29th Annual Pontiac GTOAA International Meet - 2008 GTOAA Nationals

Once a year, Pontiac fans from across the country gather at the GTOAA International Meet to immerse themselves in all things GTO. Whether concours-judged, popular vote, autocross, or drag-racing GTOs are your thing, this year's event offered something for everybody.

The convention was held July 15-19 in Saratoga Springs, New York, at the Saratoga Hilton Hotel and the adjacent Saratoga Springs City Center. Hosted by the Electric City GTOs club, with assistance from the Pioneer Valley GTO club, the event featured more than 200 registered GTOs and approximately 1,000 attendees. The GTOAA meet began on Tuesday, July 15, with registration, tech, and car photography. The Saratoga Auto Museum opened its five-day GTO exhibit to coincide with the meet and two special events: a Saratoga Battlefield Tour and a Dinner Car Cruise to Olde Saratoga Brewery.

On Wednesday, Meguiar's and Scott Tiemann of Supercar Specialties offered informative seminars, letting club members brush up on their detailing and restoration knowledge, while the Ames Performance Reception Buffet that followed let GTO owners get reacquainted. Afterwards, author Paul Zazarine hosted a round-table Q&A, and club members were able to pick up some pointers to use on their projects.

Drag racing started the action on Thursday when a caravan of vintage and modern GTOs travelled to the historic Lebanon Valley Dragway for the Jim Wangers Invitational, presented by Electric City GTOs. Special guests included Milt Schornack and a Royal GTO, Arnie "The Farmer" Beswick, and Dave Anderson and the GeeTo Tiger. Four racing classes-GTO 11.00 or Slower, GTO 10.99 or Faster, Other Pontiacs 11.00 or Slower, Other Pontiacs 10.99 or Faster-allowed participants to compete for trophies as long as they ran traditional Pontiac or corporate engines as originally equipped in their models.

Meanwhile, owners of concours GTOs carefully began positioning their pristine Pontiacs in the climate-controlled Saratoga Springs City Center for public display and points-judging the next day. Approximately 65 concours GTOs participated at a combined value of more than $3 million. The inside venue was ideal for the judges, participants, and spectators, as it allowed everybody to enjoy the GTOs without the 90-plus-degree summer heat.

Friday featured the Pedders USA autocross, where all-year GTOs were invited to participate in the SCCA-sanctioned event. Those who returned from the autocross were surprised to see the parking lot of the Saratoga Hilton filled with 145 GTOs ready to compete for Saturday's popular-vote car show. Seminars for the day included speakers John Sawruk, Jim Wangers/Paul Zazarine, Dennis Kirban/Pete Serio on Hurst history, shifters, and ZDDP oil issues; and Pete Basica on the New-Gen GTO. As the sun went down, club members enjoyed a hotel parking-lot party.

Saturday was sizzling hot, but the crowds braved the heat to get great views of the popular-vote GTOs. The seminars included Merle Greene on the Knafel '66 GTO and Jim Mattison of PHS Automotive. "My presentation on 'The State of the Hobby' was well attended in spite of it being a last-minute addition to the convention schedule," Jim said. "Those who attended were hanging on every word. During the question and answer portion, there were plenty of well-thought-out questions from those who wanted to hear more on this important topic."

An awards banquet and dinner stretched into the late hours of Saturday night. GTOAA club members seemed pleased at the organization and professionalism at this year's event. So was drag racer Arnie Beswick, who told HPP, "The red carpet was laid out everywhere we turned. They went the extra mile to make sure we were taken care of. The quality of the cars was equal to or better than any GTOAA show I've ever been to. The people were so friendly, and the event was very professional. The amount of people who came up to me and thanked me personally for coming to the event was overwhelming. I was surprised at how many people cared enough to thank me for being there. I even received thank-you letters from people in the mail, for autographing their items at the show."

Jim Mattison agreed, saying, "I thought the GTOAA Convention in Saratoga Springs was a huge success. The downtown and surrounding area was spectacular and a very pleasant surprise for all who attended."

The 30th Annual GTOAA International Meet will be held July 7-11, 2009, in Dayton, Ohio, as part of the POCI/GTOAA Co-vention. For further details, visit www.gtoaapocinationals.com.

Want to see more great drag racing action from the GTOAA International Meet? Be sure to visit www.highperformancepontiac.com for more photos.

GTOAA Sponsors
Ames Performance
Chrys Enterprises
Gil's Garage
Golden Corral
Nitemare Performance
Olde Saratoga Brewery
The Paddock
Pedders USA
Performance Years
PPG Paints
Saratoga Autobody Supply
Jim Wangers