How come 72 GTO's are not worth that much?
 

I've been trying to sell my 72 for a few years now, and I get a lot of lookers but when it comes time to negotiate, the offers are dismal, specifically for a car with no rust (I mean none) and all original sheet metal. Sure the color hurts it, but up here in the North East, any Green Chevelle with rust would seem to bring more $$ than this GTO. It's a head scratcher to me. Are GTO's in general just not worth what Chevelle's are worth? I ask because I own a 66 Chevelle SS true 138 car with #'s matching and those things sell for 2X+ this GTO, even non SS Malibu's sell much better. I've seen/heard of guys buying triple green Chevelle Malibu's that needed new QTR's and trunk floors and pay $15-16k. If this car was a 72 Chevelle with a 350 SB and the sheet metal was in as good as shape as this GTO, I could get $5-6k more for it.

I'm not selling because I need the money, so I am holding firm. I'm just curious as to why the market seems to dump all over these GTO's (And even 442's etc for that matter).

You'd think in a strike year with very low prod numbers a real GTO with PHS docs to prove it would be worth more? I certainly wish Chevelle's had info on them akin to PHS, past 68 iirc who knows if it's an SS or not...

If I never sell this car, would it be sacrilegious to turn this car into a resto mod? (someday I want to do an IFS/IRS chassis resto mod with an LT engine etc) It's non #'s so I would not feel so bad, but do we think GTO 400's will ever be very desirable?

I look at Mopar's and see how silly the prices for say a 68 Charger are these days and I just can't believe GTO's don't fare better, they are really good looking muscle cars, some of the best looking GM ever made IMO.

I'll offer my thoughts on the subject.

(1) The number of guys with enuff money to spend a lot on an old Musclecar, who are Pontiac fans, is VERY low. Hey, a real Pontiac V8 powered car hasn't been made since 1981. And no 400's since 1979. So, anybody less than 40 was not even around when the GTO's were still common on the streets. And by the time they were old enuff to drive, a street GTO was a rare site.

(2) The old retired Pontiac guys, who now have plenty of money to spend on an old car, usually want something rare, like a Ram Air, HO, or SD car, especially if they are just buying a collector car, or serious show car.

(3) Then there are the majority of Pontiac guys, IMO, who won't buy any old car unless it's dirt cheap. They wanna be sure it's cheap enuff so that when they decide to sell, they can make a nice profit. In fact, a large percentage of 'em buy for the purpose of reselling for a profit.

So, if all you have is basically a lower performance or near base model GTO driver, no matter how clean, it just won't bring much.

I like all the GTO's except the '73's. But my favorites are the '65 & '69. But, if I had plenty to spend, I wouldn't hesitate for a second to buy a nice '72. The engine don't really matter as much nowadays, since, there are stroker assemblies, alum heads, etc. All a guy really needs is a nice clean body. The rest can be modified to suit.

IMO, the absolute worst thing you can do is to replace the Pontiac engine with ANY non-Pontiac engine, or sell it to someone who will, especially a clean, real GTO.

Opinions differ.

I've heard people say that about 66's and 67's 30+ years ago. Like the 66's and 67's, 72's days are coming around. Someday 73's will have their day. Well......

Brutal Honesty

72 GTO's are a low interest car , always have been.
Always
If they aren't 455 or 455HO ... or at least a Manual 400 Car ,
they don't draw much from the buyer market

Even the upper echelon 72's are slow to sell until the price gets right.
71's fare a little better
68's are coming up slowly but steadily

It doesn't mean NOBODY likes them, just way fewer
Even the original GTO Restoration Guide only went up to 1970 models.

71 and 72 Chevelles have always been very popular on the Chevy side.
Always

As far as profiting and selling faster -the best you could do with that car is clone it into a 71 Judge look-alike in a good color combination.
Or keep lowering the price until someone bites.

Thats just the bitter truth

I guess the question is, will a 400 auto 72 GTO ever hit it's stride in the market? As I said, I'd love to save this car as a future resto MOD project due to the fact there is no rust repair required, but that requires some "butchering" for a custom chassis and likely a LS/LT engine and aftermarket manual trans yadda. I'm not so concerned about purists hating on me as much as in 15 years kicking myself because all of the sudden a 72 GTO is selling like 68/69 383 Chargers are these days

Just looked your pics ...personally I love it......got a buddy with the same year car but don't recall if it's is an HO car or not he's had the car for a long time..
Of course u know when u try to sell something it seems harder to sell .....it's like when u need something u can never find it, once u have one they seem to be everywhere...lol

This is so true! I looked for a car for 2 years (Was looking for a 1969 Chevelle), I bought this 72 GTO because the body was so solid. 69 GTO's are my favorite, as I feel the 72 front end is a little too "busy", but it's still a nice looking muscle car.

I have no problem holding on to it if I don't get the offer I want.

Let's be honest--the 1971-72 GTO nose is an acquired taste. How they went from 1970's nose to the '71 and thought, "Oh, yeah!" is beyond me. I'm gonna guess it didn't end up as intended.

And then there's the low-compression stigma--many would rather tolerate a 400/auto from 1970 over a '72. Thanks to the HO guys, we've learned the low-compression years were not as bad as first thought, but it certainly doesn't help the less desirable versions. (And, I bet, a 400 LeMans doesn't suffer from the same stigma due to its rarity and special interest).

