Endura Delete: 1968 Pontiac GTO
Chrome was still stylish back in the late 1960’s. Maybe that’s why the original purchaser of this 1968 GTO opted to delete the Endura front bumper in favor of the chrome version that was standard on the Lemans. We’ll never know the reasoning, but this is 1 of 2,108 so equipped. This oddity, located in Houston, Texas, is listed here on Craigslist for $11,995.
The original colors were red with a black vinyl top and a red interior. The seller thinks that this is mostly original paint. It seems strange to some, but the old paint makes the car more desirable in my eyes. I don’t like buying a car with newer paint. Shiny paint looks good on the surface, but who knows what lurks underneath. This car was equipped with the optional hood tach. The seller does not have the tach, but the original hole in the hood is included at no additional cost.
The exterior appears to be complete and the sheet metal fairly straight. The seller states the car is originally from Arizona. There’s no apparent rust through on the exterior, but there has been some rust repair done to the floors and trunk area.
Obviously, this car will need a complete interior kit. Fortunately, they are readily available and fairly reasonable in price. The material is vinyl, not leather. That’s good news because red cows are really hard to come by. I can’t tell for sure, but it looks like the shifter may be the original Hurst unit. The seller doesn’t say whether or not he has the radio.
The 4-speed transmission is matching numbers, but this 400 cui engine is not the original. It is a replacement. The original 10-bolt Posi-traction rear is intact. The car is equipped with power steering, but manual brakes. It runs well and stops and steers so loading it onto a trailer will be a breeze.
What do you think about the Endura delete option? Do you like the look or the novelty of it, or does it make the car look too much like a Lemans with GTO badges added?
Auctions Ending Soon
2002 Subaru Impreza WRXBid Now2 days$333
1975 Chevrolet Corvette ConvertibleBid Now2 days$4,000
1964 Ford F-100 Camper CustomBid Now2 days$2,000
2006 Jeep Wrangler SportBid Now4 days$10,500
1974 Datsun 260ZBid Now6 days$460
Comments
I don’t care for the chrome bumper look on this ’68 GTO, but more importantly, I would want to see the PHS report.
These chrome bumpers look especially great on black, white and blue ones. More classy IMO with redlines and rallye II’s.
Ya gotta love those Arizona cars. The toasted interiors are a good tradeoff for lack of rust.
Fred,
You got that right! I’d trade the toasted interior and crumbly rubber seals for a rust free body/chassis any time.
Let one of these ’68 goats slip through my fingers a long time ago, oh well. I like the endura front better if I was to choose, and it seems a lot of original buyers felt the same way but I’m not gonna complain, hey it’s a GTO, right? What I absolutely don’t like seeing is that lawn mower sized air cleaner. Interesting old iron in the background by the way.
I’ll be the oddball and say I would rather have the chrome bumper. Nothing says hot rod more than chrome. I agree the toasted interior is far more easier to replace than body panels. Nice find.
I’m wondering if this isn’t a GTO clone. Didn’t GTO’s have emblems on the rear quarter panels in this timeframe? I don’t see them or any indication of holes there.
Overall the car has promise but I’d want a little more confirmation before putting out this kind of $$ on it.
The VIN he listed starts with 242 which is a GTO, 237 would be Lemans.
In 69 they went to the shield quarter rear blinker for the goat. Lemons stayed with the arrowhead.
1968 model year GTOs had mere decals on the rear quarters.
Rare doesn’t equal valuable. The chrome bumper, if proven to be factory correct, probably doesn’t add to the value, as the seller repeatedly states.
Steve R
Two things I’ve come to know as fact. First, racers preferred the chrome bumper as it was actually lighter than the New Endura setup. Secondly, I’d like to know if this is an early ’68 car. The new bumpers required a lot of fit and finish at the factory which caused delays. The first cars were just delivered without the new bumper. The buyer got either a credit or was able to retrofit one later by the dealer.
To the writer of this article Bobby Miller, what do you mean there are not Red Cows to get Red Leather, in the Boot Hill of Missouri we have Red Neck Cows, they are easy to find, they are the ones that go Moo You All!!!!
LOL
Nice Car I would get it and do a full restore on it, but I think that price is a little high!!!!!
