[PontiacJim1959]

Comparing Pontiac's to Chevelles, or Buicks to Chevelles, or Oldsmobiles to Chevelles is apples and oranges. The Chevelle will always be far more popular and desirable than a Pontiac of the same year. With the trend towards LS conversions and 5/6 speed manual transmission bolt in swaps, there is no comparison to driveline popularity with the generation that is now looking for these cars. One reason there are more and more LS conversions going into GTO/Pontiacs. Look at the price comparison to get equal HP engine to engine. Pontiac engine's are not cheap to build. And, you can't just go to a junkyard, craigslist, or dealer and order a Pontiac engine.

The 1972 GTO is not a desireable, nor attractive, body style. It has a bulky & clumsy looking nose. It is about as desirable as the 1973 GTO. The saleable ones are indeed based on the drivetrain which would be the higher HP & manual 4-speed cars.

The low compression, low HP, TH-400 and 3.08 gearing does not fit the mold of the GTO name that most are looking for. I suspect a Honda would have no problem running circles around the car.

The color is horrific, factory or not, period. Some people will put a personal favorite/custom color on the car because they like it, thought it was cool, or just wanted something custom. That color is not a generic and saleable color like black, green, red, etc..

Looks like a lot of spray bomb and under coating. When I see that, it scares me away because I don't care if you say it was rust free or not. No car almost 50 years old is rust free. Surface rust is not rust free. I personally would be more comfortable seeing an unmolested car showing its age to include rust/surface rust and pitting.

I find it funny that you are complaining you cannot sell it, but you could have. So in being obstinate and steadfast on your price, you lost out on a 19K sale. So now you talk about modding it which will put you deeper in the money pit hole. Are you ready to take a bigger loss?

Ditch the '72 nose and install the more pleasing '72 Lemans nose with chrome bumper on it. Put the GTO crap in the corner for the next guy. Customize? Add a pair of the Firebird Formula hood scoops. Guy in high school had this and it was outstanding. Ditch the mags and go with factory Pontiac mags/trim rings or even steel rims with dog dish hubcaps. Paint the car black and add the reflective Gold '72 body side stripes.

You could even fit the car with the more desirable 1970 GTO nose and Judge stripes.

Use the engine as a base build. Go with a stroker 461 kit from Butler. Have the 7K3 heads ported and rebuilt to flow 240 CFM's. Get a lumpy matching cam BECAUSE lumpy idle sells. RA exhaust manifolds and 2 1/2" pipes.

TH-400 is old school, but can still be kept. Add a "tight" 2500 stall converter, HD clutches & sprag, shift improver kit like Transgo which allows for both manual shifts as well as automatic shifting in Drive.

3.08's will work well with the bigger cubes & torque and the higher stall converter.

Now you will have a saleable package that looks good, sounds good, and will shred tires - all of which an older Pontiac buyer is looking for. Put an LS 5/6 speed or OD trans in it and you will peek the interest of the millenium crowd IF they have a job to support the price you'll be asking.

Any item anyone sells is only worth what another is willing to spend to acquire it. Apparently your selling price as viewed by potential buyers over a 3 year period just isn't working. You may want to let your children know what you think it is worth in your will, otherwise they may sell it at market price.