[leeklm]

question for you 73 A body historians...

Buddy and I were talking about the rarity of the 73 GTO, which got me thinking a little more about mine... While all 73 GTO's are rare, mine was actually ordered with virtually zero options, and a 3spd Muncie. According to the PHS...

--GTO and Sport Windows
--Manual Disk Brakes
--Manual Steering
--Bumper strips
--AM Radio
--Rally II Wheels and upgraded tire.

That is it! No AC, no center console. I mean, who orders a GTO option and stays with a 3spd instead of the 4 spd? Strange.

Curious, has anyone ever seen a real 73 GTO with a 3spd manual??

Mine will actually be up for sale. I am moving the big powerplant over to a 1st Gen Firebird, and putting the 73 all back to stock. Figured it will actually be worth more in stock form. Before it is sold, I am looking forward to cruising around a little with the 3 spd

Thank you in advance for any thoughts!

[trishieldchief]

Post some pics and PHS.

[Tim john]

Our family had a 3 speed 73 GTO while I was in high school. Car still retains it, sold the car to a friend and it has been sitting in his barn since the early eighties. Blue exterior, blue interior, 3-speed, no console.

Tim john---

[PurelyGTO68]

What part of the country is the car from? I might be interested...

We have 73 Sport Coupe Lemans with every one of the options that are in the GTO package except the hood. Purchased from the original owner in the early 80s. He claimed he ordered the car without GTO or GT package and did not get the 4 speed because his insurance company would not issue a policy to him on any sort of muscle car. He was told a 4 speed car is classified as a muscle car back in those days. He traded in an older GTO because the insurance costs had increased out of control and he could no longer keep the car. (Too many speeding tickets I think...)

Looking back, I bet he didn't realize the 242 VIN designation had been dropped by that time so it's likely he could have ordered the GTO package and kept the base 3 speed and his insurance company would not be the wiser. Water under the bridge now...

Ironically, he paid more for the GTO items individually compared to just ordering the package.

I presume there might be quite a few cars with 3 speed manual trans if insurance was an issue. From what I have read, muscle cars were falling out of favor in the early 70s due to public perception regarding safety and poor economy. It probably didn't help that insurance premiums were increasing at the same time.

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[leeklm]

Car original to Kentucky. When I purchased 5 years ago, car was recently painted, and new headliner, but that was it. I pulled the front clip to dress up the engine bay. One bolt lead to another and I decided to pull the frame out, sand blasted, epoxy, new body mounts, fuel and brake lines, etc. The only bolts rusted were the ones holding vrear sway bar to the OEM brackets! Essentially a frame-off, but in reverse order!

Everything has been done including professional refurb on seat belts, hood hinges, etc. OE 8.5" rear was upgraded with Eaton Position, 3.42 AAM gears, billet cap, Moser Axles, etc.

This is a VERY nice car that needs nothing! Couple pics and PHS. I will post in the for sale section when I have the OE Muncie back in and car ready to go to it's next home.

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[leeklm]

Pics and phs

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[leeklm]

Pic of the brake/clutch pedals have minimal wear. I replaced the OEM ball joints, etc, which I think confirms the 75k miles are correct. Trans and rear original to car, but the motor going with car is a 68 400 with 4x heads & ~5k miles on refresh.

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[Roadking88]

Back in the late 1970's I knew of a 73 GTO with a 3 speed manual. It was originally a tan or sand colored car, repainted black. Non factory rims and tan-ish colored interior. This was in the metro Atlanta area.

[PurelyGTO68]

Looks nice. Originally Starlight Black. Someone added the D35 mirrors, D98 stripe and perhaps the N30 steering wheel? That wheel isn't listed as included with the W62 package so maybe someone added it at some point? Would be nice with rally gauges and center console....probably could be added easy enough.

Will keep an eye out for your listing in the for sale section...



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[unruhjonny]

my understanding is that for models which came with a three speed stick @ n/c, many were built that way.
I know of a local '70 Judge which retains it's three speed Muncie transmission...

