Royal Pontiac, located in Royal Oaks, Michigan, became the unofficial home of high-performance Pontiacs during the 1960s. Its collaborative work with the manufacturer produced some of the most potent vehicles to wear the marque’s badge. This 1969 GTO isn’t a genuine Royal Bobcat but features the model’s iconic livery. It presents superbly and is a rock-solid vehicle that would suit a new owner seeking a high-end driver. The seller has listed it here on eBay in Conyers, Georgia. Bidding has raced to $20,300 in a No Reserve auction.
Royal Pontiac came into existence courtesy of a disagreement between a father and his son. Asa Wilson Sr was becoming dismayed by his son (Ace) and his fixation with high-performance vehicles and street racing in Detroit. He did what any sane and wealthy parent would do. He bought his son a Pontiac dealership! The belief was that it would provide a way to channel his energies productively, but the truth was that the decision fed the performance leanings within his son. The path of Ace crossed that of Jim Wangers, who Pontiac had tasked with securing a dealership willing to help the company to develop its high-performance credentials. It took a single meeting between Wangers and Wilson Jnr for a contract to be signed, so a legend was born. Royal Pontiac worked closely with the company’s management to develop its models, although the relationship eventually wound down during the 1970s. The relationship became strained in 1968 when Royal slotted the 428ci V8 under the hood of its offerings in contravention of Pontiac’s maximum engine capacity policy. This 1968 GTO isn’t a genuine Bobcat but has the model’s distinctive White graphics laid over flawless Meridian Turquoise paint. Faulting its presentation is difficult, with the paint and graphics as crisp as you could hope to find and the panels laser straight. The car’s history is unclear, but the seller claims it is rust-free. The trim and glass are spotless, and the five-spoke Hurst wheels suit the car’s appearance.
Purists will be disappointed to learn this GTO isn’t numbers-matching. Its 400ci V8 is of 1971 vintage, and its specifications are unclear. Power and torque should be at least 300hp and 400 ft/lbs, but I wouldn’t rule out higher figures. The ponies feed to the road via a four-speed manual transmission and a 4.33 limited-slip rear end, with the combination promising an entertaining and rapid motoring experience. The V8 inhales through a Ram Air II induction system and cylinder head, exhaling through a Gardner exhaust. A sub-15-second ¼-mile ET should be within reach of the driver, but how far below that mark it is will depend on the engine’s specifications. The engine bay presents beautifully, and it doesn’t flatter to deceive. This GTO runs and drives perfectly, ready to hit the road with a new owner behind the wheel.
The overall presentation of this Pontiac’s interior suggests it has done little work since it underwent a restoration or refurbishment. The Parchment vinyl trim looks faultless, with no marks or discoloring that can be a hallmark of this trim type. The dash, console, carpet, and pad tell a similar story, and there are no aftermarket additions to spoil its purity. The driver gazes through the windshield at the hood tach, with in-car entertainment provided by a pushbutton radio and factory 8-track player. That isn’t much by modern standards, but it is era correct. This is another aspect of this classic that needs nothing.
This 1968 Pontiac GTO isn’t original, but it is spotlessly clean and ready to hit the road with a new owner behind the wheel. Placing a value on a vehicle of this type is challenging because any modified classic is worth what someone is willing to pay. The current figure has been achieved via eight bids, and with the reserve met that new home is only days away. It may only take a single bid to secure this gem. Is that enough to tempt you to monitor this auction?
The long shots make it look like a well-built/detailed model.
Very rare for me, but I am speechless.
I have some 8 track tapes in working order…..
It says it has Ram Air 2 induction AND cylinder heads. I’m pretty sure it’s a typo. An Original pair of Ram Air 2 heads, even if they aren’t numbers matching, would be a truly rare find indeed.I can’t imagine what they would retail for but they wouldn’t be cheap, not even a little bit.
Love this owner’s choices and execution! Beautiful GTO.
Love the 4.33:1 deep gearset!
Ad is Gone and hopefully this gem went to a careful caretakers Home!
Those gears are great for the strip, terrible for the street.
Tell it isn’t so…..damn that’s a nice goat!
A real barnstormer here w the gears and 4 spd. Big Pontiac performance.
No longer on EBAY. 😔
I’d wager it was actually a fraudulent listing by a scammer who doesn’t own this car.
So 68 or 69? Looks like a 69 to me
Definitely a 68, 69 taillights were at the top of the bumper.
Key is on the dash in a 68, on the steering column in 69.
Same car? …
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2019/05/29/1968-pontiac-gto-earns-best-in-show-at-musclepalooza-xxix
I’m guessing those 442 plastic red inner fenders were acquired by Royal Pontiac from an Olds dealer?! How much weight could they save over the stock steel ones?
Despite both being A bodies, I’m pretty sure that the inner fenders are not interchangeable between the Olds and the Pontiac.
The basic car looks very solid to me, though the ad if gone so no way to check things further. I thought I know about some of those companies like Royal, Nicky, etc. but that paint scheme isn’t one I remember. Is that something
Royal offered or a owner design?
The white is part of a Royal paint/gfx layout for ‘68/‘69 GTOs. More aggressive ones had the secondary color on the rocker panels and the complete trunk lid.
Also, the GM/Pontiac dust-up over engine size was’64, not’68. The rule stated displacement # not lower than 10% of base shipping weight. Estes, DeLorean and company got a pass after the variant sold 15000 ‘extra’ new Tempests
In cars of this era… “Laser straight and perfect gaps” means LOTS of body putty. None ever left the factory absolutely perfect. The panels were not manufactured perfect and they never shimmed them into perfect alignment. So when looking\buying anything pre??? 70 – 75. And it “perfect” it definitely is not original. And if it’s restored “perfect” … She’s loaded up with putty.
Great write up Adam. While the editor of Hemmings Muscle Machines in the early 2000s, I interviewed Royal lead mechanic Milt Schornack at the GTO Nationals in Bowling Green. He told of stories of Ace under the hood of the Royal conversions. Milt drug raced a 69 GTO with a RAV engine back in the day. Yes, perfect panels means putty. I remember these cars new. Fit and finish not so great.
This paint scheme only showed up on the 69 GTO and I believe it was a Ram Air V car as well. I believe ERTL made a diecast of it years ago
Car is not on ebay!
Great photos too, looks like a hot wheel in some photos.
Plastic red inner fenders from the Olds 442? How much weight do they save?
The red plastic fender liners, made of vacuum-formed high-density polyethylene, were optional(Code 522) on the 1966-67 Tempest, LeMans, and GTO meant to be paired with the iconic red-line tires. They were not available for 1968. The Oldsmobile 4-4-2 red inner fenders included in the W-30 package in 1967-71 were the actual inner fenders(in front; they were liners in the rear) and were the same material but injection-molded(due to poor production tolerances of the Pontiac liners). So the Oldsmobile inner fenders were visibly red when viewed from under hood. The Pontiac plastic fender liners were visible externally; from under hood you would see the black metal inner fenders.
Red plastic inner fenders weren’t so much to save weight on the olds w-30 as they were to warn you yr about to get beat in a race by an Oldsmobile.
“Royal Oak”
Royal Oak by the way, singular.
Just an FYI to the author
You should really proof read the articles you write before you post them.
Wow it’s like nobody here has ever made a typo… Gotta lovoe the keyboard scholars