[Shiny]

Originally Posted by thews

What the hell is going on here?

Apparently there is a market for a cover to make a 70 Tempest or LeMans look like a GTO at a fraction of the cost and effort of swapping on a GTO front clip.

I am not that market but can't argue the uniquely good looks of a 70 GTO nose.

And any Tempest/LeMans looks as good as the one in their ad, I think they'd be nuts to cover it.

I had no problem covering my cracked dash with something similar, though.....

[Scarebird]

Looks are of course subjective; I was never fond of the 1970 Lemans front - out of balance. A 70 GTO-style replacement would do wonders in my book.

[keith k]

Originally Posted by thews

Here's a funky monkey... 76 Firebird with a 76 Formula hood (1 year only and it's not Ram Air as the poser stickers claim) and a 70-73 nose with a reserve in Kansas. What do you think? Does it work?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/16627461415...Bk9SR9Cooqm8Yg

I have always liked the look of the '76 Formula hood with the '70-'73 nose. Couple times I've come close to picking up '76 hoods at swap meets ... just in case

[Shiny]

Originally Posted by Scarebird

Looks are of course subjective; I was never fond of the 1970 Lemans front - out of balance. A 70 GTO-style replacement would do wonders in my book.

Variations in opinion are good for most things. Otherwise we'd all drive the same car.

I suspect this molded nose may be driven more by money than by looks. It's hard to justify the cost of plating a bumper on a car that will never have high value. A 2 or 3 hundred dollar replacement for the glass header and rusty front bumper would probably save more than that. I wonder if these covers bolt in place where the header attaches?

[thews]

71 GTO 4-speed In Warwick blue at $1K NR in Washington. What a shock, another GTO with fake Judge stripes, fake Ram Air stickers, and the eBay required "400 - 4" air cleaner sticker (at least it doesn't have the wing). Aside from that, this is a nice car with 148K miles. The hose is blocking the head casting numbers, but they look like later model (>1970) heads.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/27599395006...Bk9SR5ijko29Yg

[thews]

72 GTO in NJ at $25K BIN. Looks like the drive train is all there. The interior is brown and about as bland as it gets. Not sure if the yellow was the original color. A nice stock car, but the colors aren't for me.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/30506813188...Bk9SR5qjko29Yg

[thews]

77 Trans AM in Las Vegas with 21K original miles at $19K with a reserve. This could be a concours car. My 80 Trans AM is silver with a red interior... that color combination is not common.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/25617852894...Bk9SR5iU8o29Yg

[thews]

73 Brewster green Trans AM NOM 455 and a 5 speed with a reserve in Nebraska. I absolutely love this car. A 73 looks its best with a set of 15" Honeycombs. The 17" new honeycombs look good on these cars, but on a stock car I like the originals.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/33498547215...Bk9SR6CDv469Yg

[thews]

68 Mayfair Maze 4-speed GTO in Florida at $45K BIN OBO. They did some things right, and some things, not so much IMO. Bad decisions - The 69 Judge wing, blacked out accents, painting the rear bumper, waterbed steering wheel, chrome mags. Good decision - They added Ram Air, though I don't see a RAM AIR pull cable, so it's prolly full-time Ram Air. Priced too high IMO.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/28542598176...Bk9SR6CDv469Yg

[limejudge69]

"Apparently there is a market for a cover to make a 70 Tempest or LeMans look like a GTO at a fraction of the cost and effort of swapping on a GTO front clip" Quote

That would be this steaming pile of excrement here: I am amazed at the crap out there for sale. The Chevy "clone them all into an SS or Z28" mentality has hit the Pontiac sector and it sucks.

:

[Scarebird]

Originally Posted by thews

...What a shock, another GTO with fake Judge stripes, fake Ram Air stickers, and the eBay required "400 - 4" air cleaner sticker...

I would take the sticker any day versus the mandated overpriced garbage Radial TA's that seem to shoe every build.

[Greg Reid]

I'll always have a soft spot for a Mayfair Maize '68 as it was my first GTO but I hate what they did to that one.The blacked out bright work is absolutely horrendous.

[limejudge69]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

I'll always have a soft spot for a Mayfair Maize '68 as it was my first GTO but I hate what they did to that one.The blacked out bright work is absolutely horrendous.

