Trying to stir up some controversy, I'll just drop this right here and run for cover:
There's some valuable information there, thanks for that Jim!1968 GTO - Base Factory Price - $3,101
Shipping Weight - 3,506 Lbs
Curb Weight - 3,654 Lbs
Production - 77, 704 HT Body "37" Conv. 9,980 Body "67".
36,299 GTO's had manual transmissions
51,385 GTO's had automatics
72, 793 GTO's had 350HP 400CI engines
28,487 GTO's had 4 bbl 350HP & manual trans
Standard Features on the 1968 GTO are:
All GM Safety Features
350HP 400CI OR 2 Bbl Regular Fuel 400CI
GTO Hood
Badging
Pontiac Arrowhead Nose Emblem
Bucket Seats OR Notchback Armrest Seats (LOOK At THAT - Factory on the GTO)
3-Speed Manual Transmission w/Hurst Shifter
Cigar Lighter
Ashtray Lamp
Glove Box Light
Panel Courtesy Lights
Deluxe Steering Wheel
Ignition Alarm
Carpeting
Disappearing Wipers
Sports-type Springs and Shocks
Dual Exhaust
Redline Tires
Option Prices:
354- 4-Speed with Floor Shift- $184.31 (No Console)
582 - A/C - $360.20
572 - Front Bench Seat - $42.13 (Not the same as factory installed Notchback w/armrest - this would be an extra cost option)
453 - Rally II Rims - $84.26
A few other option prices for comparison if ordered.
502- Power Brakes - $42.13
501 - Power Steering - $94.79
472 -Manual Trans Console - $52.66
444- Rally Gauge Cluster/Tach - $84.26
484 - Rally Gauge Cluster/Clock - $50.55
414 - Retractable Headlamp Covers - $52.66
434 - Hood Tach - $63.19
You can also find more at these links:
GTO's with bench seats
Any other members on here with a bench seat in thier GTO's? Mines a 69 with a 4 speed, but I've seen auto/column shift too. I'm just curious if anyone has any more details. I know they were available in black or white only (seems kinda odd they would limit the colors). Were buckets standard on...www.gtoforum.com
68 GTO Bench Seat 4spd Posi Piro
Hi Guys, Just a couple words to introduce myself and my ride. I've always been a avid Pontiac admirer and hope to enjoy this one in the good company of others. It needs a restoration and is certainly deserving. Anyone else here with a bench seat stick car? From what I can gather it's a fairly...www.gtoforum.com
Stick with the descriptive word "Unique" which will go over better than the word "Rare" which runs on the lines of boasting and braggadocious. Turned me off, just like LS engines in a 1st Gen GTO and clones.
I like the oddball cars, I'm in SC now, but I grew up in central CA and I know all about that 110 degree heat, and yeah, when I was a kid in the 70s we didn't have A/C, just rolled down the windows. Jim was saying that Pontiac charged $360 for A/C in 1968, that's big money back then, so no wonder so few cars had it, even in CA, where we were hitting 110 in the shade. We didn't have real A/C for the house either, but we had two swamp coolers. I'm from Madera, CA, where are you from? I didn't know that about PHS, that's too bad. I was disappointed with my PHS report, but I still learned a lot from it, and like you said, it sure is better than nothing. I wonder if people in the Pontiac community would volunteer their time to help build a searchable database? Volunteers working from home, plugging numbers into a small piece of the database, then PHS puts it all together and PHS profits from having a searchable database with all their cars in it. I know I'd help out. Look what wiki did with just volunteers. Do you know if all of the microfiche has been scanned? That should happen regardless, because that film is already deteriorating. It's a lot of work, but it's worth doing, if people are willing to help out.I have an 'unique' car too. Three options on my 68; AM radio, remote mirror, and Goodyear radial tires.
Car was sold in a small ranching community in far Northern California. As such people didn't have a lot of money to buy expensive cars. Even though summertime temperatures often reached 110*, very few cars had A/C. Just too much money. Majority of cars such as mine, were ordered by the dealers based on what they thought they could sell.
The radial tires were very unusual at the time. Nobody had radials back in the 60s and dad wasn't to sure about them. But after driving the car for awhile he was sold on them and for the next thirty years or so it only had Michelins.
In defense of PHS, they only have invoices and are basically a one man operation. The owner, Jim Mattison, has stated he doesn't have the time or staff to breakdown every single invoice to create a 'Marti' type of report.
