1973 Pontiac GTO

Description

Beautiful, interesting, and extremely rare. Few people even knew that Pontiac made a handful of GTOs in 1973, and most of them had the smaller 400 ci motor. This is one of the few 544 that were snuck out the door with big 455 V8, reserved for the Trans Am. It one only gets better as this numbers-matching motor has been mated to a four-speed manual – something the factory never had the guts to do!

This is one of the rarest GTOs around, but making this one even rarer is the correct triple-black color combination. Someone wrote a giant check to get this car into such spectacular condition, and with black paint, there's no place for shoddy workmanship to hide. The high gloss darkness looks incredible, clinging to the A-body sheetmetal with hardly a ripple or wave to be seen. The black vinyl roof might show the luxury end of this Pontiac, but the front NACA ducts leave you with no question about its performance car nature. This hood artfully ends in the split grille up front, with a Pontiac chevron in the center, and simple GTO badging - just the way they've been doing it since the first one hit the streets in '64. There's not much chrome on this midnight prowler of a Goat, but the bumpers and trim remains in outstanding condition, and their shine only helps to emphasize the black paint. This mean and unique performance attitude is capped off with an iconic set of Cragar wheels.

Bucket seats in a full-sized A-body would become an endangered species in the years to come, but in this GTO they're part of the factory package. Today they still look a fresh as if this was 1973, and the coupe was sitting in the Pontiac showroom. The center console looks just as fresh, and it utilizes the manual transmission opening that was designed for the smaller 400 ci cars. The steering wheel has a simple PMD horn button that always worked well with the Pontiac Motor Division's understated attitude. Beyond that is a full set of gauges, including Pontiac's cool tach and clock combo readout. But while this is a driver's coupe, all the riders will be happy that this one has been upgraded to an air conditioner running modern R-134a.

The most important component of this factory-correct Pontiac is what fills the engine bay. The 455 cubic-inch V8 was the largest motor Pontiac was offering at the time. This is the original, numbers-matching engine, giving this GTO an impressive pedigree. Its preserved appearance will be a hit at car shows (just wait and see how many people want to take a picture of your "Keep your GM car all GM" sticker on the air cleaner.) But there are some upgrades to this one. You can see that this has a new H-pipe exhaust for a superior rumble, and of course, we didn't forget about the gearbox. This is a period-correct Muncie M20 four-speed that was designed to easily handle the power of the big V8. It's a wonder why Pontiac didn't offer this combination to the public. Maybe they thought premium buyers didn't want to shift there own gears, so thank goodness for an enthusiast with the guts and wallet to make this upgrade happen. You'll enjoy tearing up the streets in this GTO since the stick shift linked to Pontiac's Safe-T-Track limited slip rear end. Plus, there's good all-around grip with front disc brakes and BF Goodrich tires.

This is a one year only GTO, which makes this Goat more of a unicorn. It even comes with plenty of documentation to back it up, including the factory buildsheet and reproduction window sticker. So if you're not quick enough to snatch up this rare Pontiac you'll have as much proof it exists as, well, a unicorn. Call today!!