Too ridiculously perfect. Those are the three words that come to mind when looking at this 1968 Pontiac GTO, on sale here on ebay. The auction, which is just touching on $22K, has plenty of time to accelerate, since it lasts until Sunday. While it goes on, you can gaze at the perfect lines, the gold paint, and the raised white letter tires for hours. Or maybe I’ll do that. Then plan to get to Ontario, New York, to collect the car should you win the bid.
Everyone knows what the original and subtly revised GTO looks like, from invention in 1964 as a trim level on the Tempest Le Mans. The original is long and flat. The next one, Coke-bottle shaped. In 1968, that all changed, as the GTO went to a shorter length but a beefier body. That styling remains famous as the one The Judge was built out of, but your run-of-the-mill GTO of 1968-72 is sometimes overwritten in people’s memories. Not any more. This car as displayed will keep the relatively Plain Jane muscle car top of mind from this moment forward. Just sitting there, it looks like a drag race waiting to happen. But mix that with the somewhat sedate April Gold paint and the vinyl top, and you’ve got snarling menace in a hat that might be worn to church by Andy Taylor’s Aunt Bee.
The person behind this ad is a sharp seller. He knew, for instance, that the dog dish hub caps would lend an outsized appeal over the wheel covers that came from the factory and which go with the car. He gets that angles shot from above make the car more sleek, and thus more menacing. He knows enough to highlight the standard twin hood scoops and optional hidden headlights. And he provides shots of a very clean trunk and a rust-free underbody to assure buyers that this car’s California history gave it the advantages cars from a dry, no-salt climate often enjoy.
What’s left for you, or me, is to jump in and drive. Can you trust the mileage as shown at 45,000? There seems to be some documentation that goes with the car, but nothing to the effect that the odometer is accurate or hasn’t been around once already, so the claim is made very softly in the ad. At least the fact that this is the original 400-CID engine backed up by an automatic can be verified, and seeing/hearing it run would give you some reassurance, but the ad does say that the car is able to be driven daily, so whether you would do that or not, at least you have some reason to trust the car from the get-go. We’ve all seen yellow ones, black, and other colors, but this is the most striking and compelling GTO, of any vintage, ever to cross my path. I want it. What’s a reasonable number, sight unseen?
Yeah what you said , except the Cooper white letters don’t give the vintage appearance .
And they are NOT good tires either.
The keys are wrong :-) GM did not go to the square/oval keys until 1969 when they went to the column ignition. This should have the old octagon keys. Beyond that, looks nice. I always loved the gold/black combo on the 1968-69 GTOs. Ditch the corny and incorrect dog dish hubcaps for Rally II wheels and this’d look perfect.
Dog dish hubcaps are correct as my 68 came with them as standard equipment.
Per the window sticker, this car came with full wheel discs. Very few 1968 GTOs sold were equipped with the standard dog dishes, I suspect. Now, 25% or so of them have them because they look “tough.” I think they look dumb and overplayed, IMO.
Thank got it doesn’t have the hood tach that about 7 people ordered back then but now graces a disturbing number of GTOs and the clones who want to be them throughout the land.
That’s what was on my 68 GTO from the factory as well.
Oh, and the wheelcovers shown that go with the car are not correct for a ‘68, those are for a ‘69…….
My ’68 GTO also came from the factory with dog dish hubcaps on 14×6 Starlight Black steelies since no wheel cover option was selected on the dealer order form.
If you go with this look, for Pete’s sake, ditch the cheap Cooper tires for a set of BF Goodrich white letter T/A radials. Or a set of BF High Comp blackwalls which I just purchased for my 79 Vette. It looks like it’s doing 80 sitting still. Bick, I also like your idea of the rally II rims but with a set of “period” redline tires to compliment!
No, they won’t and don’t.
BFG Comp T/As on a 17″-18″ rim are a great tire for spirited driving. They bite like a shark from the first mile to the last. Downside is noise; they get louder and louder as they wear. You’ll notice it in your corvette.
BFG Radial T/As are a fine choice for a worn or stock suspension, about like the Coopers. They’re cheap, you can still get them in smaller diameters, and they’ll dry rot before they ever wear out…or get any traction.
Redlines would work too. I’d stick with white letters but I would not fault you.
Forgive me, but I have a very strong (and perhaps partly irrational) dislike for dog dish hubcaps. So many people play this look, often where it is completely incorrect. Unimaginative, and shows boring taste. To me, seeing them is like hearing the theme to the Breakfast Club or some other overplayed radio pap for the 1 millionth time.
IMHO of course. Feel free to disagree, which hopefully we can do here!
They’re technically correct for a ’68 GTO as was pointed out. True, but only a very small percentage of the GTOs sold had them, as most people who bought this top trim level opted for wheel covers or Rally I or Rally II wheels. This car came with full custom wheel discs and redline or white stripe tires originally. One of those wheel covers can be seen in the trunk photos.
The hubcaps in the trunk photos are the 1969 Custom Wheel Discs … 1968 Custom wheel discs were dished (concave) with eight large semi-oval holes and a “PMD” center cap.
Ah ok. I stand corrected. Thanks!
Nice car. Seats look like they may have come out of a different car, completely wrong color vinyl, and the patterns are not even close to what the originals look like.
Sigh,
I wish we could buy todays cars in colour combos like this. That gold and black, man it does the job…..
best,
bt
The last notable example I can recall is the Sport Gold 1998 Camaro Z28 and SS. Those came with a black painted top (which I believe you could delete). Very rare. Only about 500 made between coupe and convertible Z28s and SSs. I almost ordered one new!
How about the Sunburst Gold on the 2000 Mustang? I drove that car very happily for 16 years, and I never got tired of the color.
It didn’t have a black roof though, unless you got a ‘vert.
I’m sure there were some gold performance cars since ’98, albeit not many. Lucid recently resurrected it though, but with a silver roof.
I like the 68 best, A code with hideaway headlights and E code endura delete ( yea everyone will tell you it’s a Lemans).
Always looked better than my 70 chevelle SS,
Black int vent windows, reverb switches, and octagon key( thanks for reminder)
My 68 came with dog dish and red line tires from factory
Anything over 16in. Wheel sux on any 80s or back,in my opinion..
GTO Enthusiasts: Are those the correct seat cover colors from the factory? Or is it just impossible to match newer seat covers to the rest of the interior?
The R/T is distracting.
I would love to have this car ! Did I mention A/C? Would make a great car to put the right exhaust on & a holley sniper EFI on & drive it daily because why drive something not close to being this cool? I understand the haters I create talking about modifying a classic but let’s not get into making a car more streetable & perfom better to be comfortable & run better being a daily driver because you would lose