[GTO JOHN]

It all started when I was eight years old. Growing up in northern New Jersey we would use a month of our summer vacation to visit my mother’s side of the family in and around Massachusetts. Most of the time was spent at her sister’s dairy farm where my brother and I fell under the command of our uncle Bud. Our cousin Steve was six years old at the time and having two older cousins to boss around was a lot of fun for him. My brother Don and I would long for the time when we would leave the farm and our sentence to hard labor and visit our grandparents or one of my mother’s other eight siblings.

One summer day in 1975 we drove an hour from the farm to visit my uncle Johnny in New Hampshire. Johnny wasn’t the black sheep of the family, but he always did things his own way which somehow endeared him to my grandmother. Johnny was a barrel chested man with thick curly blonde hair and a full beard straight out of the Woodstock era. When we arrived at his house I immediately noticed a bright yellow car in the driveway. It had a big wing on the back and stripes down the sides. When we got closer I read GTO on the trunk lid and The Judge on the front fenders. “What kind of car is that?” I asked as my brother and I hoped out of the wagon. Johnny said it was a GTO Judge. I had never heard of a Judge before and asked if it was fast. Johnny replied “This car is damn fast!” to which my mother blurted out her disapproval of his language. My brother and I checked out the Judge extensively. I remember it was a 1970 model with a 4 speed and Hurst shifter. Color was Orbit Orange or Yellow with black interior with Rally II wheels. Exaust splitters and front spoiler. I remember the Ram Air decals on the hood but cannot remember if it was a RAIV or not. What an awesome car with a perfect body since it only 5 years old at the time.

We looked over that car until it was time for Johnny to leave for work. Since we were heading straight back to the farm, a ride was out of the question. We climbed into our Ford Country Squire Wagon while Johnny fired up the Judge. What an incredible sound that car had! I remember seeing the Judge turning around in the yard as we pulled away from the driveway and then we were out of sight. Several minutes later we were just getting settled into the fast lane on the freeway for our return trip when out of nowhere the Judge blasts past us on the right with the exhaust howling full song! Johnny then lets off the gas and downshifts into 3rd as the Judge starts come back towards us. My mom being a good sport eases onto the gas as the 429 comes to life in the wagon. Just as we are about to overtake her little brother, Johnny mashes the throttle again forcing the rear bumper seemingly into the ground as the Judge lurches violently while the engine roars with authority. Grabbing 4th gear causes an audible chirp and a puff of smoke from the tires and the Judge is gone. We eventually catch up and ride along next to each other for several more glorious minutes as the Judge has my full attention. Johnny’s exit is the next one and the Judge slips off the ramp downshifting through the gears. That was the first and last time I ever saw my uncle Johnny’s Judge. He sold the car around 1979 and all that is left are the memories. That chance meeting sparked a lifetime interest in musclecars and especially GTOs for me.

[68addict]

I have a feeling this will be a great thread... Anyway, Being born in 1974 sucked!! Most of these cars were already gone when I came of age in teh 1990s. However, my love of teh car esp Pontiacs came about due to TV shows such as Dukes of Hazzard. That charger got me into smokey and teh bandit and what not....A fella Ishared my birthday with 13 years my senior had a sweet 68 firebird blue. What an evil sounding machine.....My school bus always passed this blue 69 Roadrunner...I knew one day my first car would have to be one of these beasts....Being the dork I am, I read up on them. Once 16, I started going to cruises and the GTO just popped right out at me...the song obviously helped.

