Easy Resto Project? 1967 Pontiac GTO
Spoiler alert – this 1967 Pontiac GTO is not without its issues. And considering the volume that is covered here, my first inclination was to take a pass. But, this is an unusual two-door Sports Coupe model (two-door sedan) and I always find those to be an odd inclusion in Pontiac’s muscle car line-up. Same with Oldsmobile’s 442 and Buick’s Gran Sport which came so equipped. Plymouth offered this body style on their intermediates too, but considering the Road Runner’s Belvedere origins, that always seemed to make sense. Chevrolet was the odd man out at GM as they only offered an SS396 two-door sedan edition in ’69 (based on the Chevelle 300 model) and those are a very, very limited and rare find. This Goat has some other stuff going on too, so sure, it is worthy of a review. Lakewood, Colorado is where this project car calls home and it’s available, here on craigslist for $11,000. Thanks are due to Spode for this tip!
Pontiac had another great year in ’67 with their fabulous GTO, knocking out about 82K copies. These Sports Coupe models were just a small percentage, however, putting up an output volume of just 7K units – not paltry of course but only 8.5% of the total. Their purpose in life vs. a two-door hardtop? Well, the body would be more rigid but the weight’s about the same and the price was just a bit less than that of the hardtop. Was it worth having an alternate two-door variety? For just the GTO, probably not but as long as the entry-level Tempest was so configured, then having a GTO version was probably not a production cost matter.
This GTO’s engine is long gone but a 1973 variety 400 CI V8 is included, along with a Turbo-Hydramatic three-speed automatic transmission. There’s no telling what kind of condition the replacement engine is in, but being a ’73 it will suffer from performance loss, compared to the original, due to a lower compression ratio and an emission control profiled cam – among other things. Let’s face it, none of that really matters as this powerplant would likely need to undergo a rebuild assuming that it can be rebuilt.
Instead of paraphrasing the listing, I’ll just quote the seller, “Body is in great shape except for a poorly done repair R rear quarter, some dings, a lot of surface rust and minor rust through holes rear floorboards and trunk. Doors and trunk lid open and close like new hinges excellent, no sagging, body/door lines perfect. Trunk lid seal channel and rear/front window seal areas are solid“. It is also said that the glass is good, and all of the trim is available but the bumpers are in poor condition – though the front one looks OK from what the image reveals. Note those wheels – they look like an ’80s throw-back.
It is said that the interior will need a redo and I would concur. The strato-bucket seat upholstery is ripped, the dash pad is cracked, the carpet is missing and the door panels are falling apart. The gear shift assembly resembles a dual-gate piece but the console gate template, surrounding the shifter, is broken and pulled apart – hard to say exactly what’s going on there.
The seller suggests, “Excellent and easy resto project if you have ANY experience“. Easy, really? Can’t say that I see it quite that way and that “ANY experience” claim covers a lot of ground – a little experience can qualify as “any” but I doubt that would cut it in this case. So, knowing what you now know, what do you think, would this Goat be an easy restore?
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Comments
Sure, easy if you you have a butt load of money you don’t need and send it away for a while and it comes back show room fresh.
Do the right front headlights and fender look like they’ve had some burning going on?
They sure do!
I’m the owner of this Goat and I can assure there has been no “BURNING” going on.
Providing a 242 VIN, picture of the data plate, or PHS documents are helpful to verify it’s a real GTO. All indications point that way but most buyers will want proof.
The last line of the ad (regarding scammers) suggests the seller is a lively character.
That aside, it could be a good deal if it’s structurally sound underneath. I’ve seen far worse 1966-67 GTOs sell for more.
I’m the owner of this Goat, pics included in the Craigslist ad in Denver show the vin tag and as the ad states the frame is very solid, no rot, surface rust only.
You lost your mind unless you got more money then brains 2500$ at best
You lost your mind if you think you’ll get a real GTO for $2,500 today. $11k is within the margin of a realistic best offer on this car. I swear, so many of you old farts are still stuck in the ‘70s with your values. Time to look around and see what these cars are actually selling for.
