[ponchonorm]

New guy here with my 1st.
I was born into being a Pontiac guy. I was brought home from the hospital in my dad's new 69 GTO. Red on Red 4 speed that he got when he traded in his red on red 67 400 H.O. 4 speed Goat.
16 years later i'm a punk kid with a new drivers license wanting a car. Growing up i always said i was gonna get a 69. Get my license on a Thursday and Saturday morning we're heading to Des Moines to get my Goat. Espresso Brown 4 speed GTO. That was 24 years ago and its still mine.

Here's me in the back of my dad's 69. I was about 7 months old in that pic.

[Raptor471]

It all started in the early 70's a friend of mine asked me if I wanted to drive his brothers 1968 Red GTO convertable.He said his brother was in the service and wouldnt mind(well I was young at the time) and we could use my plates from my 63 Valiant I totalled a few weeks earlier.How could I say no..Everything was fine top down a warm summer night when my friend pointed out a hot babe hitchhiking on the other side of the street.Well I used the turn around but used to much gas.Ended doing a 360 right in the middle of the road.Next think I knew I was trying to explain why I was driving that car with plates from mine to a cop that pulled me over.Fast forward 1980.. a good friend picked me up in a 1975 blue 4-speed Trans Am and we went crusing.We took his Bird to a local state park and he showed me why the T/A was one of the best handling cars sold. Did a few j turns and had the Bird doing things I never thought a car could do,I was sold.4 years later I bought the Trans Am for $5000.Since then I have owned a 69 ,70 and a 02 Bird(the 69 and 75 was sold to but the 70,the 02 was sold so I could finish my 70 project.

[amcmike]

When I was 3yrs old, my later-to-be uncle would show up to pickup my aunt in his '69 TA. I remember standing about eye-level with the rear spoiler. It sounded mean. They moved to Fl and when we visited, he'd take me out for rides. Just a blip of the throttle would light up the rears.

I loved that car, and was heartbroken when he sold it. I always thought in the back of my mind that I would somehow eventually own that car. Now when he comes to visit, I let him ride in mine. It's not a TA, but it still brings back memories for both of us.

[70&71 TRANSAM OWNER]

When I was 15 years old in 1976 the lady next door had a nice 1970 whie / Blue Ta for sale she bought brand new. I some how got her to hold it till I came up with the over priced of 800.00 so I spent the summer killing my self cutting lawns begging grand ma ,mom dad ,what ever it took and i got it , we took it to my dads shop and rebuilt the engine never even seen it done before but by the time I turned 16 it was done I drove it all of highschool then when I grad in 1979 it was traded in on a brand new black TA ..well I kicked my self in the ass before i was off the lot .. I still have the 79 only 58 k miles and still looks new .It took 30 more years but I now have a 1970 and a 1971 in my garage again.

[Pontiac_Defender]

I dont recall my age at the time but my older brothers roommates dad had a 69' Judge that he bought brand new! I fell in love with that car! Thats what started me on Pontiac.

[poison heart]

How can you not fall in love with a 69 Judge?

[SRR]

I was 16 in 1973 and was at our local race track (Riverside Park Agawam Mass.) One of my friends friends (Fran Swenor R.I.P.) found out I could drive a stick shift and "ordered" me to drive the tow vehicle. It was a 1968 GTO convertible 400 4spd car with a chrome front bumper. I was blown away by this car to say the least. I ended up buying it later that year for a whole $275.00 and only had it for a short time before the carb. flooded over and caught fire. The insurance company totaled the car even though it was an easy fix. So, does anyone around western Mass remember a very yellow 1968 GTO rag top with a skull decal on the dash?

[amcmike]

Originally Posted by SRR

I was 16 in 1973 and was at our local race track (Riverside Park Agawam Mass.) One of my friends friends (Fran Swenor R.I.P.) found out I could drive a stick shift and "ordered" me to drive the tow vehicle. It was a 1968 GTO convertible 400 4spd car with a chrome front bumper.

Wait, the GTO convertible was the tow vehicle?

[SRR]

Originally Posted by amcmike

Wait, the GTO convertible was the tow vehicle?

Yes! Hard to believe now isn't it. I just remembered his wife had a matching 68 GTO except it was an automatic.

[badgto]

When I was eight, I can remember dad coming home and telling my sister and me that we were going uptown and to get mom a brand new car. We pulled up in front of the pontiac dealership and in the front row was this 1970 cardinal red GTO, with saddle wood interior, 400 and with a th-400. It was loaded except eletric windows. It was like WOW because I knew what we was getting, because I already had been going to the drag with neighbors. They were heavy into the Mopars and other muscle cars.