I think that over the years, often the three speed was viewed as inferior, and replaced with a four speed rather quickly.

in my quest for a correct three speed shifter for my car, I bought a couple different GTO three speed shifters to see if anything might be close... thankfully a local ended up sourcing my shifter and shifter plate.

[PurelyGTO68]

Originally Posted by unruhjonny

my understanding is that for models which came with a three speed stick @ n/c, many were built that way.
I know of a local '70 Judge which retains it's three speed Muncie transmission...

I think that over the years, often the three speed was viewed as inferior, and replaced with a four speed rather quickly.

in my quest for a correct three speed shifter for my car, I bought a couple different GTO three speed shifters to see if anything might be close... thankfully a local ended up sourcing my shifter and shifter plate.

There was a standard and HD (M13) version of the 3 speed transmissions. I think all the HD units were floor shifted but were all the standard units column shift? If not, were the floor shifters the same?

Back in the day we couldn't hardly wait to yank out a 3 speed in favor of 4 forward gears. Now would prefer the 3 speed for cruising around since it's less effort. I must be getting old...


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[leeklm]

Correct on the mirrors. I added those just because I thought they looked nicer. I have the chrome mirror, but in rough shape. Had chrome mirror on both sides. Did they ship that way, or driver side only? I did not want to cut the door panel, so did not actually install the remote mirror cable.

Regarding the stripe, I just assumed all GTO options got the stripe, or is that not the case? Of course this stripe was added when the previous owner changed color from black to white. While I wish it were OEM color, I do like the white with maroon interior. The real reason I am sure is that a white paint job was a lot cheaper than a black one! Decent driver quality paint, not a 20k show finish!

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[PurelyGTO68]

I don't believe the D98 stripe was included in the W62 package but did come standard on the GT (WU2) package but it was a different type of stripe. I always found it curious that Pontiac used the same UPC code for two very different stripes. I would have put the stripe on also....just think it looks cool. White looks great with the burgandy interior....being non A/C is a good choice vs black. The coolest thing about your car is the third pedal.

We have the D35 mirrors on our car. I think only the driver's side is remote adjustable but will have to check. That car has sat unused for a few too many years I am afraid....will need to remedy that someday.

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[unruhjonny]

Originally Posted by PurelyGTO68

There was a standard and HD (M13) version of the 3 speed transmissions. I think all the HD units were floor shifted but were all the standard units column shift? If not, were the floor shifters the same?

There's alot ot covere there:

1) Depending on the model & package, the "HD" three speed may have been the standard unit.

2) I do believe that the 1972/1973 GTO Carried on what was the case for 1970 & 1971;
The standard (read: no charge) transmission was a Muncie sourced three speed transmission - which was floor shifted.

2b) I am unaware of any car application which had the Muncie three speed anything other than floor shifted.

2c) The trouble with RPO codes, is that from one year to the next, or even often during the same model year - but on different platforms the same code was a different thing.
It just happens that in this case (1970-1973 GTO's, and 1970-1971 Firebirds) RPO "M13" were all Muncie three speeds.
I believe that the Muncie first saw use in late 1968 model year Camaros, and used the RPO code MC1;
I believe that the Muncie three speed was the base transmission on 1969 Camaro big block cars;
I understand that the 'M13' HD three speed on a 1969 GTO was a Ford sourced toploader...

3) Although I believe the HD three speed option (on lesser models which did not have it as standard equipment) was always floor shifted.
The shifter mechanism was proprietary for 1) vehichle platform, and 2) transmission used

Originally Posted by PurelyGTO68

...
Back in the day we couldn't hardly wait to yank out a 3 speed in favor of 4 forward gears. Now would prefer the 3 speed for cruising around since it's less effort. I must be getting old...

That just seems to back up what I have come to understand.

From 1970-1971 all GM A & F bodies with larger engines came std with a Muncie three speed;
Today, you would be hard pressed to know this...
I believe that because of low production numbers the Muncie three speed was dropped from the F-body after 1971.
I believe that most of the Muncie three speeds built were put in trucks, or full sized vehicles - often with a 3.03:1 1st gear.

