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Detroit, 4:06 AM
Mon Nov 30
13 posts in the last 24 hours
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10/17/09
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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
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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
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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
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God I loved that car. #1968
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Is that Chevy (C-10?) is the background already a DOTS member? #1968
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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.
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