I chose the 68 because i liked the styling, my speed shop friend owned one and showed me teh ins and outs of his, and to honor my mom's cousin who fought in Vietnam in 1968. I searched for 10 years for my gto, and landed a 68 HO 4-speed car that I am gathering parts for. I bought the car before I even drove one LOL. In fact the only person to "ride" in my gto is my husky when I pushed it into the garage

[65gto69]

My fever started when I was 15 (1984). My dad and I were driving around to all the local used car lots to see what I could get for my first car. We drove past this one car lot, and in the back by the garage sat a 60's style car, light yellow in color. We stopped to look at it, at that point I had no idea what a GTO was (funny how things change), but my dad said they were great cars, so we took it out for a test drive, ran good with only 75,000 on the clock. It had the original 389, 4 bbl, 2 speed auto on the column. After dad finished haggling with the salesman, we purchased it for $1600.00. I remember going right from there to pepboys to get cragar ss's and zebra striped all the way around because it had bias tires a black steel wheels. Believe it or not this was my everyday car for the next 3 years. I than picked up a 77 blazer and parked the GTO because the frame started rotting. Several years later my friend drove past a junkyard that had a 65 lemans in it and told me about it, figured I could stop by, check out the condition to see if I found a donor frame. Car was banged up pretty good but had a lot of spare parts that I could purchase and store for later. Talked to the yard owner (Gene Droogan, drives the "BIG PONCHO 68 CATALINA" at the drags) didn't know who he was at the time), and out of nowhere asked me if I would be interested in a 65 GTO. I said let me see it, so he takes me to this pole building, and there it sat. He had started restoring it but lost interested, looked good for its age, paint faded very very little rust, 45,000 showing on the clock. So I asked the terrifying question "how much". He comes back with $600.00, I said I will be back tomorrow to pick it up. This GTO was in way better shape than my 1st one, so I used my first one as a parts car to restore this one, and the rest is history, been collecting Pontiac/GTO parts ever since. The GTO in my avatar is the the 2nd GTO, the first one (rest in piece) is in GTO heaven now. Had no place to store it anymore, so stipped it and it went to the crusher. I love these Pontiacs and will not own anything else, I will be buried in this car.

Mark

[Old Blue 66]

I cant remember a day when I did have "GTO Fever". Ive been a Pontiac guy all my life. It was sorta hard in high school because all those guys were into the Bowties. They also had lots of money and had cars that would make some of our cars schriek today.

My LeMans is the first A body that Ive owned. Had it five years. Someday, I'll get the real thing.

My favorite, while its very hard to choose, is the 66. The tail lights are killer and with the right stance, the whole car just screams "Try me".

[fastgto]

I was around 15 y.o. My pal who was 5 yrs older had a mean 62 G.P. with a
4spd. Hooked ever scince. To be truthful, pontiacs probley kept me out of jail. All I ever wanted was a nasty sonofa*****`in pontiac. I do have one a 64 G.T.O and I`m still look`in for the right 62 G.P or Cat. It will come one day soon.

[KB66 Goat]

My infatuation with GTO's goes back to 1971 - Came home from school one day and there's this Dark Blue GTO parked in the driveway. Turned out to be a 1966 that belonged to my future brother in law (now ex). Have liked them ever since. He had it about 5 years, and went through two engines (wound up with a 421 w/dual quads and a M22 rock crusher. Man would it fly. First manual transmission I drove.

[Mark Simiele]

I got hooked in 1985 when I was 15. I guy I went to school with had an older brother who owned a 1969 Carousel red 4 spd Judge. The car was in the family since the late 1970's. His family owned a junkyard in Wallington NJ so anytime something broke (which was often as it was ridden hard all the time) it was fixed right away with parts from the yard they owned. As cool as the car was I thought it was odd that it didn't have any creature comforts like power windows, air etc. I know, strange but I never liked the bare basics of the car but still wanted one like it.