Well put! Restored examples bring $60K and up. The seller mentions that it would be an easy restoration for an experienced person, not necessarily all people. It would still be an arduous project for me.
You can call me an old fart if it makes you happy. Looking at this GTO and not seeing the floors or trunk pan worry me. It took me roughly a year or so to correct a 65 convertible for a good friend of mine, who had floors and trunk patched up, and several panels replaced/refitted. He wanted a trailer queen, so I’ll get that out front now. He bought the hulk that looked about a minute better than this 67. Some say these cars can fetch upwards of $60k plus. I agree. But knowing what I know, my friend had every bit of that in his and then some. Finding the right buyer is one thing. Sleeping at night knowing you fixed up a piece like this? That’s another.
That is the exact car I had in 1977, and I paid $200.00 total.
It is tempting to put in a bid, but, 5500 would be at the top end, depending on ” rust thru holes in floor boards and trunk” which is code for check your frame rails in the rear to see if anything left.
Really love this car
Love the 67 goat but just not a sedan guy. Looks ok to restore IF you have enough time and a pocket full of cash (or two). Hope it gets put back together.
It’s neat that it’s the rare post model, but if it really goes for that kind of money in it’s current condition without the original, #s matching drivetrain, needing a total restoration, well, that price is just mind blowing. If it had the numbers matching drivetrain and documentation to prove it, how much would it go for then? How much would it go for restored? The price of a house? I also agree with the comment above that the seller comes off as a big AH, meaning any attempt to offer even a penny less (which should be expected by any seller) will be taken as a personal insult to his wife and daughters, and responded to with violence. I’d pass, I don’t think it’s worth the hassle or the money.
“Personal insult to his wife and daughters”.. “responded to with violence”.. where are you getting this outrageous nonsense from? The seller may be a bit crude, but your extreme overreaction to his crudeness is far more unhinged than his comment about lowballers.
The car is at best a 5 to 7 grand tops costs far too much to restore these cars wake up you corp job people normal working man can’t afford it. So stop running a decent hobby for everyone 50 or 60 k for one of these cars absolute stupidity and that’s FACT
@Lesnessman So when you sell your fully restored ‘67 GTO, are you going to sell it to someone for a fraction of its current market value just to be a nice guy?
Nope. You don’t have one at all. You’re not entitled to anything you want just because you consider yourself a “normal working man”. Supply and demand stops for no man.
Personally I thought the “$11000 Don’t need help selling, Scammers blo me!” was funny. I know on the few occasions I have sold a car on Craigslist I tired of all the “Is it still for sale” scammers or the folks wanting you to subscribe to their listing service, etc.
How are you not going to wind up writing checks for an amount that will meet or exceed what you can buy a turn-key? Sure, if you have the equipment, room, and skill to do all the labor yourself, that’s just a start. It’s not like you can get what you need from Alibaba for practically nothing.
Are you new to the classic car restoration world? It has ALWAYS cost more to restore one than it does to buy one finished. That’s not the point and never has been.
Looks like the shifter may have been a Hurst “His and Hers” model.
Auto. trans. GTOs came equipped from the factory with the Hurst His and Hers (aka Dual Gate) shifter for ’67 and ’68 when you also ordered the console.
I had a 1967 GTO, burgandy in color, with the His & Hers shifter. Pretty much all original? When I bought it from my neighbor, it was a really nice, drivable car. Then, I decided to repaint it with modern base coat/clear coat paint. Then, I wanted to change interior. Then, see where I’m going with this? $$$$$$!
My suggestion would be, pay the $60,000.00 for a restored vehicle and drive it immediately! You could end up with more than that amount of money in it?
A vehicle is probably worth whatever you can get out it? Prices are high now, I totally understand that.
For myself, this would not be an easy restoration. I would call this more of a “basket case”!
But, that’s just my oponion!
