I can't believe I've been doing this blog for as long as I have and I've never blogged about an early (1964-1967) Pontiac GTO. Well, today I right that wrong and kick the historically incorrect wheels and tires on this '65.
GTO's might as well be unicorns. Even at car shows "real" GTO's, or Tempest\Lemans' that haven't been "cloned" into a GTO, are few and far between. When you get a "numbers matching" example like this in your midst you're seeing something unique and special. The VIN rings true so this here is, for better or worse, the real deal.
Although this '65 wears "Monterey Red" and not its factory tan and the clunky Saginaw three-speed has been swapped for an era-correct Muncie M-21 four-speed, it's as close to an "original and un-restored" GTO of this era that I've seen in a while. Both the paint color and M-21 where GTO options in 1965 so they're at least "historically" correct.
I don't take issue with the historically incorrect after-market HEI ignition although many purists do; I'm all about anything that improves a vehicle's drivability. I thought at first the Pontiac "Ralley II's" odd, they were not available on GTO's until 1967, but I think these work quite nicely. Such things don't always - for example, any Chevy Nova wearing Chevrolet Rally rims. Don't. Do. It.
Contemporary reviews of early "Goats" are quite mixed. You have to read between the lines to get the gist of what the reviewers, whose scribe might be across the page from an ad for the vehicle they're eviscerating, are getting at. They applauded the straight line performance and clean styling but tactfully slammed the overall lack of refinement. Dead-heavy and slow steering, unboosted single pot drum brakes, squishy suspension and a long throw-shifter makgin for a humdinger of a Sunday drive.
Spotters note, while the '64's were rather boxy and quite similar looking to the '63 "rope-drive" Tempest, "planned obsolescence" rearing it's venemous hand, GM updated all their "A-body" intermediates for '65. On the GTO the dual hood scoops on the '64 were replaced by a single scoop in the middle of the hood, headlights are stacked and the tail lights are raked outward. That rakish-ness stretching the overall length out to a portly 206.5 inches; we'd consider this a full-size car today. The '65's also subtley fortelling of the coke-bottle styling yet to come.
All said and done, I'm drawn to these cars even if I'm as terrified by their purity of purpose if not crudeness as I am enthralled by it. Can you imagine driving something like this every day?
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