[lethal-428-lemans]

I have been looking for a long time " 33 years " to find a car that my great grand father and then my dad owned. After following leads and cruising sever back country roads I spotted her. I then talked to several people to find the current owner. We started negotiations and today 4/10/2017 she became a member of the family again She will need a lot of work and love but she is worth it to me.
1984




2017

[JG'SGTO]

Good for you. Congrats.

[Jack Peters]

Good for you. Now the work/fun begins.
Keep us posted and more history.

[Bills Auto Works]

That is an amazing story, are you going to return it to the way it looked back then?

[salem1912]

Looks like it never left Pa? Good luck with the car.326 4spd?

[skipp65]

Gratifying for sure after all that time

[Brewster]

Great news and thanks for sharing it. Love the triple AAA decal on the glove box. Whats the plan on the build?

[Half-Inch Stud]

Oh Thaaaat car... must have traded hands about 12 times in the early 80's for $50 buck a person. I got the reverb, some bucket seat parts, and an upper dash switch. Now it's back to the originator. Geez.

[428RA4]

I don't believe a Le Mans ever had a GTO hood, but I may be wrong.

thoughts?

[mrrat1]

Good for You!!! Your Great GD & Dad I'm sure would be proud of You.

A labor of love ensues..........best of luck getting the car done!!

[george kujanski]

GTO style directional signals too in the original pix. I did that to my previous Lemans Sprint. Didn't get around to changing the hood tho.

George Kujanski

[ponchjoe]

Originally Posted by 428RA4

I don't believe a Le Mans ever had a GTO hood, but I may be wrong.

thoughts?

You asked for thoughts so here you go. Why would you post that on a thread that has a happy ending. Congratulate the guy on finding his dream car and move on.

Lethal, congrats on finding it! Please do a build thread when you get going!

[428RA4]

Your perception is misguided. I'm happy for the guy, but is it required for everyone to pee on the same telephone pole and roll in it? It was an honest question as I don't know. Instead of flaming people for ignorance, enlightenment would of been the better road traveled.

Some GTOs in 1968 had Le Mans front bumpers and was an option for a short while. The mid 70's Trans Ams - some were produced without a shaker due to some retarded regulations.

Take your medicine with lots of water my friends.

[unruhjonny]

interesting - congrats on finally finding it after "33 years"!

what is it?

Granted I am no expert, but I see GTO grilles and hood;
But iirc those tail lamps are Lemans - which seems to match the interior and quarter panel badging.
What drive train did it have when your great grand father had it?
Did your dad change things on it?

(in for more of the story!)

[BertMac]

Nice find...
Guys these cars have been through alot. Someone put the GTO hood and turn signal lights on it.. Actually I think the grills are 66 GTO, front nose piece is LeMans..... Happened all the time back then. Probably got wrecked and they just replaced it with this stuff. The more I look at the old picture you can tell the grills are 66 in the pic.. Kinda cool to have that picture and then find the car the same way years later

Nice car to start a restore with

[GT182]

Great to see you got the family LeMans back in the family. I see 66 GTO grills in the front her in the 2017 photo. I wonder how they did that for a 67.

Originally Posted by 428RA4

I don't believe a Le Mans ever had a GTO hood, but I may be wrong.

thoughts?

No, the LeMans never had a GTO hood. Unless the owner added one. I'd leave it on your car. The GTO hood just makes the car look better IMO.

Back in 1973 I put a '65 GTO hood on my '66 Tempest Custom HT, and the whole '66 GTO setup for lights and grills. Cost me $75 for the GTO parts from the Pontiac dealer down the street from me in Rochester, NY. I traded some college books for the '65 GTO hood with a friend that wrecked the frame on his '65 LeMans. Color was Nightwatch Blue for hood and car.... matched perfectly. I wish I still had that car today.

[linden_gto]

this is a cool story. i've often thought about 'running across' the 67 GTO convertible that my dad had when i was a kid, but i know it's a long shot. i also know that my uncle, who bought it from my dad, blew the original 400 (and later a 421 and a 428) and didn't generally take care of the car at all, so finding that particular example isn't that important. i have looked at a couple 67 Linden Green convertible, 4 speeds over the years, but never pulled the trigger based on multiple reasons. it would still be cool to have an identical car, though.

i'm always looking...

[mrrat1]

Originally Posted by ponchjoe

You asked for thoughts so here you go. Why would you post that on a thread that has a happy ending. Congratulate the guy on finding his dream car and move on.

Lethal, congrats on finding it! Please do a build thread when you get going!

I was gonna say the same thing.........everyone should know A GTO hood only came on a ???? GTO

[lethal-428-lemans]

I talked to my dad about the car. It was original Tyrol blue metallic. The guy he got it from for my great grand father painted it white. The front was damaged and dad had piles of GTO parts so that is what he fixed it with. It was and still is a 326 with a 3 speed trans. No power 4 wheel drums with a 10 bolt rear. My dad said it was a factory am radio but he put the Pontiac am/FM in it. His exact words " holy **** man that's still got my radio in it ! " it was kinda funny. I even got the keys back that they had cut at the old mom and pop hardware store in town.

I found myself just sitting in the car today for about half an hour just thinking about all the good memories like pretending to drive it when I was little. Trips for an ice cream cone. Getting my first dog at the shelter and it throwing up on me in the car on the way home and just tons of other things. As I sat there holding the wheel and shifter I remembered watching my great grand dad cruising slow and listening to johnny cash on the 8 track. Then I thought of dad playing CCR and ripping some gears.

Dad and I are going to start her up this weekend she still turns by hand so she will start.

I'll be sure to post a thread and pictures as I work on her with my dad just like old times

[2002Z4CSS]

Very neat story. Now the fun begins.