68’s didn’t have an emblem on the rear quarter panels, only stickers in front of the marker lights. Had a small emblem on the trunk
I do believe that the chrome “lemans” bumper actually weighted less then the endura bumper most. GTOs came with……being man trans car prob ordered to street race…..68s had the arrowheafd quarter panel marker lamp with the GTO sticker call out right before the light….69s had a large marker lamp n the shape of the GTO badge…..
The PHS documentation would answer that. A friend of mine bought a low mileage 1969 GTO in the late-80s that was ordered specifically for street racing. It was carousel red, had hidden headlights, bucket seats and console, but it also came with a Ram Air IV, radio delete, manual steering, manual brakes and 4.33 gears. It was a nice car, which he sold to a collector during the first muscle car boom market.
Steve R
The assembly plant probly had a shortage of Endurance bumpers or there was a sequence mixup and they just have to keep the line moving. Just like at the end of 64 production they ran short of 389’s and built the last few with 421’s. Did that really happen? No EPA to answer to. They all did it.
The 421 GTO is an old wives tale. Other than something put together at the engineering garage for testing or put together at Royal Pontiac for the Car and Driver test or as a dealer engine swap by them or Myrtle Motors or perhaps one or two other dealers that did drag cars, such as Packer, Knafel, or Gay, it realistically would not have happened. Why would they run out of the most common motor in Pontiacs but happen to have 421s laying around? Plus management would have their *sses anyway.
IMO the “Endura” front was the oddity. I love goats till this body style. The only cosmetic difference between a LeMans and a goat was the hood, grill, and tail lights all along. That’s like saying a 442 looks too much like a Cutlass or an SS 396 looks like a Malibu. Same sheet metal !
I like the chrome bumper. I especially like the fact it hasn’t crumbled into dust like many of the Endura front ends.
I think that is the biggest benefit of the chrome bumper!
Seller says it has no rust issues but when I look at the drivers side view in the ad it looks like its slathered with bondo from the front fender to the rear quarter and the passenger side interior shot looks like a lot of rust along the rocker and the floor panels have been hastily painted with red spray paint?… That “chrome bumper” and the front edge of the hood and the trunk lid don’t look too great either… I’d rather put a 12k down payment on a turn key car than start with this. Arizona car? Maybe that is where it started…
One of the biggest mistakes you could have made in 68-69….. Enduro Delete when ordering your GTO Enjoy your Lemans
Another bit of trivia was that the body-color Endura front bumper was not available if you ordered your 1968 GTO in one of the Special Order colors that came out for Spring 1968: Pink Mist 868-99466, Windward Blue 927-99756 Marigold Yellow L67YD003, Carnival Red 868-99539.
Also, no, the hidden headlight option was not available if you got the chrome bumper.
For 1969, the chrome bumper option for GTOs was history. But there is at least one ’69 GTO that was ordered in a custom color that where the owner was supposedly given the choice of a chrome bumper or for the Endura bumper to be painted white. The owner picked the white Endura to match the parchment interior.
I have an article on this car around somewhere, I think the story goes, that they had so many enduro bumpers for so many cars, this one being blue, they ran out of blue bumpers and tacked on the white , thus the collectability
OK, an article that even if found does not actually prove anything?(lots of articles over the years were incorrect)
Sure. Yep, right up there with the factory Ram Air V or the ’72 GTO convertible.
Ah, no. This blue was special ordered and was not a regular color for ’69; was actually Barrier Blue, a 1966 color.
glen, well, it is a well known magazine , although I do agree with you that some mags have had some gaffes , that is my story, that is what I read, and I am sticking to it
mike D,
Fine, but how about a link, or scanned as a pic, or if you can’t locate it, then what’s the name of this “well known” magazine, printed about what year? Most all that stuff can be found online now.
I’ve had 19 Pontiacs from a ’55 to my current 2009 and have read every issue of Smoke Signals printed from new, and one of my best friends(who I asked about this) has had a 1969 GTO from new, and neither of us have ever heard this story.
Doesn’t mean it isn’t true, but without something to go on it is hard to give it any credence at all. Can you give us anything more to go on?