It was a year later when I really caught a bad case of the GTO fever. A new kid moved into town in 1986 who is my best friend to this day. A muscle car guy like me he tells me that in the town he lived in before which was close by, there was a guy down the road from him with a Carousel Red 69 GTO Convertible that he remembered seeing for years growing up. I thought right away it must be a Judge, afterall, orange GTO's were Judges when you didn't know much. He was a year older than me and had his license already so one night we drive over there. I took a flash light and looked in the garage window and there I saw a sea of orange paint and a white top, it existed! No spoiler or decals were seen which I found odd. Turns out I was only about a year away from getting my license so now and then my friend and I would drive by the house to see it if was outside ever. One day there the car was outside with the owner! He turns out to be quite snippy and wanted NOTHING to do with a young guy even looking at his car and NO, it was not for sale. He thought of young people as careless punks who would just wreck the car and not appreciate it. He told me how people would follow the tow truck home when the car would break down and he would never sell it. I did get a decent look at it and it was tired, some rust and dents but it was really loaded and all there. It had power windows, seat, buckets, tilt, hiddens, rallys, no air oddly, special paint and white interior. None-the-less being kind of rude he tells me the whole story about the car. It wasn't a Judge but a special order color (even rarer than a Judge) Carousel Red 69 convertible he bought at Vale Pontiac in Montvale, NJ(went under in the late 1990's). It was ordered by a man who never picked it up so it was sitting on the lot for a while. He went there to buy a Firebird convertible but it was too small for his family and ended up buying the GTO. He had taken the car off the road pretty much by 1986 and had started to do some minor resto too. It was not for sale so I forgot about it but would still drive by now and then. I had discovered GS Buicks after being unable to get his car and found a GS455 convertible in 1987 when I turned 17 which was fun and real fast but falling apart. I ended up finding a 69 GTO one day for $3500 and had fun with that too but the parents said I had to sell one of the cars and the GTO was sold less than 10 weeks later. It also was falling apart.

Time went on and around 1993 I had just graduated college, was working and had money too. I had sold the Buick and decided to persue that guys GTO again. I had to use some stealthy tatics. I sent my mom over there to ask him if he would sell it with her being older than me! I felt a bit guilty but it was the only way this would work since he really loather young people. Turns out he had lost interest on the car and it was for sale! e was a gentleman to to her and she knew cars as well so they chatted for a while. He got hooked on Mustangs and began restoring one. He said he wanted $8500 for the GTO but when my mom came home she said it was in real sad shape. I was real surprised when she told me this but it turns out that he had left it outside for almost five years under some oak trees uncovered while he was restoring a Mustang! Now the story gets really funny. I had to see the car up close so he offered to have her mechanic look at the car at a local gas station he knew of. Well, I borrowed a tech uniform from the car dealer where I worked and posed as her mechanic. My stomach turned when we had the car up on the lift. It had become a total rusty mess. Everything was damp, covered in mildew and he even sprayed fresh undercoating all over the undercarriage to hide all rust. There was no way this car was worth $8500 and he wouldn't budge on the price. I only had about $6000. I was heartbroken and never bought the car. The original owner car with every scrap of paperwork since day one had eluded me for seven years and I came so close to getting it. I couldn't believe and still to this day how a guy who defended this car so much and would never sell to anyone would just let it rot away outside.

I ended up finding a nice 69 convertble a year later which I still own and I actually found his phone number a few years back. He did end up selling it to a guy in Mahwah NJ, that's all he told me. He has since passed away and to this day I think whatever happend to that car. I threw away the vin after the deal fell through and have asked around my club but no one knows about the car or ever saw it. Perhaps someone knows out here.....

[axle]

my uncle bought a new gto in 66, my dad bought a new gto in 67 (400 HO,automatic) white w/ teal interior, my other uncle bought a new gto in 68 (400HO,4 speed. i was born in 66 and growing up as a kid thats all they talked about until i was 16 dad came home with a 67 4 speed gto that needed resto. we fixed it up then i bought a 1 owner 68 gto in mint condition. a year later traded it straight across for a 66 gto. after that i bought and sold close to 20 gto's . this was in the mid-late 1980's. the 2 rarest gto's i ever found and bought were a 67....plum mist,white interior,400 HO,4 speed,3.90 posi. drove it home for $1,500 !
the other was a ram air IV 69 judge. had an automatic in it but it was an original 4 speed car with the pedals still in it. bought a 70 duster 340 automatic car for $500. drove it up to bakersfield california and traded it straight acorss for the judge (the guy at the tow yard was a mopar geek)!
those were the days.

