[Linas]

Hi all,

I have been a fan of muscle cars for a long time, plus I was in C3 Corvettes for a while. Right now I own '88 Ferrari Testarossa, which I bought as flood salvage in Copart auction one year ago and since then rebuilt it to a roadworthy condition. Now I am enjoying driving it!

Recently I have seen this unfortunate '67 GTO. I would be very interested in your views, is it worth saving? Eg. With a nice '67 Lemans donor car, etc. Any feedback and reality check would be very much appreciated

 

[geeteeohguy]

This car has been all over the internet, and is posted on the Performance Years forum. Your answer is NO, it's not worth saving. VIN swaps are illegal in all states. You are looking at a parts car with very few parts to offer.

 

[Linas]

This car has been all over the internet, and is posted on the Performance Years forum. Your answer is NO, it's not worth saving. VIN swaps are illegal in all states. You are looking at a parts car with very few parts to offer.

Ok, thanks. However, I am from Europe, where VIN replacement could be legal in certain cases.

Maybe by chance you could post some links to the forums, where this car is discussed? Was not able to find on my own

 

[geeteeohguy]

The name of the post is "be careful out there" and it's in the '66-'67 GTO tech section of the pyforumsonline. The amount of money spent trying to make this GTO into a 35,000 dollar car again would be many times that price. The smartest and cheapest way into a '67 GTO right now is to buy one already restored or in good condition for $25-$50k. The second best and more expensive option is to buy an all original, tired and worn out but rust free GTO and restore it. That will cost you 10-15k for the car, and 25-75k to restore it. The most expensive way into a '67 GTO is to buy the car you posted, and then source a new frame, new body, new engine, new driveline, etc. You would easily be 70K plus into the car, not including purchase price, to end up with a 35k car. Not a good plan. I had a '66 GTO that took a head on hit, and it wasn't half as bad as this car, in fact, the car was rebuilt using a new frame. But the engine, transmission, and rear end were destroyed by the impact. Broke the crankshaft, transmission mounting ears, and sheared the teeth off of the ring gear in the differential. Not good.

 

[Instg8ter]

could make a nice altered wheel base drag car as its already been shortened 2 feet, and i know that steering wheel left a mark...

 

[skurfan]

I say go for it. A bunch of easy fixes and the rest will buff out....

 

[Linas]

The name of the post is "be careful out there" and it's in the '66-'67 GTO tech section of the pyforumsonline. The amount of money spent trying to make this GTO into a 35,000 dollar car again would be many times that price. The smartest and cheapest way into a '67 GTO right now is to buy one already restored or in good condition for $25-$50k. The second best and more expensive option is to buy an all original, tired and worn out but rust free GTO and restore it. That will cost you 10-15k for the car, and 25-75k to restore it. The most expensive way into a '67 GTO is to buy the car you posted, and then source a new frame, new body, new engine, new driveline, etc. You would easily be 70K plus into the car, not including purchase price, to end up with a 35k car. Not a good plan. I had a '66 GTO that took a head on hit, and it wasn't half as bad as this car, in fact, the car was rebuilt using a new frame. But the engine, transmission, and rear end were destroyed by the impact. Broke the crankshaft, transmission mounting ears, and sheared the teeth off of the ring gear in the differential. Not good.

Thanks for taking time to write this up, that helps. I guess, my problem is that I am somehow addicted to complex projects. Eg. my previous project, Testarossa, which has been sailing underwater for some time in its life. However, in that case, I was lucky to source the full wiring harness and other electric components as a job lot cheap from a guy who was parting our crashed TR, so the whole project cost was not so bad. Anyhow, in this case, that looks a bit scary.

Thanks again, I will still end up getting 66-67 GTO as a garage companion to my '88 TR, that is just a matter of time :cheers

 

[K12pilot]

Gto + oak tree = scrap

 

[BearGFR]

'Worth" saving? That's a subjective question with a subjective answer. "It depends" on how important this particular car is to someone.

However, like everyone else has said --- would it be a financially sound decision? No way. A person could easily spend 5 to 10 times what this car would ever be worth and still not get it "finished". Every body panel on this car has been damaged with the possible exception of the tail panel and rear bumper - and I'm not even sure about those. The frame is definitely way past saving with anything this side of a miracle.

Bear

 

[ALKYGTO]

Gto + oak tree = scrap

:rofl: Funniest response yet right there.

Yeah, although it is sad to see another great Pontiac Warrior head to the automotive graveyard I'm afraid this one is way beyond saving. Perhaps it will donate some of it's surviving parts to someone else's GTO but this one is GONE.

Too bad, looked like a nice car too.

 

[danthepontiacman]

I have to ask, did the driver survive the wreak? it looks survivable, def was feeling some pain tho

 

[68greengoat]

Oh my gosh. What a mess. My first thought was the same as Dan's, did everyone, or anyone, survive?

I liked this answer:

I say go for it. A bunch of easy fixes and the rest will buff out....

 

[Rukee]

I just cried a little.

 

[mysweet67]

HEAVY hit. Not a lot salvageable there. 67 was the first year for lap seat belts as standard equipment. If the driver didn't get zipped in half, he surely broke his pelvis, minimum. If he didn't have the seat belt on.................

 

[rentalguy1]

1. No. Whomever has this car should pull off every servicible piece of GTO goodness and sell it to some poor soul out there breathing life into a worthy car. Then recycle the remainder.

2. Standard answer in the off-road community is "It'll buff out." Love it!

3. No way that car hit a oak tree. More like something in the Class IV category hit it.

4. Judging from the lack of blood and gore, the car was parked and unoccupied when it met its demise.

 

[danthepontiacman]

No way to get that kinda damage and it been parked, ultimate gto.com had a pic of a blue gto that was close to this bad, guy hit a steel light pile at 100 and lived but was in a coma. Unless this thing was being pulled and the cable broke while they were passing going 100+ there's no way it look like that and lack of rear or roof damage says it was moving.. To me anyway. In any case it's a crying shame but does make me want shoulder belts and a 68 column in my 66 so I dont become one with my car so to speek.

 

[rentalguy1]

IMHO, a 80,000 pound tractor trailer traveling at 60 MPH could have easily done that amount of damage to a parked car that was sitting along the road. I've seen a tractor trailer back in to a parked (newer) car and do nearly that amount of damage in a parking lot. And the driver never even knew he had done it. Judging by the looks of that steering wheel, of someone had been in the driver's seat, there would be blood everywhere. I still believe the car was empty when hit. I'd really like to know what happened now. Anybody have any more info on this car and what happened to it?

 

[geeteeohguy]

The damage to the steering wheel was caused by a person hitting it. Same with the bent dash. The secondary damage to the 1/4 panels indicate that the car was in motion when it came to a sudden stop (pole, bridge abutment, parked tractor trailer, etc). I've been trained in damage analysis (I-CAR and Genisis) and also have personal experience here: (1980 head-on in my '66 GTO). The 1/4's in my car buckled the same way, though my car got rebuilt,as it was a direct head-on with a lot less damage. No doubt, that car was in motion and at speed when it hit something.

 

[66goatframeoff]

I have been watching this car only as a parts car yes it could be saved but as much damage that has been done you could buy a really nice car for what you would have in it has some nice parts left imo but I would not restore it for cost factor but if you have the skills and time and it goes cheap enough ya never know would like to know how it got that way the strg wheel makes me hurt.

 

[rentalguy1]

Thanks geeteeohguy. I guess the steering wheel damage makes sense. I don't understand the lack of gore, unless someone cleaned it up, but that doesn't make sense to me. If that's the case, no way it would have been survivable with the internal injuries it would have caused.