While buying and tackling a restoration can be an immensely satisfying experience, sometimes, buying a classic that is ready to be driven and enjoyed immediately can still provide a pretty special sort of buzz. That is precisely the experience that would appear to be available to some lucky person, as this 1967 Pontiac GTO Sports Coupe is a car that is ready to roll today. It is a striking looking car that is sure to grab plenty of admiring glances and positive comments wherever it goes. If that sounds like a winning combination to you, then you will find the GTO located in Saint Petersburg, Florida, and listed for sale here on eBay. The auction has been set to open at $25,000, but there have been no bids up to this point.
The presentation of the GTO is pretty impressive, and while I believe that the car has received a repaint at some point, it has been performed in the Pontiac’s original color of Signet Gold Metallic. This has a great shine to it, and while the owner makes no mention of any rust issues with the vehicle, there are no problems in evidence in the good selection of photos that he provides. The Cordova top looks to be close to flawless, while the Soft Ray glass appears to be free of any obvious issues. The external trim and chrome is in good condition, but it looks like the alignment of the front bumper might be out slightly. Still, that’s a pretty easy problem to rectify. The Cravat wheels that the GTO rolls on aren’t original, and it isn’t clear whether the original items are included in the sale. The original Dealer Invoice which is included in the sale indicates that the Pontiac rolled off the line fitted with Deluxe Wheel Discs, so if originality is crucial for the next owner, then they will probably need to source replacements. I did do a bit of research here and had no trouble finding some very nice secondhand sets for around the $120 mark. The correct wheels will set the next owner back a bit more, with a set of four generally fetching around $325.
The GTO is not a numbers-matching car, and there seems to be a bit of confusion on this front from the owner. This begins with the fact that the owner refers to the engine that is fitted to the car as being a 403. To me, that looks like it is a 400ci V8, but maybe it has been bored slightly to produce a capacity of 403 cubic inches. To further add to the confusion, he says that the original engine is included in the sale, but then refers to this as being a 389. This can’t be correct, because, for the 1967 model year, the bore of the 389 was enlarged to 4.12″ to increase the capacity to 400 cubic inches. Regardless of this, the GTO is also fitted with a TH-400 3-speed automatic transmission, power steering, power brakes, and a dual exhaust. The Dealer Invoice doesn’t indicate any upgrades from the base 400 engine, but even so, this still allowed the GTO to punch through the ¼ mile in around 16 seconds. It isn’t clear what upgrades, if any, have been performed to this motor, or why it was slotted into the engine bay to replace the original. What also isn’t clear is just how well the GTO runs and drives.
The interior presentation of the Pontiac is very good, but there are one or two very minor issues that a meticulous owner might choose to address. The car rolled off the line fitted with a push-button radio with an optional rear speaker. The radio is gone, and it isn’t clear whether the speaker is still in place. The carpet is showing some very minor wear and staining on the driver’s side, while the driver’s seat has some stretching of the vinyl and a single mark on the base. In fact, with the carpet and seat issues being so minor, replacing the radio is all that would be required to have the interior looking really good. The inside of the Pontiac also includes some nice extras, including a console with a Hurst “His-N-Hers” shifter, and air conditioning.
If you wander out today looking for a 1967 GTO Sports Coupe and you have less than $30,000 in your pocket, there is a chance that you will find a good car, but you’ll have to look pretty hard to find it. However, add another $10,000 to the pot, and now you have a real chance of securing a very nice car to park in your driveway. From there, values can head into the stratosphere, depending on condition, originality, and exactly what is hiding in the engine bay. I would expect the reserve on this car to be pushing north of that $30,000 mark, but it will be interesting to see if it sells, and if so, just what that final sales figure is.
Favorite Goat ever, the ’67. Years ago, not many looked like this, they were trashed pretty regularly.Great to see one like this again. Now, this or the ’59 VW? See how silly it is?
I have been a gto guy my entire life and have never heard of a sport coupe. The early models had hardtop and post coupe, which this one is not. With everything I know about these cars, I don’t know everything and am open to learn more every day. It was only a few years ago I learned they offered a lesser horsepower 400ci engine in 67. Someone please explain what makes it a sport coupe. Thank you
You are correct, Nick. This is a Hardtop, the most common body style. The others for 1967 were the Convertible and the Coupe(pillar), a style which Pontiac would sometimes term a “Sports Coupe.”
BTW there were 4 engine offerings in the 1967 GTO, standard 400 4-barrel and optional Quadra-Power 400(HO), the Ram Air Quadra-Power 400, and the regukar-fuel economy 400(2-barrel).
I have a 67 GTO that I bought new. It is a “Sports Coupe”. Says so right on the window sticker.
So please explain what defines a sports coupe vs a hardtop or post coupe. Thanks
Pontiac never identified a GTO as a “Post Coupe”. It was a “Sports Coupe”.
Here is a link to a window sticker of a 1967 GTO Sports Coupe like Marty mentioned: http://st.hotrod.com/uploads/sites/21/2014/10/1967-Pontiac-GTO-window-sticker.jpg
This particular car is also a rare Ram Air car.
