Get out the buffing wheel and before you know it.. er.. um.. Well, actually this 1974 Pontiac GTO hopefully isn’t as rough as it looks in the photos – both photos, as in there are only two photos in the Craigslist ad. The seller says that the first $5,500 takes it. It’s located in Wildwood, Florida. Thanks to Patrick S. for submitting this GTO!
This was a one-year only car and there will be those who think that’s one year too many – “Should’a been a none-year-only car..”, etc. You already know that I like these GTOs, maybe because they’re unusual and rarely seen anymore. Or, maybe it’s because I was starting to drive in this era – yeah, at age 12, or I guess age 11 at this point in 1974 – and these cars bring back memories. The GTO came back for the 1974 model year based on the Ventura and it gave Pontiac a car to battle with the Hornet X and Maverick Grabber. I know, the sacred memories of Pontiac’s GTO as a Ventura with basically a graphics and hood scoop package. Still, it was cool for the time when there wasn’t a lot of cool going around.
This is it for photos. That’s not a lot of effort for someone to put forth who is trying to sell what looks like a car in need of a lot of work to just show two incomplete, partial photos. I do not understand humans in general and things like this just solidifies that feeling for me. Here is their entire listing: “Pontiac gto forsale it belongs to my grandfather,in fair condition the first 5500 or best offer takes it”. NADA’s low retail value is $7,800 so maybe this one is worth a gamble sight unseen? Of course shipping is more expensive for non-running cars and we don’t know if this one runs or not, or has working brakes, etc. I sure like the look and the color of this car but a full restoration is probably in order.
The 1974 GTO was a $461 package on the Ventura and unfortunately this car has the optional three-speed turbo hydra-matic transmission. There is no word on whether it has power steering or brakes or how the interior is or if it runs or is rusty underneath or is housing a family of alligators or what. The engine has to be a 350 V8 with a 4-barrel and 200 hp if it’s stock. Is this a hatchback GTO or a two-door sedan GTO? Is there enough info here to make a decision on this GTO or have you already made a decision on the 1974 GTOs?
You can make these cars handle pretty well, and the Pontiac 350 is the same external size as the 400. So it’s not that far from being a real car, if you’re willing to spend some money and time.
actually the engine in mine froze and busted. A friend had one his brother had bought unknown anything about it. I installed it . It ran like a scalded dog. It was a 455 4 barrel .fit right up
There was one of these at the World of Wheels in Kansas City this year, it was immaculate, have a picture if I can find it. I like the Ventura and with the GTO badging and scoop it gave it some muscle looks. In those days this was about the best you could get for the money. Not a tire shredder but the looks to pick up chicks.
Sorry to everyone but I need to have a rant about this one. Why do people feel that showing a dirty car will sell it. The grandchild is selling it for their grandfather who probably bought it new and took good care of it. In all likelihood he will get paid to sell it. No effort was put into it to help the grandfather maximize the potential sale price, JUST PLAIN LAZY!!!!
Take some time clean it up and make it shine. Show some decent pics of the whole car and provide a good description. You would be amazed how this helps.
It’s a sad day when grandkids won’t put an effort into helping out their grandparents. I get this impression this was too much trouble.
There I am now done. Hope everyone has a great day.
If it had been for my grandpa, not only would I have gotten it cleaned up and as presentable as possible, but when he offered me money for getting it sold, I would refuse, maybe just say he could take me to a ball game or something.
Then again, if this had been my grandpa’s car, I would want it for myself, fix it up and hopefully get to take him out in it while he is still here, and then drive it and remember him once he was gone. I inherited my grandma’s owned-since-new ’66 Mustang in 1994 and I could never sell it.
$5000 seems a tad optimistic when there are Corvettes and stunning K-cars available for the same money.
I call dibs on the omni!
A good friend in HS had a 74 coupe in white, was a lot of fun, and yes the girls loved it.
