Lime Kiss Green: 1971 Pontiac GTO 455HO

Can you sell a car on eBay without posting a full exterior picture? Well apparently, this seller is trying. The best exterior picture I could find is a post of the magazine article that featured this car many years ago. This 1971 Pontiac GTO is listed here on eBay. It is located in Goderich, Ontario, Canada. The seller has priced the car at $68,365 Canadian or approximately $48,000 US. The ad has the option for the buyer to make an offer. The GTO is painted a unique Code 42 Limed Kiss Green. The seller states the car is an authentic code 242 GTO but the original 400 cubic inch engine has been replaced with a more powerful 455HO motor.

Finding any 1971-1972 GTOs is usually a challenge, but this one has been restored to a high standard back in 2011. For 1971, total GTO production plummeted to just 10,532 units for the year from over 40,149 the year before. The vast majority of these were Hardtop Coupes (9,497 units). When you subtract the ultra-rare “The Judge” hardtops (only 357 built), only 9,140 base hardtop models like the one featured on eBay were ever produced. The Code 266 Jade interior looks flawless. Several of the features of this car are not original but they are tastefully done and how most of us would have ordered the car. Pontiac offered 15 stunning exterior colors for 1971, including Lucerne Blue, Laurentian Green, Castillian Bronze, Quetzal Gold, and the striking Nordic Silver. Inside, buyers could spec their cabins in high-grade vinyl upholstery colored in Black, Ivory, Sienna, Jade, Dark Blue, or Sandalwood.

The 1971 model year represented a subtle styling change and a major engineering shift for Pontiac. To accommodate General Motors’ new corporate mandate that all engines must run on lower-octane, unleaded fuel, compression ratios across the board were drastically reduced. Though compression ratios fell in 1971, performance was still very much on the menu. The standard engine was the base 400 cubic inch V8, rated at a respectable 300 gross horsepower. Buyers seeking more displacement could upgrade to the optional L75 455 cubic inch V8 pushing out 325 horsepower. The undisputed king of the lineup, however, was the round-port LS5 455 cubic inch High Output (455HO) V8, which churned out 335 gross horsepower and a massive 480 lb-ft of torque. As mentioned, the seller has upgraded the engine in this car to the 455HO engine.

Visually, the GTO received a bold, refreshed front fascia. Engineers integrated closely set dual headlights and a pair of massive, deeply recessed wire-mesh grilles into the legendary body-colored Endura bumper. Most notably, the hood featured two aggressive nostrils positioned directly on the front edge of the nose to force cool air into the engine bay. It was the last year the GTO would exist as its own distinct, standalone series (Series 242) before being downgraded to an optional trim package on the LeMans in 1972.