#1  
Old 10-27-2019, 08:38 AM
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Default 1970 GTO pilot car - The Humbler



The Palladium Silver 1970 RAIV GTO pilot car, also The Humbler in the famous TV commercial, will be at the MCACN show Nov 23-24, 2019. The car needs a full restoration. It was painted Atoll Blue way back in the 1970's, partially disassembled, and today wears mostly red primer. So just a heads up, if you're at the show, look for a primered 1970 GTO Hardtop with a dark blue nose, not the Palladium Silver car as shown in the original promotional photo above. The owner will be there with the car.

The full story of the 1970 RAIV GTO pilot car will be in the November 2019 edition of POCI's 'Smoke Signals'.

Mike
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Old 10-27-2019, 10:09 AM
Pepper Judge Pepper Judge is offline
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That would be an interesting GTO to see.

Had to look up where the MCACN show is being held: Donald E. Stephens Convention Center 5555 N. River Road, Rosemont, Illinois 60018

https://www.mcacn.com/

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Old 10-28-2019, 06:47 AM
SD455DJ SD455DJ is offline
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Too cool Mike! I can't wait to read it!

Dennis

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Old 10-28-2019, 10:16 AM
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That is cool. Sure did not sound like ra4 in commercial.

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Old 10-28-2019, 11:13 AM
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Truly an incredible find. The car has 4 invoices; factory company car, engineering, Pittsburgh Zone tagged as a Display car, then sold to a dealership in Pennsylvania.

Body # 001, built in May 1969. All the components are dated pre-May 1969. RAIV engine and trans do not have VINS. Also has VOE (not on the invoice). The car was updated to 1970 MVSS specs when it was shipped to the Pittsburgh Zone Office. Pontiac built five 1970 A-body pilot cars, one of which was this Palladium Silver RAIV GTO. The pilot car can also be seen in the factory 1970 Pontiac high performance brochure, and was road tested in the Sept 1969 edition of Motor Trend.

Cool stuff, and amazing how the owner stumbled upon this significant piece of GTO history.

Mike

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Old 10-29-2019, 06:39 AM
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Is it true the car will be at MCACN in a few weeks?

So, this means Pontiac sold its pilot cars as is without vin on engines and trans, etc.?

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Old 10-29-2019, 08:20 AM
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1970 Pontiac Performance Cars brochure:

http://www.gt-37.org/gallery/index.php?/category/79

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Old 10-29-2019, 10:24 AM
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Yes, the car and owner will be at the 2019 MCACN show.

It's one of those cases where the car should not have been sold, but when it was updated to the 1970 MVSS standards, Pontiac must have felt it was ok to sell. It had a deep 30% discount applied BEFORE the 1970 model year because it had already been used extensively for promotional use (and press showings) during the Summer of 1969.

Mike

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Old 10-29-2019, 01:24 PM
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Very cool find!!

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Old 10-29-2019, 10:46 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by J GLASGO View Post
That is cool. Sure did not sound like ra4 in commercial.
I thought the same thing when I saw this on Facebook.

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Old 10-30-2019, 11:17 PM
Baron Von Zeppelin Baron Von Zeppelin is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeNoun View Post

Truly an incredible find. The car has 4 invoices ...

Body # 001, built in May 1969. All the components are dated pre-May 1969.

Cool stuff, and amazing how the owner stumbled upon this significant piece of GTO history.

Mike
D A M N

Can't wait to hear the full story.


1970 Convertible Body #003 GTO is also still alive and well.
No body build date at all on cowl tag.
It was also possibly a Pilot Car.

In fact - it also had an odd twist with a Non-VIN 455HO engine/M21 with 12 bolt rear.
And the 455 option supposedly wasn't on the Invoices ... (aka 400 WT -M20 -10 Bolt)
Was a flukky deal at the time, he wouldn't ever post any Invoices

couldn't make heads or tails out of the car - or the owner

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Old 10-31-2019, 01:27 PM
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cool!

This makes me glad I recently renewed my POCI membership with the print subscription to Smoke Signals!
(I debated on letting it lapse because "international" fee is quite frightening compared to just a couple years ago)

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1970 Formula 400
Carousel Red paint on Black standard interior
A no-engine, no-transmission, no-wheel option car.
Quite likely one of few '70 Muncie three speed Formula 400's left.