Believe it or not, Pontiac actually moved 7058 of these pretenders this year.
Not a pretender, a real GTO. A pretender is when someone takes an originally six cylinder automatic and once they are done with it parade it around as a big block with a manual transmission car.
IMHO the X-body ’74 Ventura GTO was in many ways a return to the roots of the ’64 Tempest LeMans GTO. The problem was the engine. Why use the Pontiac 350 when the identically sized 400 and 455s would work? Even with the lower power numbers of the 1974 engines, the 1974 Pontiac 400 and 455 motors would have given this car performance comparable to the 1964 GTO(and I’m not even including the SD-455 in that, though that would have been quite a ride). It isn’t like the chassis couldn’t handle it, as Chevy had been dropping 396/375 engines in their X-body chassis(Nova), and others had dropped in even more powerful motors, though I’m sure a 427/435 Yenko ’69 Nova is a handful.
I actually wish the GTO had moved to the X-body earlier and never been on the heavy Collonade-style A-body that debuted for 1973 and had originally been meant to be for the 1972 model year but got delayed due to a GM strike. I know Pontiac had a Ventura with a 455 HO motor that it was testing and supposedly it was a beast. If that had gone into production when the Ventura came out midway through the ’71 model year, or even for 1972, that would have been a renaissance for the GTO, which may have carried it through the years of X-body Ventura/Phoenix production. If they had gone to the X-body earlier, the first muscle car might have also lasted to be the last, ending with the last holdover Pontiac 400s along with the Trans Am for 1979.
I like your train of thought on the smaller Ventura with a large displacement engine, after all that was the whole point of the original GTO-mildly tuned big car engine in a lighter weight intermediate despite breaking GM’s 330 cubic inch limit rule at the time. Hard to say if these would have sold any better with 400 or 455 cubic inch engines in ’74, it was decals and tape stripes that moved cars off the lot by then, not brute force. Interesting car.
I think brute force was still a big factor. It’s just that the brute force of the engine was not nearly as powerful as the brute force of the insurance bill.
I was around back then and in the market. You had to be there to understand how grim the entire national outlook was then. Neat tho an uber-goat X body might’ve been they would have been as sale-proof as the 71 Judge.
You got a remember back then insurance played a big part in regulating the automobile business that’s why they shrunk the GTO and put a smaller V-8 in it it was the last of the muscle cars
While I am not a big fan of the ’74 GTO, at least Pontiac designed it more or less with the same general body lines of the ’74 Chevy Nova. If this one had the factory 4-speed, it would probably draw more interest.
Yeah. It might be worth $10,000 then. After all, it’s a 1974 GTO, built during the Golden Age of GM Performance and Quality!
I would do it if I had the funds.
GM drove the Pontiac into extinction. Pontiac outshined the GM equivalent in looks,but were constricted to outperform. GM got rid of their own to stay alive,but with that they saved the a Buick,which is no more than a cheaper version of the Cadillac,yippy. Though the Pontiac and Old’s are gone,I’d like to see a Buick tear the Camaro up, Grand National style.
I’m no car expert my any means and I’ve never posted a comment. Ok I do believe the Pontiac 350 and above were all the same block size. I have a 77 Grand Prix that I purchased from the original owner about 20 years ago. The car came with a 350. I had the engine replaced with a ‘70 455. The car still has the stock trans a turbo 400 that was gone through.
FYI 1977 was the last model year for the Pontiac 350. It was also the calendar year that the last 400s were cast. They were used throughout the 1978 model year and the final ones were held over for use in the Trans Am during the first part of the 1979 model year.
Thank you for the info.
What Steven said…..and I like this Nova bodied goat…..after all….everyone came after the original….
There is a good video here if you are interested in the ‘74 Goats
https://bangshift.com/general-news/videos/this-promotional-film-for-the-1974-pontiac-gto-is-retro-cool-but-still-highlights-the-lameness-of-the-car/
Found another in the Los Angeles craigslist , red with white interior ,manual trans
he wants $6500 . Folks am I missing something here. Seems like way too much money for these.
