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Golden Goat: 1964 Pontiac GTO

In 1963, Pontiac was looking for something exciting to introduce, but was hampered by a corporate GM edict that basically kept small cars (except the Corvette) from having large engines. Pontiac found a loophole in that edict (helped by 5,000 dealer pre-orders before the car was “official”) and introduced the GTO as an “option” on the LeMans platform for 1964. This particular “Golden Goat” that is listed for sale here on eBay is located in Maumee, Ohio. The buy it now is set at a pretty steep $15,000 but the seller is inviting lower offers and appears to be a GTO expert, having restored several.

According to this color chart, the 1964 GTO gold color is “Singapore Gold”, but the seller tells us that the car left the factory in “Yorktown Blue Metallic”. The car does look very straight and the seller maintains it’s one of the best “original” cars they have ever seen. I’m not sure I’d go that far, but it doesn’t look like you would be replacing a lot of sheet metal.

I was a little worried at the lack of trim when I saw the first pictures of the car, but it does appear that everything (or at least most of it) is still with the car. I would rather remove it myself as you can learn about what you have to do for re-installation, but that’s just me being picky.

As with the trim, it’s a little difficult to tell if everything is there or not, but at least the three-speed shifter is present. Of course, you’ll want to reupholster the seats anyway.

One thing I’d like to verify before shelling out this much money is whether or not this is a numbers-matching car. Hopefully someone has purchased the PHS documentation for the car as that should tell all. According to the seller, the engine was rebuilt in the mid 1970s after the car was taken off the road, although I’m sure it will have to be gone through again. Let’s hope it was stored correctly! Tell us, are you interested in this “golden goat”?

Comments

  1. Avatar Ben T. Spanner

    1964 post GTO is my favorite. My Father bought a new 1964 Le Mans convertible in this color. One of my high school classmates had a new Maroon hardtop. He was showing off when leaving a drive in restaurant and spun into a telephone pole. It hit in the left quarter panel so hard that the rear window popped out.

    Like 6
    • Avatar Little_Cars

      My father bought a 64 Tempest sedan in this color, although I seem to recall it was more copper than gold. Lots of great memories focusing on the “V” Pontiac embossed on the seats. I would have been two or three years old when it sat in our driveway.

      Like 2
      • Avatar local_sheriff

        Lucky you – my folks never drove anything near that …

        As for the color you recall it could’ve possibly been the code ‘S’ Saddle Bronze. This and the code ‘T’ Singapore Gold are difficult tell apart judging by pics only, particularly when the paint is dull (or partly coated in primer like here!). My ’64 Bonnie is originally a ‘T’ but I’ve started to suspect the respray it got some years before I bought it has been done in ‘S’

        Like 0
  2. Avatar mk

    I like the comment about the buy it now being steep. if it were a mopar it probably be a steel. NOT!!!!!

    Like 0
  3. Avatar Jimmy

    My first ride in a musclecar ar age 11 was in my mom’s cousin’s new 64 GTO white with red interior, that 4 speed shifter sticking up between the bucket seats and hearing that tiger growl with every shift got me hooked on musclecars and GTOs in particular. Oh how I miss those days of no politics just the sounds of high horsepower engines with awesome exhaust and screeching tires from a stoplight.

    Like 10
  4. Avatar Del Gray

    In my opinion he should dismantle it some more.

    Then double the price

    Like 3
  5. Avatar Charlie

    I would like to talk to someone about this car, cannot find a phone number. Must not want to sell very bad.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Jamie Palmer Staff

      Charlie, you should be able to contact the seller through the eBay listing. I know many folks don’t include their phone number to avoid spamming.

      Like 1
    • Avatar Morgan Winter

      Charlie, the seller contact info is in one of the eBay pics

      Like 0
  6. Avatar Comet

    I wonder why a GTO restoration expert would let this one go?

    Like 3
    • Avatar Del

      Because he suddenly realized that he will never recover his initial investment

      Like 3
  7. Avatar Nick P

    PHS will not tell you if it is a numbers matching car. No numbers to be had in 64 anyways other than the engine date code. It should pre date the car manufacture date by a short time.

    Like 3
    • Avatar Jamie Palmer Staff

      Thanks for the info, Nick P!

      Like 0
  8. Avatar Troy s

    It must of been rough, working at GM in 1963 or so if you were a car guy/gearhead. No more racing projects, or factory backed racing programs, and Pontiac was right in the thick of it too with animals like the full race 421 Super Duty, aluminum fenders and who knows what else. The GTO was a sneaky project, could have cost people their jobs…..thank God they did!! Make her worthy again.

    Like 1
  9. Avatar TimM

    The one that started it all!!! You just got to love this car!! I wish I had 15k laying around!!!

    Like 1
  10. Avatar Jay L

    GTO is credited with being the first muscle car.

    In my opinion it was not.

    The first muscle car was a OHV V8 that first produced one horse power per cubic inch.

    I think it was Chrysler

    Like 0
    • Avatar Troy s

      LolThe phrase “muscle car” is the problem as these were not called that originally. Does any expert out there remember when that term first appeared? I’ll take a guess and say mid eighties, and mainly was aimed at certain ’64-’72 mid sized General Motors cars and of course the Mopars and Fords that tried to copy. It was more than just big cubes under the hood but also with options and a model designation aimed squarely at younger buyers. Supercars, mass produced amped up factory hot rods.
      Another way to look at the GTO, and it’s the best defense I’ve got, is if the car had never been built or had failed to sell. Just think of all the hot cars that never would have existed::442, SS396 Chevelle, Buick GS, Fairlane GT/GTA, Torino GT/Cobra, GTX, R/T Coronet and Charger, can’t leave out the Road Runner, Super Bee, Rebel Machine, SC Rambler, gotta figure the Nova SS, big inch Dart GTS, the pony cars got pumped like the big block Camaros, Trans Ams, all the hot Mustangs plus cars like the Z/28, W-31 Olds Cutlass, AMX… that’s hardly all….all thanks to a heavily marketed Pontiac called a GTO.

      Like 0
    • Avatar TimM

      In my opinion it was the hudson hornet!! But Its a total argument!! Some of my older buddies claim it was the rocket Buick!!!

      Like 0
      • Avatar Charlie

        These other cars were built for transportation and modified for racing. GM built a muscle car for the street scene and sport enthusiasts and mass produced and sold.This was the first muscle car drawn up, engineered and produced for that very reason. Although GM was against it, John Delorian slipped it in under the radar. He was testing it on the streets of Detroit in 1963.

        Like 0
  11. Avatar Charlie

    Yes, but Chrysler was to radical and out of the mainstream at that time. The youth that had Street machines focused on Fords and Chevys and GM. That’s the cars that raced on the Streets of Detroit. Drawings of the airplane and helicopter was found in drawings in the 14th Century. But we cannot honor those people, it’s the Wright Brothers that is recognize for being the leaders in flight. Notice the key word was leaders.

    Like 2

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