The modified 660-cfm Holley...
The modified 660-cfm Holley carburetors are complemented by vintage Mickey Thompson carburetor hats that Nunzi used on the original '64 GTO he raced in A/Modified Production.
Nunzi and son Tony disassembled the GTO and mediablasted its body to bare metal. With the help of Matthew Demma, they repaired all the imperfections. "I wanted the car to look like a vintage hot rod," Nunzi says. "You know, in black primer like the '49 Fords and '50s Pontiacs I used to see in the '60s. I also wanted to take it to shows but didn't want to worry about it getting scratched." Tony assembled a makeshift paint booth in Nunzi's shop where he and Matthew applied several coats of PPG Hot Rod Black--a modern matte finish that replicates the look of vintage black primer.
Once completely painted, the crew reassembled the GTO. With the R/A-VII engine resting between the frame rails, Nunzi installed a 30-pound steel flywheel, a Centerforce Dual Friction clutch and pressure-plate assembly, and a BorgWarner Super T-10 four-speed manual transmission with nickel gears and a 2.88:1 First-gear ratio. Careful attention to detail was the order throughout the entire build.
The Result
When asked about the finished project, Nunzi replies, "It's very different and in my own taste, but I wanted to turn back the clock and make it look like something I'd build if I was an engineer back then. It's exactly what I got with the GTO. My son, Tony, and Matthew worked seven days a week over a two month period just to get it done. Friends like Andy Asaro, Ray Batelli, Bobby Jones, and Kenan Taskent helped, too. I'm very happy with everything."
The cast-aluminum, medium-rise,...
The cast-aluminum, medium-rise, 180-degree intake manifold is an engineering prototype developed specifically for R/A-VII testing and is only one of a few likely ever produced. Nunzi had it in his collection for years. A 60-psi oil pump circulates lubricant, which is filtered using Nunzi's Remote Oil-Filter Relocation kit.
Though Nunzi hasn't measured the R/A-VII's output on a dyno, he estimates somewhere between 635 and 650 hp. "I could have put the engine into any of the cars in my collection, but the GTO seemed the perfect choice. I wanted it to have a manual transmission and that might make it tough to run consistently at the track. I'll probably never make a pass with it, but it sounds great and really runs hard.
Conclusion
This GTO doesn't have a significant historical background as a brass-hat vehicle, nor was it campaigned as a race car by a major dealership, but one pass down the list of optional equipment quickly reveals that its original owner ordered it with the sole intent of maximum performance in mind. The absence of its original drivetrain hasn't kept Nunzi from keeping its performance spirit alive, however. What better way to capture a legendary engine builder's vision of a vintage hot rod than installing experi-mental Engineering components into the Division's flagship vehicle from the performance era? Now that's pure Pontiac history, no matter how you view it!