237 vs 242
 

I see a car for sale advertised as a 1965 GTO. The vin starts with 237. Is that right for a 65? seems wrong to me, however no expert. Im looking for another car but am not really up on gto's .

The ‘64 and ‘65 GTO didn’t have the GTO-specific body number, it wasn’t until 1966 that it became a specific model line rather than just an option on the Le Mans.

So no ‘242’ GTO body number on the cowl tag until 1966 through 1971.

Ask the seller for the PHS report on the car, or pay for it yourself if you’re really interested in the car. Some will have a ‘5N’ code on the cowl tag indicating the GTO option but not all will have it.

PHS is the only sure way to weed out faked GTOs.

2227 - 2-door Sport (Post) Coupe
2237 - 2-door Hardtop Coupe
2267 - Convertible

If it was built at the Pontiac Mich plant or Kansas City plant you would want to see the 5N or derivative of that code on the trim tag.
The other plants didn't use that coding.

Its pretty easy to get burned on a 65 LeMans without PHS , use prejudice.