Here is a hint from Captain Obvious: If you are selling a 40 year old car on eBay, include pictures of the engine and interior. It may also be a good idea to take off the tow strap before taking the exterior pictures! Today, we have a 1974 Pontiac GTO located in Tacoma Washington. The owner states that he bought the car in 1978 and, with 140,000 miles, it appears as if he has basically run the wheels off of it. He has it listed here on eBay for an outrageous price of $15,000. As you can imagine, it has not sold and has 1 day left in the auction.
The seller has kindly posted some pictures of what the car looked like back in the day. Unfortunately, that is not very helpful for determining the current condition. The exterior appears to be a beige or tan color with a brown interior. For the last year of Pontiac powered production, the 1974 Pontiac GTO was based on the X body Ventura and was a one year only body style. The 1974 GTO came with a Pontiac L76 350 cubic inch V8 and it was the first year that no other engine option was available. This one sends power to the driveshaft via a M20 4-speed manual transmission.
A cool feature for the 1974 GTO was that the four-barrel engine breathed through a functional shaker scoop. The scoop used a solenoid-operated air valve to allow the intake of cold air when accelerating. The actuation system allowed the flapper to become operational after the coolant temperature exceeded 140 degrees. Only the 1970-1972 Trans Am had functional shaker scoops prior to this. The Pontiac 350 cubic inch produced 200 horsepower at 4,400 rpm and 295 lb-ft of torque at 2,800 rpm.
The seller states that this is one of the rarest optioned GTO’s ever made. That may be because it was one of the least popular body styles but over 7,000 GTO’s were built in 1974. In 1973, only 4,800 GTO’s were built and, in 1972, the number was close to 5,800. So, what do you think of this little GTO? Am I too cynical or is it worth $15,000 in its unrestored condition.
This appears to be a base model with few options. If it were not for the GTO decals and shaker hood, it could taken for a strippo Ventura from the side. Unknown mechanical/interior condition equals NO SALE (IMO). I’m sure that there are more/better examples of these out there, and the 15K asking price would be a BIG down payment on one of them!
$15K? I guess if you’re gonna dream, dream big!
Well he is dreaming very big. Not a popular year. Never sell at that price. Remove a zero ??? (1500.00) maybe. He can keep it.
Hagerty values a 1974 GTO at $6300 in #4 condition, and that’s a generous assessment for this particular example.
I think the performance strap tied to the front end is worth at least $5000.
That air craft tie down is the heart ❤️ of power utilized to move this beast .
I love how everyone thinks their non running car is the next best thing to the rare Bullet mustang 😂
I love the hate to let it go story as it sits outside in the outside elements. I suggest taking it in the garage and start getting it running (fix the brakes, fuel system, flush fluids and subtract 8 to 10 grand from price 👍
Good luck on the sale and throw out those Toney Robinson sales cassettes and quit watching Mecum auctions as they are not helping this listing.
Everyone always bags Mecum and Barrett Jackson. If you ever decided to attend one, you’d find that the prices vs the quality of cars is generally cheaper than most on craigslist and/or ebay. As an example, a gorgeous 73 gto 4 speed numbers matching just sold on Saturday for 18k before premium. This car is way overpriced. 73’s and 74’s are usually close in price as they are both fairly undesireable. I love em both
This car has been in storage for over 25 years. I needed top move it from the storage garage it was in because the business was closing. The car was brought home via a flat-bed truck. The tow strap was simply used to move it around my driveway area. I have a rather large parking area at my home and it made it easier to get it where I wanted it. I was advised to price it by a trusted Pontiac enthusiast I received dozens of bids and interest on the auction. Its easy to sit and criticize from the couch -why not be positive and provide constructive support, instead of really stupid comments
Reading the comments, I think they are honest opinions, just not all as positive as you would like. Maybe instead of whining about the comments YOU can provide something constructive, like a realistic asking price. Don’t base your price on what a perfectly restored one would bring at Barrett Jackson, but rather what one is worth in the real world!
Now that weed is legal here in Illinois, I’d like the seller to send me some of what HE has!
What makes this car rare is the hatchback & 4 speed.
Also the ass-king price…
And just how was it towed? Did they knock the fence down and put it back up?
Ya that’s a $5000 car
Do you think there is the chance he is off on the decimal and it should have been $1,500.00??
Cool car but lack of info, lack of HP, high mileage and lack of care by one or both of the 2 owners really hurt this car. 1974 = DEATH to the muscle car Year #1.
$5K is being generous. I bet when you see the undercarriage and interior that $5K though will quickly decrease.
I think 5K is generous as well. I’m just thinking of all the work this thing would need. How much is one of these worth mint? 15k? 20k? I’d guess more towards 15k.
“Wasn’t Grandpa handsome and fit, back in the day? How about a date?”
One year and one Ventura upgrade from being the vehicle Roy Scheider nearly gets scalped in, in the excellent The Seven-Ups.
I don’t even consider this car to be a GTO. It’s a Nova with some GTO trim/emblems. The pathetic powertrain probably needs a re-build, the interior is certainly trashed, and rust is probably in more than a few places. The interior and exterior colors are the bottom of the barrel, too. If it wasn’t for the shaker hood scoop and the 4-speed, this would be a $1,500 car. As it is, it’s maybe a $2,500 car and that’s only if someone wants a “pretend” GTO.