1991 Grand Am: 14.4 @ 93.7mph (DA corrected) (retired DD, stock appearing)
2009 Cobalt SS: 13.9 @ 103mph (current DD; makes something north of 300hp & 350ft/lbs)
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Old 10-31-2019, 11:30 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by unruhjonny View Post
cool!

This makes me glad I recently renewed my POCI membership with the print subscription to Smoke Signals!
(I debated on letting it lapse because "international" fee is quite frightening compared to just a couple years ago)
Just get the copy to view online and save your money for parts.

But Mike is doing some really neat stuff on SS. I keep on telling him he should get one of them in MCR for the rest of the muscle car world to see.

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Old 11-01-2019, 10:40 AM
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If I am anything, I am a stick in the mud.
And as you can see, I have no issue admitting to it.

I prefer having tangible printed magazines over looking at another computer screen any day of the week.
My day job has me infront of a computer, so maybe that has something to do with it, but I prefer to flip through a magazine.

Being that I live across a border north of the 49th parallel (as opposed to some Americans who live north of the 49th) I am international, and a couple years ago 'Smoke Signals' went from a reasonable $40usd to nearly double ($74usd) last year.
I was told something along the lines of the 'International' rate was basically adjusted to ensure that POCI wasn't losing money on Australian subscriptions;
Australian and Canadian subscriptions are both lumped into the same lot of "international".

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1970 Formula 400
Carousel Red paint on Black standard interior
A no-engine, no-transmission, no-wheel option car.
Quite likely one of few '70 Muncie three speed Formula 400's left.


1991 Grand Am: 14.4 @ 93.7mph (DA corrected) (retired DD, stock appearing)
2009 Cobalt SS: 13.9 @ 103mph (current DD; makes something north of 300hp & 350ft/lbs)
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Old 11-06-2019, 09:23 PM
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Wow, and it is a VOE car!

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Old 11-16-2019, 09:26 AM
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Got my Smoke Signals and read the story yesterday.
Wow - what a great car / history! Thanks, Mike, for bringing the story to us.
Hope I can make it to MCACN this year to see the car, too.

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Old 11-16-2019, 12:38 PM
Baron Von Zeppelin Baron Von Zeppelin is offline
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PHS availability has been such a multi-dimensional blessing to Pontiacs and us enthusiasts.
Beyond the born-with pedigree being carved in stone for us -
we would never have had a clue about hardly any of these cars ever having any type of early PMD significance, without the Invoice trails.

All the various Company/Executive , Engineering , Marketing , Promo , Pilot , Proto-type and Test cars that have turned up - only after the fact of owners getting Invoices - has just been incredible ... and fascinating .. to me.

All the other brands likely had all the same scenarios too, but no archives to help document or discover such cars.
So we get all that, on top of the best looking cars, its wild.

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Old 11-16-2019, 12:51 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by keith k View Post
Got my Smoke Signals and read the story yesterday.
Wow - what a great car / history! Thanks, Mike, for bringing the story to us.
Hope I can make it to MCACN this year to see the car, too.
Since I recieved my October SS last week, I'm guessing I have another three weeks to wait... lol

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1970 Formula 400
Carousel Red paint on Black standard interior
A no-engine, no-transmission, no-wheel option car.
Quite likely one of few '70 Muncie three speed Formula 400's left.


1991 Grand Am: 14.4 @ 93.7mph (DA corrected) (retired DD, stock appearing)
2009 Cobalt SS: 13.9 @ 103mph (current DD; makes something north of 300hp & 350ft/lbs)
  #19  
Old 11-16-2019, 02:06 PM
CDN2PLS2 CDN2PLS2 is offline
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Same Here !!

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  #20  
Old 11-16-2019, 02:42 PM
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unruhjonny unruhjonny is offline
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Ha-ha!!

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1970 Formula 400
Carousel Red paint on Black standard interior
A no-engine, no-transmission, no-wheel option car.
Quite likely one of few '70 Muncie three speed Formula 400's left.


1991 Grand Am: 14.4 @ 93.7mph (DA corrected) (retired DD, stock appearing)
2009 Cobalt SS: 13.9 @ 103mph (current DD; makes something north of 300hp & 350ft/lbs)
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