[mike nixon]

the first time for me was in 69 on the new car lot looking with mom and dad. i was 3 and,according to my mom, kept insisting they buy the car with no headlights and the bumps in the hood. they bought a catalina instead,mint green over a black int. lots of memories in that old cat.

the gto i followed and tried to buy for years around 1990 someone bought it for parts and it disappeared. it was nightwatch blue, black vinyl and interior 400 auto car with a 12 bolt chevy diff under it. that color still turns my head everytime i see one. at the end it was rough.

at 15 i bought a 66 tripower 3spd, 3:55 posi, gto and my dad made me return it because, in his words, it was a deathtrap [gto in general]. it was 99% rustfree, in primer, but was a dark blue over parchement int car. the intake and carbs were gone but the rest of the car was complete and had a rebuilt muncie in the trunk with all the parts to convert it from a 3 to a 4spd. the price? 125.00 from the repo yard with a clear title. he made me return that one in person and a buddy's bought it a flipped it in 2 weeks for a grand.

for a good month it wasn't fit to be around either of us when we were together. it still came up everytime i'd haul another one home. he'd ***** and i'd tell him you should've kept your mouth shut on the 66 then, i'd not be buying these if i had it.

i seriously doubt i'd have the ones i do if i would've kept that car. it would've taken all the cash i had then to get it done and i'm positive i'd have kept it.

in a simple sentence, pontiacs have been a lifelong commitment with me.

i'm passing that on to my kids also. at 5 my oldest knew what a gto was, i'm working on the twins now. they're 3 and think the old pontiacs are cool.


mike

[orangegtos]

In 1980 at the age of 15. A girl I knew had a 68 Vedero Green LeMans with a GTO Nose, taillights and a blacked-out grill. I just loved the sheet metal design. Not long after that, I bought Albert Drakes Big Little GTO book. I knew I had to have a 68 or 69 or even a 70 GTO!
A couple of years later, I went to purchase my first goat. The first car I looked at was a red on red 68 with his/hers shifter, rally gauges, and all original drivetrain. The guy was asking $2500, I offered $2300 and was refused. I was crushed! But I did move on. Six months later, I would find my first GTO. It was a 69 Vedero Green, green interior, automatic, hide away headlights, and a Ram Air III! This was July 1985, the car belonged to the original owner, and this time I paid out the $2500 asking price! What a car, 84,000 on the clock, everything was there and untouched except the foam around the breather! Also, just for note, this car had an emissions decal on the radiator support, I have the old instamatic pictures as proof!

Anyway, time moved on, I (regretfully) sold the car a few years later. The fever never did leave though. After owning a few z-cars, vettes, even a Donzi Classic, I bought a 69 Carousel Red, RA III, 4-speed Judge. This is the greatest car I have ever owned. I still see my old GTO a local cruises and shows...I wonder if the guy (5th owner) would sell it back to me?

[dancolkate]

I was 14 or 15 when bitten by the Pontiac bug. There was a 70 GTO around town that had the fattest rear tires I'd ever seen. The streets in my town were littered with posi burnout marks from that car.

So in 1978 (I was 17), I was visiting a friend of mine in nearby Bedford MA. We were hanging out and checking on his Mustang GTA project. While hanging out, I could barely makeout a silver car in the back yard and asked my friend about it. He said it belonged to his older brother who had just bought it from the next door neighbor days before.

I asked if I could see the car, but we had to wait for the brother to wake up.....he was actually sleeping in the car.

Well the car turned out to be a 1968 GTO silver/black hideaways.4 speed with 70k miles. I bought the car a few weeks later for $900 and proceeded to have a blast with it. After rebuilding the q-jet in auto-mech class, the car ran like a top. A few months later, it needed a clutch. This is when I learned the importance of putting the clutch disc in the right way!!!

