This 1968 Pontiac GTO is a barn find that comes with an air of mystery. The seller provides limited details for prospective buyers, but he does offer the option of tackling any project build on the new owner’s behalf. That is an intriguing prospect, but it hasn’t resulted in a bidding frenzy on this desirable classic. The GTO is located in Delray Beach, Florida, and is listed for sale here on eBay. The owner has set the auction to open at $15,000, but there have been no bids submitted at the time of writing. The owner has also set a BIN option of $30,000 for any prospective buyers who wish to bypass the auction process.
The owner of this GTO is not what I would call a particularly chatty individual. His description of what is a desirable classic runs to precisely five words. That means that we need to rely on the supplied photos to determine what is on offer with this vehicle. The first thing to note is that the Blue paint that the Pontiac wears isn’t original. The Trim Tag indicates that the GTO rolled off the production line wearing Nightshade Green Poly paint. The buyer will undoubtedly treat the car to a repaint, but they will need to decide whether to apply another blue coat or return the vehicle to its original color. Visible rust does not appear to be a significant issue. There are a couple of small spots in the lower door corners and lower front fenders, but their size suggests that simple patches would take care of them. Beyond that, it is a case of your guess being as good as mine. The owner supplies no underside photos or any information on the state of the floors and frame. Most of the trim looks like it could be used if the buyer is pursuing a driver-quality build, while I can’t spot any problems with the glass.
The Pontiac’s interior is trimmed in Parchment vinyl, and it looks pretty respectable for a survivor-grade car. It is not perfect, but I would treat it all to a deep clean before I spent any money on it. There are some seam separations on the driver’s seat, and the plastic on the seatbacks has started to deteriorate. However, the back seat, console, headliner, dash, and dash pad look like they would present well with some concentrated cleaning. The original owner didn’t load the interior with luxury features, although he did choose air conditioning, a pushbutton AM radio, and a remote driver’s mirror.
The owner provides no photos or information on the GTO’s drivetrain beyond it featuring a 400ci V8 and an automatic transmission. Buyers faced a choice of several versions of the 400 when they ordered their GTO, so the power output could be anywhere from 265hp through to 360hp. The transmission will be a 3-speed Hydramatic, but it isn’t clear whether the original owner ticked the box beside options like power steering. The GTO was found hidden in a barn, but once again, we know little about this. It isn’t clear when it was found, how long it had been sitting, whether the vehicle runs or drives, or even whether the engine turns freely. Sadly, your guess is as good as mine on this one.
If taken purely at face value, this 1968 Pontiac GTO seems to offer some promise as a project car. The listing is pretty ordinary, at best. It raises more questions than it answers and leaves us begging for more. This problem isn’t isolated because when I searched for the vehicle on the owner’s business website, he provided exactly the same amount of information. You would have to hope that he is willing to answer any questions by interested potential buyers because there are sure to be plenty. I think that the seller has done himself an enormous dis-service with his listing, and it doesn’t surprise me that there have been no bids submitted. Would you pursue it further, or does it all seem to be too hard?
Seems like the seller is a business advertising the car to be built to the customers specs and budget.
Better drop it to $10,000 and be happy.
When a dealer creates such a lousy ad, by taking pictures which don’t show details of areas potential buyers are interested in and writes a description that is basically useless there is a reason there is little interest in the car. Over the last 90 days, they have had a total of 94 listings on eBay end, with a grand total of 6 sales, that suggests something is amiss.
Steve R
What could possibly go wrong with that arrangement??!.. I am sorry seller but I would need a lot of seeing your “other projects” and some financial assurances before I would want to step into that one.
So few words in any seller’s description can mean anything, so caveat emptor.
He/she probably doesn’t want to be held to their word should they describe any aspect of the car, so they don’t. They also have set horribly high starting and BIN prices that will chase away prospects in droves. This will never be a $100K car restored, but It could be to get it restored. Looks solid, but that just based on the few photos. Interior will never come back ‘parchment’, so figure minimum front seat covers needed because they will never clean to any acceptable standard.
No engine pictures, that a warning sign !
1969 seats in a 68
Rubber beak!
(Enduro bumper.)
To use a phrase I’ve seen here before; hard pass.
Considering this was a completely brand new body style for ’68, it’s odd it would have front vent windows in the doors, while the 2 yr old ’68 Firebird & ’68 Grand Prix body styles would lose them.
The GM A-body cars kept the vent windows through 1968 model year. The station wagons and El Camino also retained the vent windows until 1972. This car is missing its stainless drip rail molding, probably damaged during removal when the ivory vinyl top was removed.
Head rests were optional in ’67 & ’68. the seats appear to have the right pattern for ’68.