Great Time With The Great One
It's absolutely mind-boggling to attend classic car shows today or read High Performance Pontiac and realize that I owned unquestionably two of the most desirable vehicles of all time. I regrettably no longer own either. I proudly drove a Blue Charcoal '65 GTO convertible from 1965 to 1968. That 389 was the car my wife and I drove from our '67 wedding reception for our honeymoon-with the traditional cans dragging behind (for a very short while). A year later, we traded it in for a Burgundy 1968 Pontiac GTO hardtop, which was ours until 1971.
That '68 beauty featured twin, functional hoodscoops, compared to the single scoop on my '65, allowing ample amounts of necessary air to enter and cool that hot engine beneath. I cleaned and waxed the chrome, which covered that 400ci V-8 every time I polished the car, and that was often. The four-barrel carburetor and Hurst four-speed moved the GTO quickly and effortlessly.
The coke-bottle-shaped body by Fisher was fronted by the newly introduced, style-setting, widely acclaimed Endura bumper-no chrome up front at last. When the retractable headlights were hidden, the famous Pontiac split grille was especially clean and classy. The appearance of that front end was menacing in anyone's rear-view mirror, but never for long, since those ahead were soon overtaken. Their next sight would be the uncluttered rear end of my Goat, with nothing on the trunk but a keyhole and those famous three letters.
The sound from that engine was as sweet as any I've ever heard, even at idle. The '68 GTO was one of the few cars I've seen, which looked like it was moving when it wasn't. This Motor Trend "Car of the Year" '68 was a real treat to the eyes and felt great under the gas pedal, too.
Our son was born in 1968, so he rode with my wife, me, and the Goat for three enjoyable years. Prior to our daughter's birth in 1972, we anticipated the need for more room, and traded the muscle of the GTO for the roominess of a '71 Catalina hardtop. The buyer was in the dealership waiting for us to bring in our trade. He didn't even want it to be detailed or serviced. He just wanted to take it on the road.
If I could have stopped myself in 1971, I would have parked that '68 in the garage and had a treasure that I would have enjoyed to this very day. If only ...
Ron SturgaM
Edinboro, PA
Where To Stick It?
I just finished reading the article "One Owner Wonder Goat" (Dec. '09) depicting the Concours Gold, 400 H.O., four-speed GTO. I noticed the position of the fan decal. Shouldn't it be positioned on the fan guard?
Thanks,
Tony Centrella
Via Internet
Car-owner Sam Williford responds:
When the Chevrolet dealership painted the car and did some of the minor body work, as a freebie they shot the black in the engine compartment. We hadn't taken pictures of the engine compartment, and neither my dad nor I could remember what everything looked like. Per Bob Immekus, a GTOAA judges who also owns a low-mile, unrestored '66 GTO, the fan decal could be placed on the fan shroud or on the panel where I have it. I have never had any points deducted regarding its location.
Some people have questioned the black firewall line, including one of the GTOAA judges, asking why the black does not stop at the sealer line like the ones in the vintage magazines. At that time, most all cars in the magazines were Pontiac, Michigan-built cars. My car was built in Kansas City, Missouri. Per Bob, the paint line goes almost to the top. Different plants did things differently and may also have put the stickers in alternate locations [than the Pontiac, Michigan, factory]. That may be why the GTOAA allows the stickers to go in other locations.