What possesses someone to keep a Pontiac for 42 years? Robert Williford of Madison, Mississippi, would be the man to ask, since he has done it.
To be fair, how could anyone want to sell a Pontiac like this? Built in November 1966 at the Kansas City plant, Bob's Goat was factory-fitted with the 360-horse, WS-code 400 H.O. engine, an M20 four-speed trans, a 3.55 Safe-T-Track rear, Regimental Red paint, and a Parchment interior. If that's not enough, it's a post car, which also received a Rally gauge cluster; an AM pushbutton radio; a visor vanity mirror; an outside remote-control mirror; custom seatbelts; custom wheel discs; Soft Ray glass-windshield only; and front and rear floor mats.
And get this, there's no power steering or power brakes, and the GTO was bought off the lot, meaning Bob didn't order it this way, the dealer did.
Here is the Protect-o-pla...
Here is the Protect-o-plate.
Life With A GTO
How did it all come to be? Bob recalls, "I'm from a small Mississippi delta town called Greenwood. At the time, I was 25 years old and working in Louisville, Kentucky. When I came home one weekend to visit my parents, Dad and I decided to go look at new cars. A friend had a '66 GTO and I really liked it; the GTO was the really 'hot' car at the time.
"When we arrived at Moore & McDavid Pontiac on January 7, 1967, the dealership didn't have a very large selection of cars to choose from. In fact, it only had one GTO, but it was a beauty. My Dad tried to talk me into buying a four-door LeMans on the lot, which had air conditioning, power steering, power brakes, and so on. I, however, had my mind set on the Regimental Red GTO with the 400 H.O. and four-speed, regardless of the fact that it didn't have air conditioning or any other comfort options."
This is the GTO's first and...
This is the GTO's first and only owner Bob Williford, circa 1967.
List price for his new prize was $3,643.46. The dealer paid him $465.96 for his '57 Chevrolet trade-in and Bob made a down payment of $398. After taxes and fees, the monthly payments came out to $97.66 for 36 months. Bob now owned a very hot GTO.
What's on a young man's mind when he has a new Goat? Speed. Shortly after buying it, Bob moved to Lexington. Out on a double date, he pulled up to a stoplight and a 426 Hemi Mopar was in the next lane. "The driver challenged me to race to the next light," Bob remembers. "I didn't win the race, but I had four people in the car and he was alone. If I had another chance, I'd love to have taken him on again."
This need for speed led Bob to realize that Royal Pontiac wasn't too far from his home, and a Bobcat kit would be just what the doctor ordered to take on a Hemi Mopar or anything else. He planned to drive up for the installation, but then life intervened.
In September 1968, Bob married Ginger, whom he met while in Lexington, and the GTO served as a honeymoon coach to Niagara Falls. Shortly after, "Uncle Sam called up my National Guard unit for a one-year tour of Viet Nam before I could arrange a trip to Royal," he laments. "When I left for Viet Nam, my dad took the GTO back to Greenwood and started it weekly to keep everything operational. Once I came home, my wife and I returned to Mississippi and I began law school. I always regretted not taking the car to Royal Pontiac."
Though Bob really enjoyed his GTO, he did come close to selling it a couple of times. In a weak moment, he walked into a Volkswagon dealer in 1971, contemplating trading in his Regimental Red road machine. Ultimately, he just couldn't justify giving up the GTO for a VW, and having a payment book again on top of it.