For most of its 11-year history, the Pontiac GTO was built on General Motors’ mid-size A-body platform. 1974 was the exception when it shifted to the compact X-body (Ventura). One of the rarest A-body model years was the 1972 GTO, as fewer than 6,000 were produced when the genre began to die off. The seller’s car is one of them and should be great for Cars & Coffee outings if perfection isn’t required. Located in Newton, New Hampshire, this Pontiac has had some refreshing done and is ready to rumble. Available here on eBay, the current bid is $12,601 (unmet reserve) with a Buy It Now set at $28,500.
After record sales of 97,000 copies in 1966 (the first year as a separate series), annual output declined almost every year thereafter. The car reverted to option status in 1972 and only found 5,800 takers. Of those, 84% were equipped with the 400 cubic inch V8, leaving the 455 to the really ambitious. Rising insurance premiums had scared off buyers, and engine detuning was in full swing to placate the tree huggers. Also, in 1972, output was now measured in SAE net terms, which made the big V8s appear to be less potent.
The seller bought this somewhat rare GOAT three years ago to return it to daily driver status at 90,000 miles. We’re told it’s a solid runner that will have a rebuilt carburetor by the time the buyer comes to fetch it home. The rear suspension has been updated and now sports airbags. Other work is said to have been done, but you’ll have to consult the seller for details.
A repaint in the car’s Wilderness Green has been done, and the lighter green interior is tidy and is one of the few occasions you don’t see one of these early 1970s GTOs without bucket seats (the GTO was a LeMans option package, and a bench was standard). The undercarriage has been repainted and looks good, showing off a new exhaust system. Don’t expect a title, as NH doesn’t do them on cars this old. The sale will include PHS documents.
Bet this column shifted Hydramatic and 400-4 GTO moves along just fine. Thanks Dixon.
Not liking the rough texture of every metal component under the car. Granted, I’m from the west coast and cars from that era were rarely undercoated. Over the years me and some friends sold a lot of OE suspension pieces to people back east for their restorations. Potential buyers would be wise to check this car out in person prior to purchase.
Steve R
I don’t think that’s undercoating. You can see muffler tape on the exhaust pipes, and texture on everything in the engine bay, including the valve covers. It appears this entire car had a thick layer of surface rust, maybe more, and the ownere spent his entire 3 years of ownership painting over it on every surface. Didn’t even clean it up first.
“tree huggers”, WTF?
Tree huggers?? I resemble that remark.
How many bench seat / column automatic ’72 GTOs do you think were made?
I’m guessing very few, but really have no idea.
Tree hugger is a nice term for people who hate to see a gallon of premium burnt up
Dad told me that a real tree hunger rides a bicycle with a marshmallow chain.
Nice GOAT.
When working at a Pontiac store in 1972. I finally was granted a demo. 1972 GTO 455 4 speed! Red with black interior. It was a great car. Unfortunately I only had it for a short time before it was sold. I would love to have a ’72 GTO. But I just don’t see it in my future. A buddy and myself flipped GTOs that had issues. Most were 1966 to 1969 models. We flipped about 10 but never kept one.
Maybe the reason GTO sales kept declining year after year was because they really weren’t very good cars? I’m not talking about performance but things like build quality. If parts keep failing it tends to sour the ownership experience. My only experience was a 64 Grand Prix. Loved it but had a lot of problems.
Performance cars, and muscle cars in particular, had declining sales as the ’60’s moved into the ’70’s and many of the muscle cars of the era were “drove hard and put away wet” as the saying goes. I owned a ’66 GTO in the early ’70’s and I can’t say that it was driven gently. Also, gas prices were rising, culminating in the gas crisis that got into full swing the following year. In terms of build quality, the late 60’s early 70’s could hardly be described as paradigms of build quality for any American car manufacturer.
Column shift , bench seat AND no title . Pass.
The auction ended 9/11/2025 with a high bid of $21,000, did not meet reserve.
Steve R