[Rich-Tripower]

Some may recall that the 64 GTO we have isn't actually mine. I restored it but it actually belongs to my cousin. He never took it home so it is still in my storage garage. I basically treat it like mine but he pays all the bills. He is older than me and hasn't had much of a chance to come and enjoy the car much in the past few years. I just sold a classic recently and will have money in hand and I'm wondering if now might be a good time to offer to buy the car from him.

The car is a PHS verified numbers matching car which is a tripower, 4-speed car with no PS or PB, only real meaningful options beyond that are an AM radio, Safe-T-Track and quick ratio steering. Car is restored to completely stock but we did add a factory style tachometer, an aftermarket temp and oil pressure gauges, Crane XRi ignition system (looks stock from the outside), radial redlines and the gear ratio is 3.55, I think the original gears were 3.23. The vacuum tripower stuff is in a box, we went with the mechanical linkage. Runs and drives great. We added rear seat belts and the front seat belts are close reproductions but don't look exactly like the originals.

A few pictures of the car from a few years ago are below, it looks the same now as it is always in storage and covered. Probably less than 500-600 miles on it since the restoration was completed. Whole car has around 85k original miles. Speedo was professionally rebuilt last year. We did our best to refurbish and reuse as many original parts as was practical but some reproduction parts were used along the way.

[Dick Boneske]

I believe a fair offer would be $50,000.

[JSchmitz]

What a fantastic '64 you have there! Good luck landing it! I can't imagine owning that and not picking it up or driving it. I would think $50k would be a deal.

[1965gp]

I think 50k is a good price between friends- obviously you have some time into the car.

Retail I would say 60-70k. The car is beautiful snd has all the right options.

[JSchmitz]

Originally Posted by 1965gp

I think 50k is a good price between friends- obviously you have some time into the car.

Retail I would say 60-70k. The car is beautiful snd has all the right options.

^^^X2

I think that's a good assessment.

[Andre]

I'd buy that car at 50k

[chrisp]

Originally Posted by 1965gp

I think 50k is a good price between friends- obviously you have some time into the car.

Retail I would say 60-70k. The car is beautiful snd has all the right options.

Hit the nail on the head.

[Rich-Tripower]

It was a fairly decent car to begin with given it was a South Dakota/Nebraska car all its life. It was taken off the road in the 70s so that had to help. He street raced and drag raced the car but never really modified it other than silly steep gears in the rear, it had 4.88s when we tore it down. He had changed the fuel lines and added a cooling can for the fuel line but it still had the stock carbs, exhaust manifolds, nothing was ever done to the inside of the engine. The block was cracked due to frost heaves but it was professionally repaired by a cast iron welding expert so we could retain the original block. Everything is numbers matching and date correct and as I mentioned we have the PHS papers. It even still had the original Hurst shifter. Oh, we did replace the shift rods with real Hurst shift rods due to the weird clamping pivot rods GM used. That was something my cousin did back in the day but he even kept the original GM shift rods. There may be a piece or two of the vacuum tripower set up missing, not really sure since we never intended to put it back on and probably never will.

Odd thing about the PHS is that the invoice shows a hand written note that the posi was REMOVED but as long as we've had it (1970) it has had a Safe-T-Track in it and it looks all original. The original invoice shows Safe-T-Track so maybe they removed it and replaced it for a warranty issue before it was shipped? Not really sure.

The color is great and the black and cream interior is nice, not the same old all-black interior. If it were mine, I'd probably put new springs under it and have the original padded dash restored. Right now it has a reproduction dash pad which looks good, but I'd rather have the original myself. Everything works.

[mgarblik]

Pricing cars like this with family involved can be dicey of course. But I agree with others that a cash exchange of 50K should make everyone happy. Your cousin isn't getting any value out of the car as he hasn't been using, showing or enjoying it. You want it and have time effort and storage in the car. Does he really want to deal with all the hassle of selling it to an outside party? That can really be a painful experience with all the phone calls, tire kickers, scammers and dealers wanting a piece of the action not to mention going the auction route and all the fees. I think you are in the ballpark at 50K. That's a beautiful car and love the color combination. Hope you get it.

[Rich-Tripower]

Well, I honestly don't know if he'd actually be interested in selling it. He is pretty emotionally attached to it. And if he did decide to sell it, I suspect he'd leave it in my hands to get it sold and let me keep a percentage for my trouble. All his kids are girls and all grown, they don't see any value in it other than what it might be worth if sold. Not saying they are heartless or anything, they just aren't really an old car crowd in any way. They also wouldn't have clue one how to maintain it. None of their husbands are car guys or even mechanically inclined in any way.

