Yah, definitely a 69. The 'slightly' prettier 68 had smaller taillights placed below the bumper ridge at a slight downward angle, along with wing windows. Neat car I'd love to have, but loose the wanna-be GTO badge. Embarrassing. Be proud of the car you are. #1968
Great old looking GTO. I really have to fly down to Alameda sometime and check out all of the treasures that lie before me. Oh and Murilee, do you talk with the owner of each car? because I'm curious as to what the interior looks like. #1968
"...one of the reasons I avoid most classic muscle car shows"
How well I know that feeling. Believe me, unless you have a copious and undying fascination for a marque, your eyes will glaze over into an addled stare within a half-hour of seeing one after another of, say, Corvettes, with the dealer sales sheet taped to the window, and the 'correct' chalk marks on the firewall, all to create the illusion of 'factory fresh'.
This is not to disparage those who love this stuff-there's something out there for everyone, and I'm sure some of my hobbies seem odd-but it's good to know I'm not the only car guy who feels this way. For me, a hot rod or custom show (even though I'm not involved in them) is vastly more entertaining. #1968
Back in the day we had an old man who bought a new Camaro in 1967 and 1970. Both had stovebolt 6's and PowerSlides. In our town was a 1964 Impala SS with a stovebolt 6, a 3 on the tree, overdrive and bucket seats. Go figure that one out!
For a fancier version of the 1968 Pontiac LeMans wagon, a guy who owned a large beer distributorship had the wagon tricked out from the factory as if it was a GTO and it had the woodgrain trim too.
At least when the "strange" cars were new, one could ask the owner for their story but now it's going to be hard to find out how this semi-GTO came to be what it is after 4+ decades have passed. If anyone can get the story, I'd sure love to read it! #1968
@1991Brougham: "Super Sport" was just a bucket-seat package for the first few years (except the 1961 Impala SS, which was V8 mandatory and didn't have buckets). There was a 1964 Malibu SS in my family with six/three on the tree.
Beginning with the 1965 Malibu SS Z16, Chevy started using the SS tag pretty randomly to indicate either a sporty trim package or a performance package. #1968
Looks like a rescue Pontiac to me. The donor door, less than judicious use of bondo and wheels that have not seen polish for a while point to some years of neglect, possibly abuse, by a previous owner. I do see a lot of potential.
I did not see a GTO right away, so I thank you, Murilee, Novaload and others for helping me with that. #1968
In those years DeLorean had a fascination for hiding stuff, like headlights, windshield wipers, radio antennas and window vents.
If you like that fad the 1969 GTO is a step above the 1968 or, even better yet, the old-hat 1967 with exposed everything.
Horrors.
The 1968-69 mid-sized Pontiacs also had one of Bunkie Knudsen's famed snouts. Once he switched over to Ford pretty much every car in the line up grew a big nose -- most famously the 1970-71 T-Bird. #1968
Who cares if it's a Tempest, a Goat, or even a Cutlass in drag. Great car, I'd drive it anywhere. I miss my '69 Cutlass, what a great bulletproof car that was. #1968
I see a 68/69 but mostly 69 mish-mosh here. The front and nostrils/hood are 69 but the panel gaps are so huge you have to wonder...the badging is all over the place. The old GTOs --this is memory only--wore their GTO grille badge on the driver's side. So I'm thinking that's an add on; also I recall only the Tempest had the solo Pontiac V on the rear fender--but that was in 68. Both in 68 and 69 the Lemans and GTO had their names with the V there too along with another logo just behind the front fender well. Of course those could have fallen off long ago and had the holes filled in. Overall, though, I think it is a 69 Pontiac Tempest wearing some wolf badging. Guys used to do that all the time--go to junkyard, pry off some emblems and voila! Engine upgrade for a buck!
I'm not even going near the innards---but for you trivia buffs, Hurst/GTO had a "his and hers" 3-speed automatic (gated not on column) that could be automatic and manual. They all had Hursts, marked or not. And yes, you could get a 68 and a 69 -- even a Goat--with a column shifter.
All that said, I know you can still get a really fine restoration from $20 - 30k-- so that's pretty reasonable considering that you can get a new tiny soul-less jelly bean for that. #1968
@Novaload: +1. The GTO badge should be in the left grille. Also the taillights are wrong for a GTO, the GTO had two stacked rectangles running the full width of the lens instead of side-by-side. #1968
@Novaload: It's all 69. Tail lights not surrounded by bumper, lack of vent windows, and Jimmy Durante nose all point to 69. The one I drove in high school was a mishmash of 68/69 in the worst way possible. Ugly 69 nose and busted-ass vent windows on a post sedan.
