The Pontiac GTO !

Jim C

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The 60's GTO's (and Chevelles) that I drove in the 70's had lousy suspension up front and we always used ladder bars in the back for rag cars.
Why the fuck didn't we think to use a straight front axle and leaf springs is a mystery to me. Because after all, nothing steers or controls body roll better than king pins! So hideous it's beautiful
 

armyadarkness

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The 60's GTO's (and Chevelles) that I drove in the 70's had lousy suspension up front and we always used ladder bars in the back for rag cars.
Why the fuck didn't we think to use a straight front axle and leaf springs is a mystery to me. Because after all, nothing steers or controls body roll better than king pins! So hideous it's beautiful
My car has chromoly tubular upper and lower control arms all the way around with oversized sway bars and Bill Stein coilovers. Plus all of the rubber bushings have been replaced with spherical bearings or polyurethane. It's not at all like the old cars anymore
 

Tin Indian

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My car has chromoly tubular upper and lower control arms all the way around with oversized sway bars and Bill Stein coilovers. Plus all of the rubber bushings have been replaced with spherical bearings or polyurethane. It's not at all like the old cars anymore
So Many choices out there now for improving the suspension and handling with all of these cars. Just depends on how far you want to go.
 

Jetzster

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Livin’the dream with a ‘64 GTO Tri-power 389 4sp The one that DeLorean started it all with on a Saturday morning in late ‘63..
They are a blast from the past😎
Frame-off restored or not ,they are amazing animals, for only $3000 back then anyone could get one! Funn stuff
 

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Tin Indian

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Livin’the dream with a ‘64 GTO Tri-power 389 4sp The one that DeLorean started it all with on a Saturday morning in late ‘63..
They are a blast from the past😎
Frame-off restored or not ,they are amazing animals, for only $3000 back then anyone could get one! Funn stuff

My uncle bought a 64 new. 389, 4 speed 4 barrel. No Tripower on his though.
 

4strings

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I worked at a gas station in high school. My shift partner (who had a real day job as a civil engineer) had a '64 389 Tripower in dark blue. Man, that car sounded mean. Looked just like this one, except it had a few red primer spots on the rear quarters. :)

1638887909514.png
 

4strings

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Well it's a GTO thread so I guess I'll stick this in here. Just bought this about 6 weeks ago. My 2004 GTO. Not Traditional style but I'll let my 68 Firebird 400 keep me legit.
View attachment 252
A '68 Firebird 400 will forever be the one that got away. I had the opportunity to buy it when I was 18. Original owner (legit a little old lady- probably 60ish). It was in awesome shape, and she wanted the princely sum of $900 for it. Why didn't I buy it??? I didn't like the avocado green interior (or the exterior, really, at the time). Still, shoulda coulda woulda but didn't. Looked like this:

1638888439801.png
 

armyadarkness

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My first car was a Chevy Nova. I was in love with those cars, since I was little... But I traded my 3rd Nova for my first GTO.

So even though I'm all about the Goats, Nova's will always hold a special place in my heart. Of course, in typical GM fashion... They mad a "Nova" under every platform. The Buick Apollo, Oldmobile Omega, Pontiac Ventura... which became the final GTO in 1974. T/A Shaker hood on it.
1638890368673.png
 

armyadarkness

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A '68 Firebird 400 will forever be the one that got away. I had the opportunity to buy it when I was 18. Original owner (legit a little old lady- probably 60ish). It was in awesome shape, and she wanted the princely sum of $900 for it. Why didn't I buy it??? I didn't like the avocado green interior (or the exterior, really, at the time). Still, shoulda coulda woulda but didn't. Looked like this:

View attachment 257
There werent many faster American cars, than a 67/68 FB with a 4 speed. Hard to believe thos little cars had the same engine as my giant GTO
 

Tin Indian

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My first car was a Chevy Nova. I was in love with those cars, since I was little... But I traded my 3rd Nova for my first GTO.

So even though I'm all about the Goats, Nova's will always hold a special place in my heart. Of course, in typical GM fashion... They mad a "Nova" under every platform. The Buick Apollo, Oldmobile Omega, Pontiac Ventura... which became the final GTO in 1974. T/A Shaker hood on it.
View attachment 259
I almost bought a 74 GTO 2 weeks ago. Was a mess but was complete with the shaker and all and no real rust to speak of. He sold it an hour before I spoke to him. Worse is he sold it for 1600.00 because he was originally listing it as a parts car. Something like that with a 455 under the hood could be a lot of fun! Oh yeah, 4 speed car too.
 

Tin Indian

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There werent many faster American cars, than a 67/68 FB with a 4 speed. Hard to believe thos little cars had the same engine as my giant GTO

Yep. you just needed to know to remove the little clip on the throttle linkage so the carb would open all the way and let you get the rest of the horsepower.

There was a guy named Jim Mino, he passed away a couple years back, and he used to take his 68 Ram Air II car to all the Muscle Car showdowns that were put on by I think Car Craft in the late 80's early 90's. Anyway, He won the thing the 1st several years. Up against Hemi's and whatever anyone else was running and that little unheralded Firebird would beat them everytime. Guys would get so pissed because that wasn't supposed to happen. He had that thing solidly in the 12's.
 

armyadarkness

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Livin’the dream with a ‘64 GTO Tri-power 389 4sp The one that DeLorean started it all with on a Saturday morning in late ‘63..
They are a blast from the past😎
Frame-off restored or not ,they are amazing animals, for only $3000 back then anyone could get one! Funn stuff
Sweet! Don't think I ever saw your car. Are you dumping at the axle, or was the ex just not finished? Are those the Borg Warner Classic gauges? They look sweet!
 

Jetzster

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My uncle bought a 64 new. 389, 4 speed 4 barrel. No Tripower on his though.
My exbro in-law ordered a brand new one in ‘64, it came on the truck and it was the first one in town, caused quite a ruckus, my sis
was dating him and so i luckily got to hang out in the back seat ,remember him cruisin’with the reverb on down the freeway Listenin to the new Beatles songs on the AM radio, They put me in the trunk to sneak into the drive-in , man, always wanted one after hearing that sound like that! Hes 80 now and I take him on rides every so often and we trip on the past😎😎
 
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