A REAL, I agree 110%! I have been trying to get it through to those old farts on here who are still living in the 70s that the world has changed in 50 years and time to join reality! Most of them just want to hear or see their blah, blah, on the screen and have NO clue what their blah, blah, is even talking about. Glad to see others joining in, and sending the message to join reality!
When I read “easy resto” it reminds me of “A/C just needs a charge” as they both make me think the same thing: if it is so easy to fix/restore, Mr. Seller, why don’t you go ahead and fix/restore it yourself?
I’m the owner of this Goat, pics included in the Craigslist ad in Denver show the vin tag and as the ad states the frame is very solid, no rot, surface rust only.
I love 60s GTOs (up to 68, the year I graduated from HS). What would you call that? a G1? Always loved them and Corvettes, but never owned either one – always just out of reach. When I see one like this, it makes me wonder where it’s been in it’s life. Somebody, somewhere bought it new – what a day that must have been! And then at some point came the gawd awful tires and wheels (“it’s like driving downhill”). Hard to believe it has not been rescued before now! If 67 GTOs could only talk!
Rich
Might be an old fart, but I am not stupid either 11000 for a non number matching rust bucket is ridiculous! If you young bucks are paying this amount for this car then all I can say is GOOD LUCK! I JUST BOUGHT A 68 442 POST CAR WITH ORIGINAL 400 400 TRANS FOR 4000 SO DONT JUST SAY ITS THE PRICE OF THE TIMES. BS! THEY ARE OUT THERE JUST GOTTA POKE AROUND! ( a quote from Jerry garcia someone you young f# cks don’t understand! )
Oh my James, I do understand Jerry garcia and his quotes! Been alive during that time frame, and yes it was Fup! Glad you found a great car to restore at a premimum price. However, those are rare gems to locate and not the norm! The majority have been picked over and what you see on these sights are the remanant of what remains! The market always dictates the value of product, regardless of what that product maybe. Does not matter if you are an old fart or new fart, you have to move forward with the market, and the market does not reflect the prices from the 70s! I do believe that is the point MOST people are trying to make when someone claims a car of the muscle era is worth 200 bucks! That in its own right is insane and backs up the claim old farts need to get a checkup with reality! You do not have to like it, but the market speaks for itself and is REALITY!
People have found lucky good deals on things since the dawn of time. That does not equate to what the real world market is for sought after items, including cars. Some people place more value on getting a good deal on the things they buy and have the patience to wait for them to come along, and often settle for whatever comes their way rather than what they really want. But some people want something specific and don’t want to wait years and years for it, so they are at the whim of the market and what comes available for sale. If you’re in that camp, you pay market price, period. There’s a lot of people in that camp.
Amen to Stephen.
This AC only needs a seal? You can get one at Auto Zone for $2.00!
Really?
Now, back to the GTO. Pictures don’t lie, and real life suitations are much better.
When the seller states, “it’s an easy restoration”, that’s when everything went sideways for myself and probably others?
Now, what else is questionable that we don’t know about?
Again, I don’t know what the value is?? Seems like a lot of money for what it is?
I agree with another comment, it look like it has been on fire? Since it’s just a rusty hunk of metal, and some interior parts that needed to be burned anyway, I suppose it doesn’t matter?
Just my oponion!
Steven.
Sorry Steven. I was spelling my Mom’s last name, Stephens.
Unfortunately life happens. Been there. Do regret it now.
I’m another “old fart”. This particular car, I wouldn’t even attempt. And surely would not consider dropping 11k on to start off with. At least a 5-10k rebuild, or replacement motor, floor pans, trunk pan, complete interior, through body strip, lots of hammer work, probable body panel replacement. Nah.. this one, would nickel and dime you well past the 60k mark in no time. And you still have a non-original, which, maybe in another ten years, you might just get out of it the money put in.
It looks to be a really big, time consuming project. Probably looking at, 2000 to 3000 worth of hours of work to do it, and to do it right. And that’s if you know what you are doing.
The question then becomes, what’s your time worth to do it?