Like a complete fool, I sold the car a few years later because i was "bored" with it. I then picked up a 1969 Torino GT fastback 390 and there was NO COMPARISON!!

[FM50KW]

1965...neighbor bought a Montero Red 4Spd 4Bl...let me drive it a few times in turn for fixing his trunk reverb...in Jan 70 returned from Nam went back to college and bought a 68 GTO...cracked a piston, resleeved cyl and sold it...bought a 69 GTO Ram Air IV...very rare...got into money trouble back in school and sold it cheap to buy a Chev Vega in 73...still having nightmares about that stupid move!

[rwinkles]

I first met my 1970 GTO in the fall of 1972. I was a typical 16-year-old teenager mostly interested in sports but soon to become a certified car nut. I was working at the local grocery store bagging and stocking shelves (for a whopping $5.00/hour which was pretty good back then!) when one of the other baggers told me to check out his brother’s car which he had driven to work that night. Later, while on break we went to the parking lot to check out the 1970 GTO. His brother had bought the car new from a dealer in Clarkston Michigan and was the original owner. He had never driven it in the winter and the car was like new. Not knowing a great deal about cars at that time, about the only thing I remember was thinking how cool the hood scoops were, with a cable to open them when needed and that I had never seen a hood tach before. I drove home later that night in my ‘66 Mustang (6 cylinder, 3 speed on the floor rust bucket) not knowing or caring about that GTO’s future.

A year later the Mustang was long gone in favor of a ‘69 Camaro (327, 3-speed on the floor). The Camaro gave me “the need for speed” and I became much more interested in cars. Later that year after saving my money I wanted a new car and settled on that year’s “Performance Car of the Year”, the new 1974 Z-28 Camaro. I took the Z-28 home in October of 1973 and have had it ever since (now with 31,000 original miles, paint, interior etc.).

The Z-28 really gave me the car bug. I now lived, ate and drank fast cars. The 1970 GTO that I first saw a few years earlier now belonged to another co-worker and friend at the grocery store. His treatment of the car however was far different than that of the original owner. He drove it year round while I bought a $75 non-running ’68 Opel station wagon as a driver to save my Z the terrors of Michigan winters. He also did some strange things to that car. To keep the GTO as rust free as possible he would spray or pour oil into the trunk, wheel wells, cowl and anywhere else he could get it. This made for a bit of a mess later in life but must have been fairly effective as I would find out! He also had several “off-road” excursions with the car. It was really too much car for him (a 20 year old goof ball), no power steering or brakes and 370 HP! He also liked to modify the car. Gone were the Ram Air exhaust manifolds in favor of headers and cherry bombs. Also gone was the Ram Air hood baffle and air cleaner in favor of an open element aftermarket air cleaner. The rally wheels disappeared and were replaced by Crager mags and air shocks were added to clear the fat M/T tires in the rear. I often helped him work on the car from time to time and still thought it was a very cool car. He married in 1977 and a short time later with a baby on the way the GTO had to go. I talked my best friend into buying the car to use some of the engine parts to make his 1976 Trans Am a little faster.

My buddy (now the third owner) paid $2000 for the car and kept it for four years during which he married. In that time he thankfully never “butchered” the car as was intended. He put some money into it to try and restore its former glory but never had quite enough time or money to really do it right. In that time he drove the car almost daily and had it painted once after a minor rear-end accident. After he married, cars became secondary and in the end the GTO sat for several months with a bad clutch and flywheel.