['ol Pinion head]

Leekim, sharp looking '73 GTO Sports Coupe! The interior looks really sweet, so hard to restore. Many would opine that a manual steering non AC, Muncie 3spd car would have been stocked by the dealer as a price leader. Of the 946 '73 model GTO Sports Coupes built, I'd hazard around a 100 were built with HD 3spd, the manual strg is most likely rarer in that subset/model.

Being a factory performance model and non AC, one just didn't see many such 70's Pontiac A-body's ordered like that in the South, SW, Southern Plains states, AR, TX. Too hot and humid, and factory AC was a big seller by 1970 in this region. Thus so many relatively low option A-bodys in these areas of the country, typically, at the very least had factory AC, all tinted glaas, and an automatic trans. As a longtime Pontiac guy, with heavy longtime emphasis on '70-73's, over the last 35 years, have scrounged in over 2 dozen states & dragged in way more than my share of Pontiac parts & project cars. From such a background, '71 up manual strg Pontiac A-body's have always been rare to run across. Can think of two '73 Pontiac A-body's I've parted that were factory manual strg cars, one a rusty non AC 350 4spd CA emission LeMans GT, the other was a rusty '73 GTO HD 3spd car, both were non console cars from up north. Couple those two '73's along with passing on the opportunity to buy a few '73 GTO projects in the region with 400/HD 3spds, then throw in the exp of dragging and parting, or parting on in yards or private stashes, over a dozen manual strg '71's and '72's (most of which were 350 2bbl auto cars). Probably skipped right over a few as well that had been previously onverted to PS. In the late '80's and early 90's, also got into a numerous dealership stock cleanouts where there were barely used '68 and later versions of Pontiac manual strg alt brackets & single groove pulleys. Easy to summize that these dealers had pulled the originally installed manual strg box, bracket(s) and pulleys, and had substituted the applicable factory power steering setup. Whether that was done to originally sell the car, or whether the owner paid for it early on, other than a small amt of paint being scuffed where the mtg bolts attached, the pulleys and front alt mtg plate appeared NOS, very high gloss black finish.

[fiedlerh]

Those options are pretty common, but a low option car isn't unless it was a floor-plan car. Any idea if it was ordered by a customer or just shipped to the dealer?
N98 Rallye II Wheels 107398
U63 AM Radio 15214
W70 Sport Option 4312
PJ4 G60x15 WL FG 15598
W62 GTO 4806
VE5 Rubber Bumper Strips 188223
M13 HD 3 spd floor shift (incl w W62) 4479

[leeklm]

Thank you all for the feedback. Other than the PHS, I have little history on the car, so no idea if it was a customer order, etc.

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[Pontiacdaver]

I had an early build (9/72) 73 GTO, Florentine Red, Red bucket seat interior, 3spd, console, the stripe package, PS, PDB, not much else, back in the mid-90s. It also had the 1972 'GTO' decals on the fenders without the '400 CID' callouts. I bought it out of WI, when it looked like there were no more to buy anywhere, on the strength of description (remember, this was before the internet). It was so rusty, I drove it about a year before the gas tank fell out of it. At that time, it was too rough not to be original. I sold it to a guy who planned to restore, haven't seen it since.

-Dave

[tom s]

I remember I bought a brand new 68 Cat,400 3 on the tree,rare?Im sure,desirable maybe not so much.Tom

[Lee]

Originally Posted by unruhjonny

There's alot ot covere there:

I understand that the 'M13' HD three speed on a 1969 GTO was a Ford sourced toploader...

.

Years ago, I worked on a '72 GTO with floor shifted 3-speed. It was the original owner, he had traded his rust-bucket (his words) '65 GTO for it in '71. I remember the tranny had an iron or steel case, and was quite heavy. I also remember it having Ford designations on it, and the owner assuring me it was original.