Same here. During my middle school years (early 1980's) there was a family who had a MM 68 GTO with hideaways as their daily driver. I always looked for it in the drop-off line.

As for the tasteless mods on this car, it wouldn't take too much it get to back to a basic level of respectability. Not sure about the rivets on the trim tag though. They look previously molested

[thews]

Originally Posted by limejudge69

"Apparently there is a market for a cover to make a 70 Tempest or LeMans look like a GTO at a fraction of the cost and effort of swapping on a GTO front clip" Quote

That would be this steaming pile of excrement here: I am amazed at the crap out there for sale. The Chevy "clone them all into an SS or Z28" mentality has hit the Pontiac sector and it sucks.

:

I'm kinda mixed on this one, as my hypocrisy is split between real GTO's and a Lemans.

Judge clones:

GTO's - it's still a GTO and it's not a Judge. It didn't come with RAM AIR, so putting the RA stickers on the hood is a Poser move and I understand a lot of people do it, it's just not my thing and I'm not impressed by them... quite the opposite. A 1968 GTO like the one above couldn't come with a wing, so why stick it on there? In the end, the car is worth less when you turn a real GTO into a fake Judge. When the repro Judge parts came out it was all the rage, until literally everyone who had their car painted did it. BTW, my first Pontiac at 16 was a 70 455 GTO, so it's why I love them with their born with look.

Lemans - A Lemans is a nice car and many people love them. The 68 and 69 GTO could be ordered with a chrome front end, so they weren't that much different externally than a GTO. The 70 GTO is very different than a Lemans. The 71 - 72 GTO's were an option on the Lemans. In the end, doing something to a Lemans to make it a GTO is what I would do if I had one. Make it a Judge... who cares, it's a tribute car. Paint it whatever color you want. There are many examples on eBay and some ask over $50K. Not sure it sells for that, but they list pretty high. The new bumper cover mentioned previously is a losing proposition IMO. I doubt it fits right (prolly real bad), and if you're in the market for that, it means you're getting the car painted. Just find a real 70 GTO nose and go from there.

The pic you posted is a common mod. They take a 70 Lemans (and 71-72 Lemans without the endra nose), put on a GTO hood and GTO badges. Some paint the front bumper and put on stripes and a 70 wing too. There's a fiberglass looking hood that actually looks better on a 70 GTO clone with a painted bumper.

[limejudge69]

I also despise poorly done clones, no matter what model they started life as. A lot of them don't even have the decals in the right location. 68 and 72 Judge clones are the worst, along with installing a spoiler on a 68. It's refreshing to see a basic LeMans nowadays. And don't even get me started on the air cleaner and hood decals, as they are so overused at this point. I lean more purist, but I have no problem with tasteful mods, or day 2 type mods. At the end of the day, It is someone's vehicle and they can do stupid crap to it if they like. I just don't enjoy seeing the waters getting so muddied up with butchered cars

[thews]

Originally Posted by limejudge69

Same here. During my middle school years (early 1980's) there was a family who had a MM 68 GTO with hideaways as their daily driver. I always looked for it in the drop-off line.

As for the tasteless mods on this car, it wouldn't take too much it get to back to a basic level of respectability. Not sure about the rivets on the trim tag though. They look previously molested

I see what you mean. If the VIN on the dash looks good, I wouldn't question it. I've seen many cars doing a frame off that take off the trim tag (I wouldn't). But if that was changed, then it is a re-badge. Is there anything wrong with doing a re-badge resto on a totaled GTO?

[Scarebird]

On that blue 71. where did the hood come from?

[thews]

Interesting car - 1969 GTO 4-speed RAM AIR 4 at $132K BIN in Illinois. The brown and poverty caps take it as far away as possible from something that pops, like a 69 red Judge. Front bench seat in a 4-speed GTO is uncommon. Beautiful car.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/11588627763...Bk9SR5Ssuaa9Yg

[Greg Reid]

Yeah, the Mayfair Maize car could be corrected fairly easily but the insane price makes it a non starter.
That Expresso Brown car is another story. Very, very nice looking car.

[thews]

67 Firebird convertible in Florida with a $45K reserve.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/39480936494...kAAOSw62Rk1Co2