Note that under “Series & Model” it says 24207, which decodes as 2=Pontiac, 42=GTO and 07=Sports Coupe.
here is a link to a decoder page: http://www.tpocr.com/pontiacvin5.html
BTW there were variations from window stickers to catalogs, etc. as Pontiac would sometimes say “Sports Coupe” or “Sport Coupe” or just “Coupe” with “Sports Coupe” seemingly most common such as here in the 1967 Pontiac Fulll-line brochure: http://oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/Pontiac/1967 Pontiac/1967 Pontiac Full Line Brochure-01/dirindex.html
Notably on the full-size Catalina this style is called a “2-door sedan.” In the 1967 Performance Brochure “Sports Coupe” and “Coupe” are both used: http://oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/Pontiac/1967 Pontiac/1967_Pontiac_Performance_Brochure/dirindex.html
Sorry the little blue thing in the links seems to be causing an issue with the brochure links. Try this one and then click on “1967”
http://oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/Pontiac/dirindex.html
403 Oldsmobile, came in some Pontiacs like the Trans Am, other cars, like twenty years after this goat was built. Don’t know of any other 403. She’s a cherry of a car to look at though. Keep the wheels on it, they look right at home.
‘Cravat’ wheels? Hunh. Copy editor…
All this needs is to replace the missing radio with some means of cranking MC5 good and loud.
Not sure what size the motor is but it is a Pontiac and definitely not a 403 Olds. Get rid of the air shocks and CRAGARS put on some orginal Ralleys and red stripes. Looks like something out my 70’s high school parking lot now.
So UNMOLESTED means a replacement engine is OK ?
I wish someone would Molest my Satellite this way…..
Get your boots ready to give me a swift kick in the butt. I owned a ’66 Goat hardtop factory numbers matching 389 WS with three deuces, M-21 wide ratio and 3:55 Safe-T-Trac. That GTO was “scary” fast. While I was a young and dumb kid with a lead foot and thrill seeking personality, I did have enough presence of mind to realize that keeping the GTO would probably not end well for the car, someone else’s life or my own so I sold it and moved on. If only I’d had the maturity level then that I have now. I always thought that for the ’67 model year, the new for ’67 wire mesh grille and the ’66 model year taillights would have looked so awesome together.
Sorry you don’t still have it, but glad you didn’t wrap it around a tree and wreck yourself in the bargain.
A long time ago I dated (steadily) a very nice young lady who had the Lemans version of this car, color and all, hers was a H.O. 326. I like this G T O .
It is not a “sports coupe”… over the years a lot of things got lost in translation. Cars without a center post between windows, both 2 door and 4 doors are hardtops, a 2 door with a post is a coup, and a 4 door with a post is a sedan. This is a nice looking goat, good interior (I’d change the steering wheel) but under the hood there appears to be some creative wiring. Is that an electric fuel pump on the left fenderwell? It sort of looks like one to me, but if it is, check out the wiring… alligator clips to the battery? And if it is an electric pump, most of this style are pushers, and should be mounted as close to the tank and pickup as possible.
It’s not my favorite color, but it looks like a clean GTO w air, definitely not a 403, that was junk, curious to see where the car goes, not a lot to make it perfect
Is it my or does the front bumper look bent on each corner of the car? :P
if i remember correctly you could special order a gto with a 421 engine 4 barrel carb and a sagina 4 speed trainsmission that goldist outside color an black interior also ram air induction
Sorry, but you could not special order a 421 in a GTO. The 421 was available on full-size Pontiacs through the 1966 model year. It was succeeded by the 428 through 1969 and the 455 from 1970 through 1976. The 421 and then 428 motors were sometimes swapped into GTOs and also Firebirds by dealers such as Royal Pontiac or Myrtle Motors, but never by the factory.
You are correct, let me tell you, my neighbor had a 69 428 Bonneville, those #s to me bring a smile to my face, car loaded w options smoked it’s tires for a block or so, and smoked many unsuspecting muscle car owner whom figured it’s girth to hold it back, HA
As Glen mentions, no 421’s were factory optional. the famous GTO that was featured in Car and Driver’ magazine way back when was claimed to be a 389. It was in fact a 421, a 13 to 1 compression ratio highly tuned motor. I suppose you could call this “factory”, but it was not available to the public. As mentioned, there were plenty of people that had new engines installed at delivery or after blowing up the original. There is “Factory” and “Dealer” installed, completely different. GTO’s for the most part ran 389, 400 or 455 CID, except for the smog era cars that had 350’s. Also the 4 speeds were Muncie transmissions, although the smog ear cars after 1972 might have been Saginaw’s. GM also used the Ford supplied Top Loader 3 speed transmissions up to 1970, they were among the toughest transmissions ever built.
In 1967 I bought a new gto post 400 engine heavy three speed off the show room for 3060 dollars, Wish I still had it.