So many of you don’t understand that not every person looks at a project and worries about how much they can sell it for on the back end. Some people enjoy the hobby and the process of fixing up an old car. Some people are looking for a father/son project. Some people just don’t have the money to buy finished cars but can buy a project and spend 5-10 years on it. If profit when finished is the only concern, NOBODY would ever restore any car. But as per our usual arrangement, so many people just miss the point entirely.
Another overpriced piece of rode hard and hung up wet, optionless, escapee from a press. I wouldn’t hesitate junking this. Sure this junk is always on these sights. Craigslist is loaded with this junk. Hee haws looking for that fish. It won’t sell and it will be back next year. I have a fully optioned 65 Cutlass convertible in simular condition and it’s going right over the scale. I wouldn’t waste my time. Sorry guys, junk doesn’t sell. You can ask stupid money and dream but in reality, the shredder or maybe a few weeks in the u-pull-it row before the shredder is where most go.
In my neck of the woods I’d expect to sell this car within a couple weeks for $8-9k. Inside a week for $6-7k.. in about a day for $5k. Calling this car scrap metal is INSANE.
Bought a 63 “Grand Prize” in similar condition….maybe worse..lol…but paid $3k for it.
Complete matching running 389 with the Slim Jim….extra parts of course in the trunk…even an extra rear glass! She needed a frame, but got a nice clean one from Frank’s Pontiac Parts in Cali.
Shipped to Florida. She won’t win any beauty pageants, but she’ll be good enough to roam the road again. I’m doing all the work myself, being I’m mechanically inclined. So to each their own as to how much one wants to spend..who cares…lol If someone wants to spend $11k and dump another $40k in it…have at friend. I wouldn’t, but hey that’s me. I’ll buy cheap and do the work myself to save $$ and drive it.
It’s just money. Fix it up how you want. When you’re gone…it will become someone else’s anyway or be thrown out….that goes for most things.
Cheers!
I really enjoy fixing up old cars like that. Couple of sheet metal screws and some Bondo, a junkyard motor, be on the road in 4 days. Once running be worth 11,000 all day and night. I’m a little old to be playing that game now and have several here on my own.
This old fart would give the ask provided the seller throws in the trailer the car is sitting on and the engine/trans get loaded in my tow vehicle.
Looks to me like someone’s trying to offload a prior project’s parts car! There’s way too many parts missing. GLWTS
These days just finding a suitable project car is half the battle. I would be happy with just the shell of a car. At least it would give me somewhere start.
The wife and I took delivery of a new 73 454 Monte Carlo but hung on to our 67 GTO for a while . . A friend of ours wanted it but didn’t have any money . . We traded it to him for a freezer locker . . If we only knew . . 🤦♂️🤦♂️
What are you even talking about?? Shame on what? Someone selling a tired old project? What the hell else is he supposed to do with it, leave it sitting there to rot into the earth?
Wow, a lot of hate and ugliness going on here in the comments… I’m an “old fart” and understand the market and desirability of certain classics over others. The seller states that it spent most of its life in Farmington, NM and rust isn’t a real issue. I lived in Northern New Mexico as a kid and the Farmington and Gallup New Mexico areas get plenty of winter snow and blizzards. Because of all of the hills, salt is used to make the roads safer so there will be plenty of rust found on this car. Also there is double standard here. A female subscriber (the purple defender) made some disparaging remarks about a Porsche and was attacked for her remarks. There are lies (made by zen.. who doesn’t even know what Zen means), some cursing and a lot of put downs on here. And didn’t the “double standards” writers and editors kick her off of this site because she said the same things that are being said here? How many if these guys are you going to kick off of here besides me? My opinion in mine and if you don’t like it, as the seller states…. blo me!!
Now, now Paul please do not LOWER your standards to receive some sort of gratification! You are correct in the sense, your opinion belongs to you! However, when your opinion has NO validity regarding said market or the economics of said market, it is also viable for a correction to be made, based on market data and current trends. So please do not have a melt down, and enjoy all the conversations and debate as an “old fart” should. Take care.
Will do Not Again.