[Greyfox455]

I have a question about how many 1970 GTO Convertable 455 370hp 4 speeds were made in 70? The question has bugged me for years. I found one in 78 that I turned a 'friend' onto and he bought it for $430 and then proceded to turn it into junk. Last I saw it in 1980 he had put a Buick 350 in it and had the original numbers matching 455 sitting rusting next to his garage in Long Branch, NJ. I'm probably not gonna like the answer but I'm still curious.

[Greyfox455]

I have a question about how many 1970 GTO Convertable 455 370hp 4 speeds were made in 70? The question has bugged me for years. I found one in 78 that I turned a 'friend' onto and he bought it for $430 and then proceded to turn it into junk. Last I saw it in 1980 he had put a Buick 350 in it and had the original numbers matching 455 sitting rusting next to his garage in Long Branch, NJ. I'm probably not gonna like the answer but I'm still curious.

[CDN2PLS2]

158 built with manual trans

[PonchoV8]

Then there are 157 now. Or less. If he sold it recently, it's sporting a lemans sport body.

[Greyfox455]

It was definitely a GTO. It had the nose and stuff. It was Gold with the sandlewood bench seat interior with what looked like an off white top. Why do you say it would have a Lemans Sport body?
One night his girlfriend landed in jail. I just happened to stop by. He offered the car to me for $75 to get the bail money. I didn't have it and this was before ATMs. One of 158. I knew it was gonna be something like that. My old man would have freaked if I had brought the car home. I had a Chevelle SS convertible, 71 TA, and a 76 Rabbit at the time. He'd probably still be in orbit. Thanks.

Is there still hope of finding a decent GTO convertible out there somewhere that doesn't have Barret-Jackson prices and doesn't need totally rebuilt?

[PonchoV8]

Not challenging you, but a nose and stuff doesn't make it a GTO. Rare cars go by and you might never think about it at the time. That's why they call it hindsite you know.

All those really rough type of cars get rebodied with good lemans bodies and sold at Barret Jackson prices. There are still cars like that out there. A guy down the street bought a nice conv 70 Judge for $20K last year.

[Greyfox455]

No, no prob. This was back in 1978 and people didn't do stuff like that to an 8 year old GTO then. Maybe now they do. Remember, he bought it for $430. At that point it was an 8 year old GTO in primer that had bent push rods for $430.
I went with another friend named Jim G. to get something cool while the getting was good. He looked at a Superbird which the owner claimed only had 17K miles but the gas and brake pedal were very worn. In just walking around the guys driveway while Jim talked to him every other car the guy owned there had over 100k miles on it. It was priced at $4300. Yeah he could have got it and been happy now but for a long time in '78 he would not have been realizing he had been deceived. He finally settled on a 69 Carousel Red RA IV 4 speed Judge from the Bronx that had 50 or 60 k miles and looked the part too.
Rebodying a car is totally illegal, you cannot move VIN tags. I personally know of a Shelby running around that had the tags moved. I found what was left in a junkyard in 1980 and was excited until I checked with a local restorer to get the info needed to tell if the hulk was real. Seems all the VIN tags were missing except the 5S--- number stamped near the shock tower. I saw the hulk a year later and the 5S--- number had been gouged out. But the 'rebody' last I saw it was touted as all original in a Road and Track magazine article. Ahem, NOT.
Back then I called the GA State Patrol thinking maybe the car was stolen and they ran the Shelby VIN I did have and they said it was registered in NC so it was North Carolina's problem. See, they gave it a pass. Long story but the police said to move VIN tags is a crime and if the car goes over a state line its Federal. But nobody enforces this so its running amuk. If law enforcement would have jumped on reports back then there would be alot less shenanigans going on now. Lax enforcement means the mice will play. It's sad, wrong, unfortunate, and unpunished. Some Corvette magazine wrote maybe 15 or so years ago that there are more 1967 427 Vettes now then there were at the end of the model year in 1967. Vettes and alot of others unfortunately. No joy in Mudville.
Oh, yeah, I have pictures of the hulk in the junkyard and the Shelby number too. Wrote the whole expirence down too at the time, it took 8 pages.

[70455RA]

There were 0 370 horse 70 GTOs, they were 360 horse