People.were still smarting from gas shortage year and manufacturers scrambling to meet pollution restrictions and CAFE requirements while still trying to build appealing cars for the younger generation. Oh how quickly we forget.
I love when people say it was a one year only car. They were all one year only cars. Very distinct differences between each year model
of course we have to guess whether or not it runs , it surely hasn’t been babied if it is rust free, or very little rust it ” may” be a go .. back then I really don’t remember if I was too crazy about it, but today, I would want it a crate 350 would be perfect for it Have to go with the others about a 4 speed, but, most likely it is an automatic offer $4G.. and go from there
I think that the GTO became irrelevant as a performance car after 1967. The Firebird was lighter, better handling, and faster by 1968 with the RAII engine.
So if you like the 74 enjoy it,
I’ll vote for a family of alligators living under/in the car.
Call me crazy, as well, but I loved the 1974 GTO when I first noticed them on the streets of Los Angeles back in the 1980’s. I had a 1970 GTO as a driver, but loved the smaller, Nova-like, Ventura body style, and still do.
This one possesses too many mysteries to purchase, at least for me. I hope some kind soul brings this cool Pontiac back to life.
There is no such thing as “small” block or “big” block engine in a Pontiac. Pontiac basically had one block for all V8 engine displacements from the time the V8 was introduced in “55. The basic design was unaltered for 21 years, until the engines were discontinued. An initial design decision left space between the cylinders for future bore increases. The ’64 GTO did violate the GM corporate limit of 330 cid in A-Body cars. Since the 326 block was the same size as the 389 block, the 389 basically bolted right in. GM corporate reviewed engine sizes in models, but not option packages. The 64′ GTO was an option package that included the 389 cid engine. By the time GM corporate figured out what was going on the GTO was a hit and they couldn’t kill it. It took the other GM divisions longer to offer a muscle car because those divisions did use “small” block and “big” block engines. The other divisions had more engineering to do before the big blocks would fit in the A-Body cars. In ’65, the GTO continued as an option. The VIN of a ’64 or ’65 GTO does not identify the cars as a GTO. If you are buying a ’64 or ’65 “GTO”, you need to review the build sheet to determine if the car left the factory as a GTO. In ’66, the GTO became a separate model and the VIN identifies the car as a GTO. The GTO model was discontinued in the early ’70s, reverting to an option. Since the blocks all look the same visually, Jim Wangers put a 421 cid engine in the red ’64 GTO tested by Car and Driver magazine in ’64. That article really helped launch the GTO.
Also the first 326 was more like 336 cubic inches. And if you want to find out if a 64 and 65 or the 72 73 and 74 GTOs are really GTOs you should order PHS documents at PHS-ONLINE.COM
Friend of mine had a 74 that had a RA4 in it. Shaker scoop had actuater that would flip open the doors at full throttle. He installed a red lite inside the scoop so it would show up.
I pray someone can take her and bring her back to life. This was my boyfriends car that he sold shortly prior to passing from cancer. Love to see her restored back to her ol self again.
Is this a trunk car or a hatchback car ? I own 1 of each but I think the hatchback car is probably much more RARE as a base model, instead of the Custom optioned car. I have a base model, which I think is less than a couple hundred, although I can’t say positively. My vin is 2Y17B4L______. I .have had it since 1975
Compare this monstrosity next to the 1965 GTO for a reality refresher!
I was lucky enough to buy a 1974 GTO rightmy off the transport truck by luck I had already started negotiating to buy another car but when I got to the dealership they had already sold it. I was standing there mad as h—l when the transport truck drove up with this beautiful it was the white with the red and blue stripes and red interior, automatic GTO. Bought it right off the transport truck one of the best things that happened in my life 20 years old and a new GTO had girls lined up it was a chick magnet and you believe me i took advantage of it.