A comparison with Chevrolets isn't quite fair because the percentage of cars that are modded is much greater. They get lesser Chevelles and slap SS badges on them, or they put in 502s and go for broke no matter the pedigree. I have my own preferences for them (I think the '70 is the strongest), yet the '71-72 has its fans, even though I personally think the styling got ruined with those dual headlights.

Ditto Chargers--you're comparing one of the nicest cars of the 1960s, and it's a Mopar besides. Prices are crazy, but its trajectory is unique and in no way should be compared to a '72 GTO's. Even Judges are not as crazy as Chargers, even though the styling of GTOs from the era is strong.

IMHO

Brutal honesty time: It's a gorgeous car, but I see quite a few little things that need to be corrected or fixed to make it a top dollar car (starting with the AC). I'm sure you could sell it and get a decent price, but as it only has 2 pedals and isn't an HO car that price is going to be lower than the aforementioned optioned cars. That said, I personally love '71-72 cars more than all the other years except for '69 and I have seen some of the attitude you have mentioned. People grumble about it not being high compression, not being a 196X car, etc. Those people you aren't going to please so don't worry about it. The people with the big bucks who will buy a car for an investment go for the rare engines and options: 455HO, M22, RA, Judge, that thing. The flippers will only care about your car if the price gives them enough wiggle room to profit. There's zero wrong with your car though, I think it's gorgeous and I'd drive it with pride every day if I were you or it were mine.

Disclosure: I have zero idea what you're trying to sell it for and what the lowballers are offering. You could have it priced perfectly and the idiots are just coming out of the woodwork like they tend to do.

Feel this needs to be highlighted as being a universal truth.

You didn't share what your looking to get for it? That probably would put into perspective the offers as being crazy or not. Pontiac's cost a lot to build, for the cost of a Pontiac block and a few parts you can have an LS engine that makes great power. I am no fan of putting a Chevy in a Pontiac, and I think many Pontiac guys feel the same way, that tends to play into it. The less costly Pontiac could cost more in the long run, and they have a reputation of being slow revving tractor engines.

As indicated before, 1972 was not the most popular for years 64 -72, unless something ultra rare they just don't get the focus. That being said restoration costs are just as high if not higher than the previous years and in some cases have parts that can be difficult to obtain. So, if someone is looking and finds a 69, 70, and 72 that are comparable in quality, options & price there is a pretty good chance the 69 will sell first, 70 2nd (I'd take this one) & the 72 a distant 3rd. A '71 probably would be in between. This pretty much aligns with the production / sales numbers also..... Keep it, Drive it and enjoy it!!!

If I don't get $20k for it this summer, I am keeping it for a future resto MOD project. It has been for sale for 3 spring/summers. Best offer I got was $19k. I have done metal work on cars before, and to me, this car is very enticing to use as a project someday as it requires none. I just wish it was a 69 and not a 72 because I really like the curves over creases, and the hide away headlights etc. If I resto MOD it, I can find a good Le Mans flat hood and a fiberglass nose and rework the front end to my liking. Since 72 real GTO 400's are not desirable, I can't imagine I'd be pissing off the muscle car Gods too badly...

I'd keep it as is...tastes change and an unmolested 72 might be the bees knees someday. Maybe not. You can always do some resto-mod type of updates (i.e., lower, bigger wheels, FI) and be able to reverse, if wanted.

Couldn't build one as nice as this for 20k. Couple little things to do but I would give ya 20 if I was in the market. Nice car!

That's the thing. It's pretty hard to build any car with a flat paint job for $20k, as the paint & body work is about $20k (unless ofc you can do that work yourself)

You can't buy any respectable old car for under 25 grand. Most realistic buyers have a 35 grand budget, see a lot of 50 grand cars worth 25 to 30 grand. A nice '72 for 20 grand? I'd call that a steal for a poor man.

From all the advice I have gotten to this point, the weird color change, the NOM motor, the 400+TH400 combo, all hurt the cars value.

Me personally, when looking at a car to buy, I look at things maybe somewhat differently. I look at condition of the sheet metal first (I've looked at cars where walking up to see the car for the first time to shake the sellers hand I knew I was not buying the car). Then I look at completeness of the car, by that I mean is all the trim/interior there and original, I m not one who is interested in Asian trim parts on my muscles cars, I'd rather have original pitted white metal parts as opposed to Asian repo junk. I never look at freshly painted cars or project cars in primer. If I'm going to do metal work, I will want to do it myself and not trust someone else's. #'s matching and pedigree come last as I am never in the market for high dollar cars, never will be.

I think to a lot of potential buyers, this car needs a respray to get it back to a respectable GTO color, as that's what I thought while buying it 5 years ago... However, coming from the Chevelle world, it still amazes me what these Pontiacs are bought & sold for in comparison. Never got so many lowball offers in my life when selling a car as I have with this one. Though it has been a long time since I have sold one, maybe times have just changed.

This is absolutely 100% true. But it takes your car from being a $35-40k car to a $25-30k car. $20k is a deal for one that needs no rust repair or paint work. I have around that into my '72 Lemans and it will never be worth more than $7500, and still needs work to get it daily driver worthy.

Ok since you wanted honesty...

My opinion:
The heavy metallic paint is killing you.
Second; you keep comparing your 72 to cars of the sixties.
If you want to compare, compare to similarly opted 71-72's like a 442 but not a W-30 or Hurst or a Buick GS but not a Stage 2 or stage 1, etc. Apples for Apples.