224-Parchment Vinyl Buckets
PAINT RR-Montero Red
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special interest automobile showroom, featuring over 850 vehicles for sale with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle barn find collection is on display. This vehicle is located in our showroom in Morgantown, Pennsylvania, conveniently located just 1-hour west of Philadelphia on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The website is www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888) 227-0914. Please contact us anytime for more information or to come see the vehicle in person.
