1968 Pontiac GTO Coupe

Description

1968 Pontiac GTO Coupe

While the muscle car formula is not new (take a full-size car’s engine and drop it into a smaller, lighter body), Pontiac ignited a new wave of such vehicles when it launched the GTO in 1964. MotoeXotica Classic Cars is pleased to present this 1968 GTO (VIN code 42) Sport Coupe. It has spent its entire existence owned and cared for by a single family right here in St. Louis Missouri. The GTO was purchased new from Vincel Pontiac in St. Louis Missouri and was sold to a local women who worked for Famous Barr department stores and drove it to work on select nice days. She had two young sons at the time who really enjoyed riding in the back seat of mom’s awesome GTO. Later in life, the eldest brother took possession of the GTO and had it restored and rebuilt by a local GTO expert and has enjoyed the car for the past couple decades. The two gentlemen in the photos standing next to the car are the two original owners sons with the framed window sticker that their mother kept preserved!

Built during the second week of October 1967 at GM’s Pontiac, Michigan assembly plant, this car left the line with the following options – Cordova vinyl roof, automatic transmission, pushbutton radio, hidden headlights, deluxe wheel covers, center console, power steering, power brakes, tinted glass and air-conditioning that still blows cold. It was delivered to Vincel Pontiac in St. Louis, Missouri.

Since then, the eldest son had the car’s exterior repainted Viper Red while retaining the vinyl roof and interior. The car’s paint and trim are in overall excellent condition with minor blemishes. The car’s windows are clear and intact and note that 1968 was the final year for the front side vent windows. The car’s lights, including the hidden headlights, look very good.

The car’s bodywork is straight and solid, the engine bay is very tidy, the battery appears new and the bumpers are in excellent order, including the body-colored Endura front ring bumper. This car rolls on Goodyear Eagle GA blackwall radials, size 215/65R15 at all four corners, surrounding steel wheels topped by full moon chrome wheel covers. The wheel covers appear excellent, while the rubber is in very good order.

Under the dual-scoop hood is Pontiac’s correct YS 400 CID V-8 engine that was rebuilt ten years ago by a local GTO expert. Starting in ’68 all Pontiac V-8s went to a 14-degree valve angle. Pontiac went to open-chambered heads in some 1967 models and all ‘68s and up to improve power, engine breathing and reduce emissions. The valve size increased as well, to 2.11-inch intake and 1.77-inch exhaust valves on high-performance heads. The four-barrel 400 was a popular performance option for many of Pontiac’s cars. When fitted with other high-airflow components, it produced a good balance of low-end torque and higher-RPM power. This car also has electronic ignition for easier starting. Backing this motor is a Turbo Hydramatic 400 three-speed automatic transmission with His and Hers shift paths. Near the driver is the standard P-R-N-D-L shift path (Hers) while near the passenger is a forerunner of today’s “manumatic” shifters, a path (His) that allows the driver to put the lever all the way back, or in First, floor the accelerator then shift the lever forward near redline until the car’s in Third. Driver convenience features include air-conditioning, Soft Ray Tinted Glass, Wonder Touch Power Steering and Wonder Touch Power Brakes.

Inside, the black vinyl interior (code 223) is in overall very good order. The front bucket and rear bench seats are in very good condition, as is the black carpeting and headliner. The three-spoke, deluxe steering wheel is in very good order, as are the black instrument panel and matching inner door panels. The center console and shift lever echo the condition of the other interior elements while a factory AM radio completes the interior.

General Motors redesigned its A-body line for 1968, with more curvaceous, semi-fastback styling. The wheelbase was shortened to 112 inches on all two-door models. Overall length was reduced 5.9 inches and height dropped half an inch but overall weight was up about 75 pounds. Pontiac abandoned the familiar vertically stacked headlights in favor of a horizontal layout but made hidden headlights available at extra cost, a popular option. The signature hood scoop was replaced by dual scoops on either side of a prominent hood bulge extending rearward from the protruding nose.

A unique feature was the body-color Endura front bumper. It was designed to absorb impact without permanent deformation at low speeds. Pontiac touted this feature heavily in advertising, showing hammering at the bumper to no discernible effect. Though a rare option, a GTO could be ordered with “Endura delete,” in which case the Endura bumper would be replaced by a chrome front bumper and grille from the Pontiac Le Mans.

