[Bill Morgan]

Today I acquired my third GTO, a '65 Sport Sedan (post coupe), four years after I first inquired about it.

I spotted the car back in 1998 while helping my brother-in-law buy a '69 Firebird in Shallowater, a small town about 12 miles northwest of my home town of Lubbock, TX.

The little red coupe was sitting on flats in the back yard of a mobile home. I found the owner to be a 64-year-old man who had bought the car for $600 in 1977 and twice rebuilt the non-original 400 before parking the car a couple of years earlier.

He didn't want to sell it in 1998. I went back in 1999, and he did set a price, but it was considerable more than I felt the car was worth.

I made my annual visit in 2000, and he had given the car to his son to restore. I decided to forget about the car until about two weeks ago, when my curiosity once again got me off my rear.

This visit found him ready to give the car up to end squabbles among his sons and granchildren as to who should have the car, with which none of them had done a damned thing in six years.

It took a couple of hours to get it up on tires and loaded on a trailer, but it's now safe and secure.

I have not had time to inspect every square inch but the car appears quite straight with minimal rust. The original red paint is, of course, quite faded and the original red interior, less the front buckets (replaced by what looks to be a Cadillac bench sear), pretty ratty. It's missing one piece of glass, the left rear quarter window, but the dash instrumentation is intact, as is the factory radio reverb system.

The four-barrel intake is definitely a '71 component, and I believe the YS block and 96 heads will prove to match when I unearth the date codes.

This GTO originally had a manual transmission, but it has been converted to an auto, which I expect to correspond to the vintage of the engine.

Finally, the car sits on a posi rear axle, but I'll have to sand the white paint off to identify the ratio.

All in all, this Goat is an excellent candidate for restoration and is unlikely to sit anywhere for very long again. Oh, by the way, it has a clear title, an attribute becoming ever more rare with these orphaned classics.

[Bill Morgan]

Today I acquired my third GTO, a '65 Sport Sedan (post coupe), four years after I first inquired about it.

I spotted the car back in 1998 while helping my brother-in-law buy a '69 Firebird in Shallowater, a small town about 12 miles northwest of my home town of Lubbock, TX.

The little red coupe was sitting on flats in the back yard of a mobile home. I found the owner to be a 64-year-old man who had bought the car for $600 in 1977 and twice rebuilt the non-original 400 before parking the car a couple of years earlier.

He didn't want to sell it in 1998. I went back in 1999, and he did set a price, but it was considerable more than I felt the car was worth.

I made my annual visit in 2000, and he had given the car to his son to restore. I decided to forget about the car until about two weeks ago, when my curiosity once again got me off my rear.

This visit found him ready to give the car up to end squabbles among his sons and granchildren as to who should have the car, with which none of them had done a damned thing in six years.

It took a couple of hours to get it up on tires and loaded on a trailer, but it's now safe and secure.

I have not had time to inspect every square inch but the car appears quite straight with minimal rust. The original red paint is, of course, quite faded and the original red interior, less the front buckets (replaced by what looks to be a Cadillac bench sear), pretty ratty. It's missing one piece of glass, the left rear quarter window, but the dash instrumentation is intact, as is the factory radio reverb system.

The four-barrel intake is definitely a '71 component, and I believe the YS block and 96 heads will prove to match when I unearth the date codes.

This GTO originally had a manual transmission, but it has been converted to an auto, which I expect to correspond to the vintage of the engine.

Finally, the car sits on a posi rear axle, but I'll have to sand the white paint off to identify the ratio.

All in all, this Goat is an excellent candidate for restoration and is unlikely to sit anywhere for very long again. Oh, by the way, it has a clear title, an attribute becoming ever more rare with these orphaned classics.

[Txbobcat]

Persistence pays off sometimes. Sounds like a good find. I am sure you will bring it back to life. Make sure you paint that rear end black though.

[Bill Morgan]

The ratio of the posi axle turned out to be 3.08, so it will get cleaned off and freshly painted before it goes under my '67 428-powered GTO to replace the 3.55 posi currently there.

I have no intention of racing, the torque of the significantly-modified 428 will still provide an impressive launch, economy will be better, and it'll keep the revs down when I go on the power tour after I retire.

[79TA455]

Congrat's! I'm sure that some of us, like myself, would like to see pictures. Do you have any of the recent purchase?

<A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/rpk76/1979.htm" TARGET=_blank>79TA455
</A>

[Bill Morgan]

Here it is, straight out of the weeds and goatheads with only two dents and almost rust-free.

[Bill Morgan]

Picture two.

[Bill Morgan]

Picture three. The quality's not the greatest, but the camera only cost $19.95.

[Bill Morgan]

Picture four.

[Bill Morgan]

Picture five.

Did you notice in the previous picture that, above the left headlight assembly, visible in the background is the tail section of a '67 GTO on a rolling cradle in the building?

[Bill Morgan]

Sixth, and final, picture.

Thanks to the PY poster who informed me of the restoration interest of the 96 heads on the '71 400 currently under the hood.

I hope many of you someday experience the fulfillment of rescuing a true classic from the ignominy of abandonment and obscurity!

[Txbobcat]

Hey Bill pics look pretty good. This car looks a lot better than some I have looked at recently.Love that garage to. Sends pics as you get it going