UPDATE 6/18/23 — When we saw this car last month, it was entrusted with craigslist to sell at $10,000. Perhaps that didn’t work out, so now it’s here on eBay where just one bid of $5,000 has been cast with only two days left on the auction. Nothing else seems to have changed.

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John DeLorean is one of the folks credited with bringing the Pontiac GTO to market. Inside forecasts thought that demand for a mid-size muscle car might be 5,000 units a year – and yet they sold nearly 32,500 during its first year on the market. And on the way to almost 100,000 copies a year at the peak later in the decade. Convertibles were in short supply, representing about one in five of every GTO produced in 1964. This is one of those cars, but it has been modified both mechanically and cosmetically and needs a ton of work otherwise. Located in St. Paul, Minnesota, this forlorn project is available here on craigslist for $10,000. Who brought us this tip? Why, T.J., of course!

Before the GTO became a series of its own in 1966, it was an option on the Tempest/LeMans in 1964-65. The VIN on the seller’s car indicates it began life as a LeMans with the GTO option which cost an extra $295 back in the day (multiply that number by roughly 10 to get to 2023 dollars). That got you a 389 cubic inch V8 rated at 325 hp, dual exhaust, some chrome doodads, a floor-shifted manual transmission, and some beefing up of the suspension. A little more than 6,600 GTO convertibles were assembled in 1964, so they’re in rather short supply today.

Besides being rusty and crusty, this GTO differs from its original form in two important ways. The optional 4-speed manual it came with was jettisoned at some point for an automatic transmission. And the front clip was replaced with one from 1965 when the car gained stacked dual headlights (they were horizontal in 1964). We don’t know why the latter happened. Was the car in an accident and a ’65 clip was all that was available or did the owner at the time like the up-and-down look better?

Once you get past the front end, then the rust starts to jump out. And it’s not located in insignificant places with holes in some of the sheet metal. Fortunately, the car was stored indoors for the past 39 years or it would be in even worse shape than it already is. The seller doesn’t know much else about the car but does have a clear Minnesota in his/her possession. If this hybrid strikes your interest and you don’t mind a big challenge (and have the funds to back it up), could this make an interesting conversation piece in Pontiac circles one day?