It was fun growing up watching dad getting a speeding ticket for doing 150. But the best memories was the day Mom was drivng and she looked over at me and said the car isn't running right, should I floor it to clean it out. There's no way I was going tell her "no". We only had to do it about 2-3 times . Nothing like hearing that q-jet kick in. They gave me that car for graduation, then I turn into the race car you see on my avatar. There is a couple time I wish I would of kept it stock, it would be worth more. But not as fun.

[71GP76TA]

Originally Posted by amcmike

Wait, the GTO convertible was the tow vehicle?

My dad used his '64 GP (421 3-2 4speed) to tow his buddys '65 Malibu SS (327/300 4 speed with slicks and open headers)to the drags. Just for kicks my dad decided to run his GP. The GP turned a better time than the Malibu.... needless to say... his buddy wasn't too happy that he got beat by the tow car.

[poison heart]

hahahaha wow the malibu got beat by the tow vehicle! hahahahaha

[Toecutter]

I guess I got my Pontiac start like just about everyone else. My Dad owned Pontiac's when I was a kid. We must have had at least 8 or 9 Grand Prix's when I was growing up. Everything from 1969's thru 1977's. My favorites were the 70 thru 72 years.

In high school, I owned a 1977 T/A, then later on when I got married, I bought a 1970 Grand Prix from a local racer. Car had a 455 in it but you couldn't tell because the ex-owner had taken a grinder to all the numbers on the block. Had to sell that car due to it rotting badly and I just didn't have the cash to fix it. Figured someone else would do better with it.

That was my last Pontiac until I bought our 2000 Ram Air Trans Am. That car is now my 17 years olds school car. We now own a 1980 Trans Am, powered by a real Pontiac 350. My boys and I did so much work on it that they now know Pontiac engines backwards and forwards...LOL!

Still, my heart is for the old Grand Prix's. Been working hard all year to earn a good bonus check from my company. Come January, I'm going to be shopping for a clean 1970-72 Grand Prix.

[71 T/A]

Discovered that a 70-73 Firebird blows away the looks of a 70-73 Camaro and runs better too. I was sold and bought a 73 Firebird I converted into a Formula. Now I have a real 72 Formula. And 69 GTO.

[SRR]

Originally Posted by Toecutter

I guess I got my Pontiac start like just about everyone else. My Dad owned Pontiac's when I was a kid. We must have had at least 8 or 9 Grand Prix's when I was growing up. Everything from 1969's thru 1977's. My favorites were the 70 thru 72 years.

In high school, I owned a 1977 T/A, then later on when I got married, I bought a 1970 Grand Prix from a local racer. Car had a 455 in it but you couldn't tell because the ex-owner had taken a grinder to all the numbers on the block. Had to sell that car due to it rotting badly and I just didn't have the cash to fix it. Figured someone else would do better with it.

That was my last Pontiac until I bought our 2000 Ram Air Trans Am. That car is now my 17 years olds school car. We now own a 1980 Trans Am, powered by a real Pontiac 350. My boys and I did so much work on it that they now know Pontiac engines backwards and forwards...LOL!

Still, my heart is for the old Grand Prix's. Been working hard all year to earn a good bonus check from my company. Come January, I'm going to be shopping for a clean 1970-72 Grand Prix.

My Dad drove 6 cylinder Chevy's a couple of Ramblers and a 6 cylinder Dodge truck. Now my neighbor had a 63 Grand Prix that I went for a ride in as a 9 year old. I was blown away when I saw the speedometer crest 100 MPH in such a short time. Then when I was fresh out of High School Dad got me a job at a Pontiac dealer.
Good luck in your hunt for a GP!

[CCLGTO]

Well it began with my dad who went to the dealer in LA to by a family car. He wanted a Lemans Conv, but when he got there they didn't have what he wanted, but the dealer said that there was this GTO conv that a guy orded special and never purchased the car and he could sell it for around the same price as the Lemans. The car was a 1968 Vendora Green with Black top conv. When my dad passed away I inhereted the car and I still have it today. In needs some minor work on the interior and a new top and it will be good to go. Just recently I scored a 1964 GTO tripower 4 speed for 22,000. The car is in perfect condition. I also own a 1971 bonneville 2 door 455 that is all original and I only paid 800 for it. So that is the stable and I'm still addicted to buying pontiacs and parts. Well it is better than a crack habbit or is it.

[dennis kirban]

kirban 2 cents worth

Just discovered this thread......for those old enough to remember my name you know I have a deep connection with the GTO.

I was a senior in high school 1965. The GTO was heavily written about in most of the car magazines back then.