In 1981, again with a baby on the way my buddy told me he was going to get rid of the “hulk” sitting in his driveway. I asked “How much?”, thinking with a few minor repairs it could be sold for a tidy profit because of those little RAM AIR IV decals and the WW engine under the hood. A day later and $1000 lighter I towed the car home. The odometer showed 61,000 miles and was broken so I didn’t really know the actual mileage. I had it running in a few days and began the job to clean it up for sale. The body was still all original and very solid with only two small rust holes in the rear quarters above the taillights. I contacted the second owner to see if he still had any of the original Ram Air parts or wheels, but he only had the exhaust manifolds, which I got. I spent months cleaning and painting and began to really love the car and eventually found I couldn’t part with it (although I did put for sale signs on it a few times to test the water). I had it repainted in 1984 and through the years returned it to near stock condition. Most numbers match and I have added a few cosmetic items because I liked the look. I bought a running cardinal red 1970 Judge parts car in 84’ with my brother in-law for a mere $700. He took the drive train, a RA III and 3.55:1 posi to replace the standard 350 HP engine and open diff in his car, a ‘67 GTO. I got the spoilers, some moldings, a console and other odds and ends and then we re-sold the remainder for $700 – a good deal (but I wish I had kept that car now!).

I finally did a frame off on my GTO in 2002 and won a coucours gold at the GTOAA Nationals in Columbus in 2003. Little did I know way back in 1972 when I first saw the GTO that it would ultimately spend so many years with me and be a big part of my life some 34 years later and counting. I still see the original owner from time to time and he always asks if I still have it. When I tell him yes he just shakes his head for ever selling it in the first place. Definitely the best $1000 I ever spent!

[Mr. P-Body]

Summer of '68. 14 years old. Thought my big sister's '66 SS396 was the nastiest car in the world. It was the first manual transmission car I ever drove. Neighbor had a '66 GTO. Both cars were silver with black tops. Both cars were 4-speeds. Both cars had "Americans" on them.

Mike pulled up to her at a light, when I was riding with her. At the time, I had no idea what "TriPower" meant, or what a "325 horse" 396 was. I found out real quick! He was blowing rooster-tails of smoke from his tires, and STILL stomping that Chevelle. So, now I know, a 325 horse 396 never WAS a match for a 360 HP 389, but who knew? I was impressed...

Jim

[jeffhhs76]

Yep..This is going to be a great thread.. Going to have to post later since I'm at work right now and don't have the time. After reading some of these posts I'm feeling real old right about now...;-)

Later

Jeff

[goatmanmitch]

It must've happened around '75. I was about four, maybe five years old. My sister and her boyfriend Randy took me out with them. I got to sit on his lap and steer. This always stuck out in my mind, how cool is that for a 4 or 5 year old? She had always known that it was a GTO, and looking back it was either a 66 or 67 gold goat. Randy has been out of her life for thirty years, but that first GTO memory remains.

[jeffhhs76]

As a 6 year old in 1964 growing up on Long Island, we took a trip to the Worlds Fair where there was a brand new Mustang on display. I can remember being instantly taken by it. Beutiful car! But that was early summer. A few months before that my grandmother had just gotten a light blue 1964 tempest 6 cyl. Late in the summer, my cousin John, who lived next door to me and had just graduated high school, got this car as a graduation gift from my Aunt and Uncle. It was Dark blue with white interior, manual trans. Didn't seem like anything special though to this 6 year old because it looked just like my grandmothers car. The only thing that confused me was that my cousins car had these "GTO" emblems on it instead of Tempest. Well we lived right across the street from a park and one day my brother and I were watching my cousin with this car pulling holeshots in the parking lot. HOLY ****!!!! Talk about thunder! This 6 year old had never seen anything like it!! Screw the Mustang!!! I was hooked. Fast forward to late 1966. 8 years old going on 9 and now a HUGE fan of the Monkees. Of course I fell in love with the Monkeemobile. BUT, I never realized it was a GTO, I swear!! Just thought it was a cool looking car. Subconciously it did plant something in my head. Had to because my first 4 GTO's were 66's and I prefer the 66/67 style over all others. Fast forward 1975, 17 years old with a brand new license. Been working part time since 1973 at a local Dairy Barn saving EVERY penny to buy myself a car. That car, much to the shagrin of my Father, was a 1966 GTO. Silver HT, Black vinyl top, 389/4bbl, Auto, PW, AC, PS, PB,PA...All for the bargain price of $495. Had the car for 6 months when my boss at the Goodyear shop I was now working at rolled up with a gorgeous, 50k mile, red 1966 ragtop with a white interior/white top. I asked if it was for sale. He said yes so I sold my car for $775 and bought the ragtop for now sickening price of $800. Needless to say, This car was a big hit in High School with the chix I sold that car in 1977 for $1100 and bought a blue 66' 4 speed which I worked and raced both on the street for cash and for time at Englishtown in NJ. The racing stories I'll save for another thread but I had the most fun with this car. Sold that car after blowing the rear end for the 3rd time and bought a black 4 spd 66'..Over the years I would own a white 65', Champagne Gold 67' Ragtop which I bought from the original owner in 1987 for $4500 and the car I have now, a red 1967 HT, 4 spd, 3.55's and packing about 430HP...