[Sloan66]

Similar car did not sale at Mecum recently, bid got to 65k just fyi, not saying that is a determination of value.

https://www.mecum.com/lots/AZ0322-49...4-pontiac-gto/

Agree dealing with family changes everything, great story and beautiful car, my all time favorite color on Pontiacs. Hope it works out for you.

[ZeGermanHam]

Originally Posted by 1965gp

I think 50k is a good price between friends- obviously you have some time into the car.

Retail I would say 60-70k. The car is beautiful snd has all the right options.

Agree with this assessment.

[Goatracer1]

I think the time has come for the 2 of you to sit down and discuss the whole matter. Does he want to sell and if so does he want to sell to you? Some people will not sell to friends or relatives because if there turns out to be a problem they don't want hard feelings. You and your cousin seem like good friends. If he wants to sell tell him the fair market price and then ask him what he would want from you. You may find that you 2 are close to what you are comfortable paying.

[geeteeohguy]

Originally Posted by 1965gp

I think 50k is a good price between friends- obviously you have some time into the car.

Retail I would say 60-70k. The car is beautiful snd has all the right options.

I also agree that this is dead-on. Car is sharper than most and a very nice color combo. It's a 'no excuses' car, for sure.

[Mike Davis]

I think you should offer him $25K, then I will give you $45K and you can make $20K easily!!!! J/K
Nice ride.

[John V.]

I try to avoid value questions other than to say that I would favor eBay or BaT to establish what the market will pay. Hemmings also offers a low cost auction site.

I've looked at '64 GTO convertible auctions on BaT from time to time and bid prices have often surprised me. Some that I think should hit the high end of value get no love and others that seem of similar value get bid much higher. I watched Brody's beautiful '64 hit $100k. I was surprised to learn it wasn't completely "factory correct" but even at the price it sold at, I think Brody hoped for more. It was a no expense spared resto and if he made money on the sale it was only because he tackled so much of the work himself IIRC so you can make money if your labor is free!

You already know what it cost to restore yours. Common wisdom, buy an already restored car as it will always cost less than one needing resto. So that can be a guide I suppose.

Main reason for my reply is the Safe-T-Track question. You said "invoice" but I am assuming you are referring to the PHS document? Depending on where the GTO was built, the doc type depends on the Final Plant. But irrespective of that, I'm guessing the handwritten note reflects an add/delete notation and associated CMD notation on the PHS record.

I've seen a fair no. of these. There are certainly other possibilities but most likely the Dealer Order called for the Safe-T-Track but it was shipped without it. Perhaps a simple build error, wrong axle sequenced to the final line.

My guess for why it was in the car as early as 1970 is explained by a buyer having ordered it with Safe-T-Track but learning it was delivered without it. The disappointed buyer then requested/demanded the dealer install the Safe-T-Track after delivery and the dealer accommodated him. In the scheme of things, not only would this have been an easy swap, it probably didn't cost the dealer much even if he ate the cost. You could find a Parts Price List which would tell you the retail price of a complete Safe-T-Track Differential and if the dealer ate it, his cost was even less.

Just my theory.

I love the color combo with the Parchment interior.

[67GTONUT]

Before I scrolled down..... I was thinking $55K ..... more than fair

[tempest1964]

Rich, one thing I would mention. I believe that it was primarily you that did the restoration of this beautiful car? I would think that fact would go into considering the price that you and Bob might agree on, if he agrees to sell it to you. I would also think that if he does sell it, you would be the only likely person he would consider since you are family and the old girl could then stay in the family. Just my humble opinion. Good luck!

[Rich-Tripower]

Wagon went bye-bye today so I have the funds in hand but the more I think about it I'm going to pass on any ideas to buy the GTO. The whole point of selling the wagon was to simplify my life so just filling it up again with another car would kind of be counter productive. The L79 car will stick with me until the very end.

All in all, I'm bit more sad about the wagon leaving than I expected to be.

[Pecosbill]

As a way to ease the possible pain of selling the car, offer him, in writing, a right of last refusal to repurchase the car if you ever decide to sell it. That way he is allowed to buy it back if he matches whatever bonafide offer you receive. To avoid any problems with this arrangement, put all the terms in writing, especially describing what exactly constitutes a bonafide offer.