As a senior I had two cars one being a 1950 Ford club coupe the other being a 1956 Crown Vic. My dream car as was most young guys was a Corvette I bought my first Vette about a month after graduating.....

With no college on the horizon I did not last passed September without having to join the military. Served in Vietnam....while there I kept reading about the GTO. Within 30 days of returning from Vietnam besides getting married to my high school sweatheart....

I bought a 1964 GTO 4-speed used. Think it was like $1,700. Burgundy black interior.
Story gets better in 1969 my wife lands a job...at Hurst and uses the GTO to drive to work at Hurst every day.....

I think you readers can see how things began to click in the early 1970s....and the rest as they say is History.....

B amazed what a few donuts did every morning when I would take GTO shifters to the Hurst repair area and get them rebuilt for customers.....all it took was donuts....one of the first services I offered my customers...

Its been a fun ride.....

Being their at the beginning......

denniskirban@yahoo.com

[68addict]

I like all cars. I was born in 1974, so Smokey and the Bandit and the Dukes of Hazzard were a big influence on me. It was either a charger or a trans am. I ended up with neither. I fell in love with the 68 GTO and Monte SS- when those were new. I have both now and still want to add a Mopar.

[RayK]

I got interested in engines when I was 8. My uncle was an aircraft mechanic in WW2 and my dad used to take his cars to "Unc" to have them fixed. I would ask questions and he would answer me. I used to tear the lawnmower engine apart among other things when pops wasn't home and I always had to get it back together before he got home or I'd get my a$$ whipped. When I was 9 he bought a 1968 Grand Prix which was his first ever Pontiac. he was a Chevy guy and he would own almost all Pontiacs from that day forward. I was 15 and I bought a 1971 GP from my sister for $50 and played with that for a few years. Got two 69 GP's, a 74 and 87 respectively. Bought a 75 T/A, a 78 Firebird, a 72 LeMans, the 69 Bird we race presently and another 72 LeMans which is in VERY nice condition. I also have a 73 GP presently. I'm sure I'm forgetting a couple but I'm tired right now. LOL

[Nomadac]

I went to H.S. back in the mid 50's graduating in 1957, so grew up with all of the cars in the 50's especially the Chevy's back then. Then along came the 57 Pontiac that was a real runner and gave a lot of the 57 Chevy's a run for the money.

My first new car was a 1961 Pontiac Ventura 2 Dr Hdtp. that started as a 2 bbl. 389 engine w/single exhaust. I installed dual exhaust and traded my 2 bbl. and manifold to a friend for his 64 4bbl. carb and manifold, he thought this would give him better mileage. From then on I was a fan of Pontiac. Living in Akron, OH. at the time and taking my car into Knafel Pontiac for service, I became very familiar with Knafel's Tin Indians and knew Arlen Vanke very well. Then to top my interest in Pontiac's I went to work for Pontiac Motor Div. in Oct. 1967 as a Service & Parts Rep. in the Akron area called District 2 in the Cleveland Zone. From then until June 30th, 1987 I worked for Pontiac in Field Service in various Zones and one stint assigned to the Central Office in Pontiac, MI.

I had the pleasure of driving every model that Pontiac built, averaging 10 Brass Hat cars every year for this entire period. I even drove one of John DeLorean's 1968 Firebirds that had a Ram Air II engine with an automatic while I was attending a training class in Pontiac. At the time I also had a Ram Air II Firebird as a Company car but mine was a close ratio 4 spd. w/performance axle. It seems the Security guard in the Corp. Garage saw me driving my firebird and asked if I would like to take DeLoreans car for a drive. I am sure if John had found out this guard would have found a new assignment for letting me take it for a ride, LOL.

I had may experiences and great times during that time and was always a real fan of Pontiacs, during the time that they Really built Excitement. Many things change with the promotion of Delorean to Chevy and later to the GM Corporate. Pontiac never had a GM or Mangement that really understood what made Pontiac great. Jim Wanger's wrote an article about the downfall of Pontiac, last year in one of the Pontiac magazines and hit the nail on the head as to the decesending fall of Pontiac. To think that Pontiac went from #3 in Sales for 9 years back then to being discontinued is beyond belief.

I left Pontiac in July 1987, after 20 years, when PMD was reducing salary headcount in an effort to reduce expenses. I went to work for TMS (Toyota Motor Sales) U.S. Distributor for Toyota Products. Spent 14 years with Toyota and what a difference in philosophy for a manufacturer from GM. The only Pontiac I purchased after leaving Pontiac was my current 1963 Pontiac Grand Prix that is a CA. car. Aside from the 2001 Chevy Suburban I own this is the only GM vehicle I own of will ever own. What a difference from the past.

RIP Pontiac