I really can’t believe that this is happening, by some ” miracle” I found it with out a whole lot of searching .. it is Muscle Car Review, December 2012 page 45 how is that for being specific?
Awesome! Can you scan and post as pics or take readable pics and post?
Article title and author? Maybe I can Google it and find it posted somewhere. Thanks!
I Googled the issue and saw the cover. It appears it is the same car as the pic I posted, so I’d have to see the text, but the car in question got the white bumper because the blue was a special order, not because they just ran out of blue ones.
Here is an article from Hot Rod on the car:
https://www.hotrod.com/articles/hppp-1111-1969-pontiac-gto/
Crickets.
Whatever floats your boat. If the buyer liked chrome, then chrome it is.
Imagine buying a new car only to kick yourself everyday that you didn’t check the ‘Enduro Delete’ box.
Was this car Carnival Red? Were the pink ones Mary Kay cars? Did they build any pink ones? I knew of a special color 75 Caprice convertible, the plastic fillers between sheet metal and bumpers was gray, unpainted or molded generic.
Hi Randy
I’ve never seen a Carnival Red ’68 GTO; no idea how many got made, if any. I have see a ’68 Firebird in that color and it sure looks like ’69- Carousel Red(Chevrolet’s Hugger Orange) but I’m not sure if they really are identical.
The Pink Mist cars were not Mary Kay cars. Here’s one in need.
Is that pink mist GTO the elusive one of one?
@Randy I think you mean Cardinal Red.
Jack, Cardinal Red didn’t come along until the 1970 model year.
Carnival Red was a Special Order color available on Pontiacs in 1968, along with Pink Mist, Windward Blue, and Marigold Yellow.
Referring to special paint Carnival Red. Special colors will not have matching Endura bumper. Spell check changed it again. Endura
Motor Trend Car of the Year “1968 GTO!”
Here is a tv commercial advertising the new, in 1968, bumper.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vZNNu1YuQ6c
gotta love the clack clack of the wooden heels , seems like I remember the commercial clever, weren’t they?
Many men leaving the army from Veitnam, bought these car’s.
My experience with this year GTO was blown motors quickly fading breaks and clutches giving up the ghost way to early. Other than that, had a blast with them.
It looks okay, but in my opinion the 65 is the one to own! I might have older eyes than most of the readers and probably memory to! But give me a 65!
Wrong Way I couldn’t agree more. My first musclecar was a 65 goat and then 2 67s then a 70. I prefer the 65 to 67 body styles, love the stacked headlights.
I’m withya. I have a 65 Tempest Custom. 67 too. I had one for a very short time. Blown motor.
I dunno, seems a lil suspect. Also sort of tawdry condition wise for that kind of money. I do give the guy credit for getting it up and running though. I am not a fan of vinyl tops to much can be hidden underneath. I don’t mind the chrome bumper though. I guess it is the overall condition that puts me off this car. It does require pretty much a full resto. Starting at 11K and dropping all the rest of the money on it doesn’t seem like a good investment to end up with a red and black GTO. Nah
I think if any car is available with covered headlights, get them.
They make the car look meaner when it comes up behind you.
It is too bad they aren’t available on any new cars anymore.
I’d make it a daily driver!
This only mildly related to this car. I completely and do mean completely, understand about liking to see what the car looks like without being re-painted prior to purchase but at the same time, once you as the new buyer decide to paint it somewhere down a buyer will probably wish the same as you did.
I knew a guy had a 69 Camaro RS had Endura bumper til he rear ended somebody. Replacement was chrome. That’s all he could get. Could this be same story?
Unlike the GTO which had Endura standard, on the ’69 Camaro it was merely an option. I had a buddy who was crazy about body-color bumpers. Started out wanting the ’68 GTO, but by the time he was ready to buy due to recovering at the VA for an extended period, he’d migrated to the ’69 Camaro RS SS, and loved orange, then back to the GTO when the Judge came out, then to the Big Bad Orange AMX.
When finally ready to place his order to get the car just before being discharged(I think he got a military discount) he heard that his soon to be new employer would help pay for his car payment if the car met certain seating and option requirements. The GTO was the only one of his picks that did, so he ended up with a new 1969 GTO Judge, which he still owns.