So based on what you’re saying, since the GTO was just an option in ’64-’65 and ’72-’73, those are also “pretend” GTO’s.
The ’64-’65 GTO was a true performance car and looked the part. The ’72 model at least looked like a GTO while the ’73 was a gussied-up LeMans. The ’74 model was basically a Nova, not a GTO and was a cheap attempt by GM to cash in on the GTO name. The whole point of the GTO was performance which was sadly lacking in ’73 and ’74. The ’73 model GTO sold a paltry 4,806 cars while the ’74 model sold only 7,058.Those numbers tell you that buyers weren’t willing to pay more money for a car that didn’t look or perform like the GTOs they were used to. That’s why the GTO disappeared after ’74.
It’s more like a Ventura than a Nova. And the Ventura X body was butt fugly like a Pacer or Gremlin IMHO.
69 GTO was okay because of Two Lane Blacktop.
Bob
The movie “Two Lane Blacktop” featured a 1970 GTO Judge!
Dontcha just hate lazy azz..greedy azz people
Like they say, there is a butt for every seat! If he can get $15K, all the more power for him.
For a car with so many memories and was loved so much, I wonder how it ended up in such bad condition. If I loved a car that much I think it would at least keep it running…..
He sure got everyone’s attention with the add though!
Guess a car is worth what any one will pay
As far a GTO IGA has thé options that make it a GTO just like all the others. It’s all in the eye of the beholder.
Sometimes age and wisdom are not correlated. See this Ebay listing linked above.
My son had one, only the Ventura model (auto). Heavier than a Nova, had the Pontiac 350 in it. That car used so much gas, my son got out of the car, and looked under it thinking there was a hole in the tank. Very little performance, but it looked very nice. This one tops is 5K, after a look see……
Sale ended with zero bids! Surprise Surprise.
My first true hot rod experience was a 1972 Oldsmobile Omega (same body style as this, but mine was not a hatchback). I pulled out the wonderful and reliable Oldsmobile 350 and shoehorned an Olds 455 in it’s place. It was fast, but looking back I could have built up the 350 for more power and kept the A/C I had to remove to get the 455 to fit. I still have a soft spot for this body style but this seller is dreaming…big.
Pontiac called it a GTO, so it’s a GTO. I doubt if they would have sold very many but a 455, possibly a Super Duty, would have made for one interesting ride. I always say that about these! I must be a moron!
His Apartment mgmt company is putting the squeeze on him, But as he says, having a hard time letting it go, (1/2 joking) Clearly as at that price he is going to own it for the indertiment future.
I agree its a terrible listing, But it IS a cool car! Muncie 4 speed and breath on the motor or I like the idea of the 455 except the fuel mileage (I Had a 455 back in the 80s and couldnt afford the gas, sold it to a buddy for his Trans Am).
But you guys are right, Its a rebadged Ventura,, I had a 72 Rally Nova and potent platform for hot rodding but this one is past its freshness date.
If the tow strap and snow shovel are included, why not show them in the photos?
$500 dollar car
Del, did you just come thru a time shift portal from 1985?
$500 car? Priced a Muncie 4 speed lately? Add up shifter, pedals, linkages, bell housing clutch and driveline as well. Swap meets, CL and Ebay thats $1500 + easy never mind the rest of the car.
**Not advocating parting it out by any means, just illustrating what stuff goes for.
To much for the Nova style GTO in piss poor condition!!! People have to understand it’s not a home run if the car is in this condition!!!
Actually I wasn’t expecting any comments. FYI, the price for a fully restored “B- Jackson” version is well over 30k and you see one listed on ebay at this moment.
Not whinning – just don’t get why people have to d-bags and leave negative comments – Keep it to yourself
R, I totally agree. I also would like to sell an overpriced project car needing a lot of work and I only want nice, positive comments. Is it possible for me to also get a participation trophy after the auction closes? Thank you.
It was badly marketed, poor quality pictures and car looked like a heap which is too bad because it has tons of potential but unrealistic asking price and now the owner is being abusive towards commenters? Please fill out the Butt hurt internet edition form to indicate your source of anger. Then please proceed to your safe space while the adults carry on. No surprise why you are not successful in your sale. (At least WASH and detail the damn thing, but clearly off by a decimal point) Get used to looking at it cuz it aint going anywhere.)
I think part of the problem here is the car itself, many just don’t like the ’74 GTO at all regardless of shape, some cars are just prone to more negativity than others. As a Ford guy in the eighties I know a lot about that.
I had one of these when I was 18 in 82
It was red (carousel?) w/red bucket interior. In addition to the functional shaker ,it had the floor shift console with the gauges. Same as in some early camaros and Nova’s.
It had a cool little rectangle tach in the instrument panel where the gas gauge usually was.
Even with the 350 ,when the secondaries and the shaker opened up it sounded like a dragster. It’s why I bought it lol
The 350 cam wore down. It started to backfire and shoot flames out of the shaker
I put in a 71 455 and a rebuilt TH350. It had an open 3.08 rear
Somewhere I found a Holley 500 2bbl and was surprised how good it ran. It really brought out the low end torque
Worst part of the car was those extended bumpers with the flapping rubber strip