Sorry for the exhausting post guys but hey...I didn't start this!!! ;-)

Jeff Foglietta

[gtoguy1967]

OK, Here it goes. I never have been a big pontiac fan, Still not. I'm just a car nut I don't care what it is. Back in 66 had an uncle who had a buddy that bought a 66 GTO and my Granmother loved that car. She had been working for a while and had never had her own car so she decided to order a new 67 GTO. 1967 GTO Silver Glaze 335hp 4 sp black int spinner wheel hub caps. By the time she got home the salesman had called and wanted her to drop the 4sp in favor of a His/Hers shifter, he stated he did not think she would keep it if she got the 4 sp. The car came in in March of 67 and my Parents took it on their honney moon, Dad states it even overheated on him.
The first thing I remember about the car we was going to the dentist on Sat morning and MOM had borrowed the car for some reason, Well when we got off the intrestate to go downtown you had to cross like three lanes of traffic pretty fast and there was some cars comming, Mom being the lead foot she crushed the gas petal and all I remember is tire sqeal and smoke. fast forward to 1980 and she bought a new OLds and parked the GTO. My uncles talked her into rebuilding the motor ( stock) and about a year later she had it painted. The car sat really untill I was old enough to drive. I would take it to shows, But I would have to have someone drive it to and from as I was young (& dumb). That lasted about a year until She would let me drive there and call her to let her know I was safe then again before I left.
Once on the way home I took it to my high school parking lot to do some donuts, As soon as I got in I drove to the back turned the wheel and stabed the gas and the car quit and would not start, The fuel pump went out never even got to leave a black mark.
Things went well over the next couple of years, I would get the car more and more even keeping it over night, I always said it would be to late for her to wait up, I would just bring it back in the morning.
A few people knew she had the car and the history and one day a guy called and offered $12000 for the car, She called and asked what I thought and I told her,,,,, I thought the car would be mine one day and then my son's car ! But it is your car you do what you want I wont hold it against you. That was on friday night, Sunday she called to ask when I wanted to go and have the car put in my name. Yea ! To speed this up the car sit's in my garage to this day and It would take a very stupid offer to ever see it leave my garage. I have said it many times this will be my son's car when I'm done with it.
I have tried to keep it the same as when she had it, It still has the spinner wheel hub caps and I put red line tires back on it.
I hope I did not bore you with my story but I loved my Grandmother very much and I think of her every time I see this car.
Don

[BUQUICK]

GTO fever started for me on Jan 31st, 1974, the day I was born. I rode home from the hospital in my parents' only car at that time...1966 GTO. They still have it today.

[Kerry H]

My brother brought home a 68 GTO in 1974 when I was around 7 years old. I thought it was the coolest thing around. Fast forward to 1983 when I got my license and I came across a 68 GTO for sale. Solid as hell, asking price $1500. That was more than I had to spend so I had to pass. But, I have always loved them. Now I have a 66 GTO clone. Looks cool, goes fast and scares the wife............LOVE IT !!!