Tri-Power! Numbers-Matching 1965 Pontiac GTO
There were at least three automotive phenoms in the 1960s: the Ford Mustang, the Plymouth Road Runner, and the Pontiac GTO. The GTO came first in 1964 and blew sales expectations out of the water. It was a performance option on the Tempest/LeMans at first, evolving to a series of its own after just two years. This 1965 edition has stacked headlights, a change for the A-body over its debut period. We’re told this one was treated to a frame-off restoration, although not likely recently, but it still presents well. Located in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, a dealer appears to be involved in the sale here on eBay where bids of $40,100 have yet to crack the reserve.
Pontiac bean counters expected to sell just 5,000 GTOs in their first year and instead pushed more than 32,000 of them off the assembly line. Seeing the demand for these new “muscle cars”, the rest of Detroit quickly got on board. The continued success of the GTO would be a feather in the cap of Pontiac’s newly appointed head honcho, John DeLorean (75,000 copies built in 1965, 96,000 in 1966). Standard fare for the GTO was a 389 cubic inch V8 with a 4-barrel carburetor, but 20,000 buyers opted for a Tri-Power set-up (triple 2-barrel carburetors). The GTO would quickly become an image builder for Pontiac as it continued to evolve as the performance division of General Motors.
Treated to an earlier restoration, this “GOAT” has the Tri-Power, making it a desirable example, and it’s paired with Pontiac’s Super Turbine 300 2-speed automatic transmission. The vehicle is numbers-matching, which also adds to its value. Since its redo, this GTO has largely been a trailer queen, moving from one car show to another, though the seller has used it a bit more in the past few months. The odometer reading is 25,000 miles, but you’d expect there to be a “1” in front of it.
The body and Reef Turquoise paint look great and there is no mention of any rust (if there was it was eradicated with the restoration). The cowl tag shows a paint code of C-C for Camino Ivory, so was the color changed during the restoration? The interior is equally impressive with the Expanded Morrokide upholstery and console. Since the car is said to perform perfectly, this should be a Pontiac that you could drive to more car shows instead of on a trailer (unless your goal is to keep the mileage down).
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Comments
Nice!!! I like the blue but I would have kept it white. Really nice goat!!!
I Like the power glide with the goat.
Good for you, but no four speed kills it for me.
Especially for $40K-plus
The ST-300 automatic transmission was relatively bulletproof and behind a 389, its 2 speeds were referred to as … “fast” and “faster”!
If you nailed it from a stoplight it would stay in low gear until about 90. Then it would bang shift so hard it would go sideways.
So much for The Beach Boys
Nice ! My brother has a 65 tripower 4 speed he’s selling in the near future.
Woody, then maybe your brother could hook up with Seventycars above.
The console shifter is from a 66
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Don’t think they had marina blue in 1965 as it was a ’67 color but nice car and a super price for the seller!
It makes me happy when I come across an original car like this one. The sheer fact that it made it SIXTY YEARS without a single performance modification is up there with winning the lottery! At least the seller is asking small house type money for a car that is the way it is supposed to be 👍
When you change the color of a classic you degrade the value. Remember that before you buy…
Absolutely in my top 10 of all cars. Too bad it’s got the two speed trans though.1965 was the magical year for me with the Falcon, Mustang, Malibu, Rivera and GTO/LeMans are all my dream cars. That’s a lot of GM for a Ford guy, but it is what it is. The chrome console looks a lot like the one in my 66 LeMans, my first Pontiac but a 4 speed 326.I went all Pontiac for several years with the LeMans, a 67 Firebird 326 auto and a 68 Firebird 400 4 speed. When it was totaled by a stop sign runner i went back to Fords and have mainly stayed.I always thought it a shame when GM ended their best division when they cancelled Pontiac! Cars these days are more an appliance than a personal statement or an object to treasure. I couldn’t afford this or any of those old dream cars anymore but if i could, you know i’d bid on this one!
Nice GTO -To bad Pontiac wasn’t allowed to keep the 389 – 421 SD For Production After the 1963 GM Racing Ban – some still had them like Arnie Beswick in his Mystery Tornado 64 GTO Blown 421-SD on NITRO considered the first Funny Car :)
Nice looking ’65, but I’d be looking for original or PHS documentation since the “5N” code (GTO option) is absent on the firewall Fisher Body Plate. The Pontiac and Kansas City assembly plants utilized this coding while the Baltimore and Fremont plants did not. (this particular car was born in Pontiac, MI) The “5W” code on the bottom left side of this car’s Fisher Body plates signifies retractable seat belts … this is where “N” should also appear if it left the factory as a GTO.
Sadly , the automatic transmission in the 65 made it non competitive. Four speed made all the difference.
My first car was a 65 GTO. It was the same color as this, it also had 3 deuces like this. This car brings back a lot of memories
Can it be numbers matching if it was repainted a different color than when it left the factory?
Not to mention non-stock dual master cylinder!
Nice initial appearance, but the “numbers matching” statement is garbage. Pontiac didn’t stamp the VIN until 1968. As long as the engine date codes are within the accepted norms of the body assembly, that is as close as you will get to “matching numbers”. The block should also be stamped YR code as a 65 Tri-Power automatic. 66 console and shifter, and the drivers seat bottom (no photos of the rest of the interior) is actually a passenger seat bottom. It does appear to have a disc brake conversion, never a bad thing, but the “Hurst Equipped” emblem on the deck lid is really tacky. There is nothing Hurst about this car. Where’s the PHS???
Yikes the amount of errors in the comments are stunning. 65 console same as 64, yes there was a color change, article is poorly written there. Date codes are all you need for numbers matching for early cars. 5N is not a 100% clue, PHS is the only one that is. Dual master is an easily accepted safety upgrade, if it wasn’t there comments would be about changing it immediately.