@Smells_Homeless: Thanks. The only 68 puzzlement for me was the rear fender with the V logo all by its lonesome. That was clearly a 68 feature; I don't know if it continued to 69. It was like a badge of shame, because the V did not have a GTO or Lemans in front of it. Just nothing = Tempest. #1968
@camp6ell: Do you mean the one that was only applicable to cars from model year 1985 and later, or the one that should never, ever be applied to anything cooler than an Explorer? #1968
This is a '69 - the '68 had vent windows, taillights set lower in the rear bumper, and a grille that didn't intrude so much into the central divider.
I have never really been into the post-'67 GM intermediate styling. The high point for the intermediates was '66 and '67. Lean-looking with a bit of Coke-bottle flair. Then they gained a lot of visual bulk for '68 and became dumplings. The Pontiac was perhaps the best of the bunch.
@tonyola: Agreed on it being a '69. While I don't know much about the Pontiacs, I've owned two '69 Cutlass's (one 2dr ht, one ragtop), and you're right in saying the '68s had vent windows and the '69s didn't have them. #1968
10/17/09
10/17/09
10/17/09
10/17/09
How well I know that feeling. Believe me, unless you have a copious and undying fascination for a marque, your eyes will glaze over into an addled stare within a half-hour of seeing one after another of, say, Corvettes, with the dealer sales sheet taped to the window, and the 'correct' chalk marks on the firewall, all to create the illusion of 'factory fresh'.
This is not to disparage those who love this stuff-there's something out there for everyone, and I'm sure some of my hobbies seem odd-but it's good to know I'm not the only car guy who feels this way. For me, a hot rod or custom show (even though I'm not involved in them) is vastly more entertaining. #1968
10/17/09
10/17/09
10/17/09
Back in the day we had an old man who bought a new Camaro in 1967 and 1970. Both had stovebolt 6's and PowerSlides. In our town was a 1964 Impala SS with a stovebolt 6, a 3 on the tree, overdrive and bucket seats. Go figure that one out!
For a fancier version of the 1968 Pontiac LeMans wagon, a guy who owned a large beer distributorship had the wagon tricked out from the factory as if it was a GTO and it had the woodgrain trim too.
At least when the "strange" cars were new, one could ask the owner for their story but now it's going to be hard to find out how this semi-GTO came to be what it is after 4+ decades have passed. If anyone can get the story, I'd sure love to read it! #1968
10/17/09
Beginning with the 1965 Malibu SS Z16, Chevy started using the SS tag pretty randomly to indicate either a sporty trim package or a performance package. #1968
10/17/09
I did not see a GTO right away, so I thank you, Murilee, Novaload and others for helping me with that. #1968
10/17/09
If you like that fad the 1969 GTO is a step above the 1968 or, even better yet, the old-hat 1967 with exposed everything.
Horrors.
The 1968-69 mid-sized Pontiacs also had one of Bunkie Knudsen's famed snouts. Once he switched over to Ford pretty much every car in the line up grew a big nose -- most famously the 1970-71 T-Bird. #1968
10/17/09
10/17/09
10/17/09
10/17/09
I'm not even going near the innards---but for you trivia buffs, Hurst/GTO had a "his and hers" 3-speed automatic (gated not on column) that could be automatic and manual. They all had Hursts, marked or not. And yes, you could get a 68 and a 69 -- even a Goat--with a column shifter.
All that said, I know you can still get a really fine restoration from $20 - 30k-- so that's pretty reasonable considering that you can get a new tiny soul-less jelly bean for that. #1968
10/17/09
10/17/09
God I loved that car. #1968
10/17/09
10/17/09
10/17/09
10/17/09
10/17/09
10/17/09
Is that Chevy (C-10?) is the background already a DOTS member? #1968
10/17/09
10/17/09
10/17/09
I have never really been into the post-'67 GM intermediate styling. The high point for the intermediates was '66 and '67. Lean-looking with a bit of Coke-bottle flair. Then they gained a lot of visual bulk for '68 and became dumplings. The Pontiac was perhaps the best of the bunch.
10/17/09
10/17/09