Powertrain options remained substantially the same as in 1967, but the standard GTO engine’s power rating rose to 350 horsepower. Another carry-over from 1967 was the four-piston caliper disc brake option. While most 1968 models had drum brakes all around, this seldom-ordered option provided greater stopping power. The 1968 model year was also the final year the GTOs offered separate crank operated front door vents.

Concealed windshield wipers, which presented a cleaner appearance when parked below the rear edge of the hood, were standard on the GTO and other 1968 GM products after having been originally introduced on the 1967 Pontiac Grand Prix. A popular option, actually introduced during the 1967 model year, was a hood-mounted tachometer, located in front of the windshield and lit for visibility at night. An in-dash tachometer was also available.

Redline bias-ply tires continued as standard equipment on the 1968 GTO, though they could be replaced by whitewall tires at no extra cost.

Hot Rod tested a four-speed GTO equipped with the standard engine and obtained a quarter mile reading of 14.7 seconds at 97 mph in pure stock form. Motor Trend clocked a four-speed Ram Air GTO with 4.33 rear differential at 14.45 seconds at 98.2 mph and a standard GTO with Turbo-Hydramatic and a 3.23 rear axle ratio at 15.93 seconds at 88.3 mph. Testers were split about handling, with Hot Rod calling it “the best-balanced car [Pontiac] ever built,” but Car Life chided its excessive nose heaviness, understeer, and inadequate damping.

Like all 1968 passenger vehicles sold in the United States, GTOs now featured front outboard shoulder belts (cars built after January 1, 1968) and side marker lights. To comply with the new 1968 federal vehicle emissions standards, the GTO was now equipped with emissions controls.

Now facing competition both within GM and from Ford, Dodge, and Plymouth—particularly the low-cost Plymouth Road Runner—the GTO won the Motor Trend Car of the Year Award. The GTO disregarded GM’s policy limiting the A-body intermediate line to a maximum engine displacement of 330 CID. Pontiac general manager Elliot “Pete” Estes approved the new model, although sales manager Frank Bridge, who did not believe it would find a market, insisted on limiting initial production to 5,000 cars. Sales reached 87,684 units, (51,385 examples came with an automatic transmission) which would ultimately prove to be the second-best sales year for the GTO.

In his autobiography, Glory Days, Pontiac chief marketing manager, Jim Wangers, who worked for the division’s contract advertising and public relations agency, states that John DeLorean, Bill Collins, and Russ Gee were responsible for the GTO’s creation. It involved transforming the second-generation Pontiac Tempest into a “Super Tempest,” or “Grand Tempest Option,” with a larger 389 CID Pontiac V-8 engine from the full-sized Pontiac Catalina and Bonneville in place of the standard 326 CID V-8. By promoting the big-engine “Grand Tempest” as a special high-performance model, they could appeal to the speed-minded youth market.

The name, which was DeLorean’s idea, was inspired by the Ferrari 250 GTO, the successful race car. It is an Italian abbreviation for Gran Turismo Omologato (“grand tourer homologated”), which means officially certified for racing in the grand tourer class. But in reality, the Pontiac GTO was never really a certified Grand Tourer race car. Internally, it was initially called the “Grand Tempest Option,” one of many automobiles in the Pontiac lineup with the word ‘Grand’ in it.

Internal competition to this GTO in 1968 included Buick’s Skylark Gran Sport, Chevrolet’s Chevelle SS396 and Oldsmobile’s Cutlass 4-4-2. Externally, it competed with AMC’s AMX, the Avanti II, Dodge’s Charger, Ford’s new-for-’68 Torino, Mercury’s Cyclone and Plymouth’s Road Runner.

GM A-body fans, Pontiac lovers or someone who wants a quality late-60s muscle car that is a great driver should take the time to stop by MotoeXotica Classic Cars today to check this car out.

VIN: 242378P136124

This car is currently located at our facility in St. Louis, Missouri. Current mileage on the odometer shows 6,083 miles. It is sold as is, where is, on a clean and clear, mileage exempt title. GET OUT AND DRIVE!!!

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