This is my 1973 Pontiac GTO.
I purchased this car in 1987 from the second owner who purchased it in
1979. It is a 4-speed car of which 926 were built in the USA and 12 built
in Canada. Mine is a Canadian built car and thus 1 of 12 made.
I've changed the drivetrain
extensively and it now runs a 1969 Oldsmobile 365 horsepower 455 (7.5 litre)
engine and a Muncie M-22 (Rock Crusher) 4-speed transmission from a 1972
Pontiac Trans-Am. As far as the engine is concerned I've added an aluminum
Holley Street Dominator intake manifold, Hedman exhaust headers, HEI distributor
from a 1975 Oldsmobile 98 Regency and a 1971 Cadillac Eldorado Quadrajet
4 barrel Carburetor. It runs pretty good for a 4200 pound car and sure
puts the 5.0 litre Mustangs and Buick Grand Nationals to shame at the stoplight
derbies. With about 560 foot lbs of torque on hand I should HOPE it does!!!
The original colour of the
car was "Florentine Red" which is sort of a maroon/burgundy but I just
couldn't stand it. It is now in a beautiful Sherwin Williams Custom colour
from 1992 called "Lemon Yellow". The meticulous bodywork & paint was
applied by a close friend of mine "Rob Velychko" of Calgary and as you
can see it really suits the car. The stripe was applied by another close
friend of mine "Dan Dudar" of Calgary (because his hands don't shake like
mine do!). I would have liked to put a factory or reproduced decal on it
but can't find either one. So we applied this stripe as per sales brochures
and factory photos from 1973.
Anyway, The interior is all
black and includes bucket seats, console and full guages including 8,000
rpm tachometer. Another neat option the car has is (get this) a GM tissue
dispenser! Must be for all those tears of joy one gets from driving a car
such as this!!!
As for suspension, it's stock all around including 1.25 inch sway bar in front and a 1 inch sway bar out back. The 1973 Pontiac GTO was the best handling of all the GTOs made from 1964 to 1974. Interestingly enough it was also the heaviest and largest of all the GTOs as well!!!
Wheels and tires? Wheels are Pontiac Honeycombs 14x7 front and 15x7 rear. Front tires are 245/60 series front and 275/60 series rear.
I finished this car in 1993
just in time for the "World of Wheels". I entered it as part of our "GTO
Association of Alberta" club display. So many onlookers didn't even realize
that there WAS a 1973 Pontiac GTO made!
Well, That's about all I can
say. I love my GTO and think it's looks put all those GTO Judges to shame.
Just look at it above. Like it was designed for a "Buck Rogers" movie!
Raised hood from the 30's, pontoon torpedo fenders from the 40's and the
general decadence and "devil may care" styling attitude of the late 50's.