Following thread (#17) has details of the history of PHS
1969 - PHS - PY Online Forums - Bringing the Pontiac Hobby Together
1969 - PHS 68-69 GTO Tempest & LeMans TECHforums.maxperformanceinc.com
Some models have very detailed records of their different options. Primarily the RA/SD/HO cars. Various people within Pontiac management kept detailed records of these 'unique' cars for their own personal use and now share their knowledge and records.
At least we Pontiac people have some records to fall back on. The Chevy guys (with exception of Corvette) have absolutely nothing except a birth certificate for their cars. All they can do is speculate.
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Good info, thanks! That clears it up, and explains why a bench would cost $42, because it's not the bench, it's the upgrade for the bench, and that makes sense, and 42 bucks is big money in '68 for simple head rests. It's no wonder so many cars were ordered bare bones, all those little things add up real quick. My son's GTO has the 236 code bench, according to PHS, and that's the Parchment notchback with armrest, no headrest, and the guy that ordered the car got it for free. Good to know. Thanks!I had no idea that the 572 front bench was 42 bucks. Good number, but big money back in '68, using an online calculator, that's $322 in today's money. Here's the thing though, my PHS report doesn't say 572 front bench. It says option 236 front bench, and the only other front bench option is 235 for the same bench in black. So I'm confused, is that a deluxe upholstery bench, and that's why the 42 bucks, you'd think bench would be free? Did they really charge this guy $42 to put a bench in his GTO? He's already paying for the GTO package, cut him some slack. You'd think they'd give him the bench for free, after all, Pontiac gets to keep their buckets. I'm guessing he got the notchback bench for free, and that's what's in the car, I just can't figure out what they mean by notchback, not without seeing photos of the 572 bench for comparison. So that's interesting.
There were three different bench seats for the Tempest/Lemans/GTO. The first was for 4 door cars and had a solid back. The second was a split bench for the two door Tempest and Base LeMans, then the Notchback for the LeMans (with decor option) and GTO. The notchback had the armrest and had a notch in between the seats backs.
The bench seat in the GTO was a no cost option.
Option 572 was not a seat option but for head rests which were a $42 option for 68 Pontiacs.
If you have the headrests they were uncommon for 68 models.
Headrests were required by law as of Jan 1 1969 so they were standard equipment on all 69 and up models.
236 and 235 were trim codes for the interior
235 black interior with a notchback bench
236 Parchment (white) interior with a notchback bench
Those were the only two colors available for the notchback bench in the GTO
That's interesting, thanks! Come to think of it, my '69 Mustang did have all the belts in it, shoulder and all, and they were in good shape, so I stole them and put them in my '70 Mach 1 that had been missing the shoulder belts since i bought the car in '89. I had forgotten that, until I read your post just now. I guess I grabbed the belts out of the '69 about 22 years ago. Funny how you forget stuff like that, until something jogs your memory.Front shoulder belts were required as of Jan 1 1968 with the exception of convertibles. I believe convertibles were required to have them for '70 models. GM started installing shoulder belt mounts in the middle of '66 production and they were an option until Jan 68.
Rear shoulder belts were also an option starting with the 68 GM models.
IIRC front seat belts were required for 65 models, rears in 66. Ford was the first manufacturer to offer seat belts in 1956 and they had a big safety advertising program to push them
Totally agree with everything you said, but what if your car with almost no options and no power anything, also had A/C? Seriously, it's something we never think about, but I've been into 60's cars since the 80s, and when I ask myself right now, how many of those 60s cars that I really knew well, had factory A/C, and no power steering and no power brakes. I can' think of one. Cars that my friends had in high school, cars that I owned. Cars that my Air Force buddies owned. Cars that are in my town right now and make it to car shows, with their hoods up. Not too many 60s cars with factory A/C at all really, because it was expensive. $360 for A/C in 1968? That was big money back then, when I was a kid we rolled the windows down, that was our A/C, that was most people's A/C back then. For some reason, the guy that spent $360 for A/C, usually spent 40 bucks for power steering, and sometimes he also opted for power brakes. I don't know why, I just know that when I see a car with no power steering and no power brakes, but it has A/C, it's Vintage Air, and not factory. Personally I don't like PS or PB, but it's nice to keep cool, so I might be so inclined to order a GTO like my son's GTO with no PS and no PB, but A/C. I'm a cheapskate though, so probably, I'd just grab the four-speed, and that's it, and since I was already paying for the GTO package, I'd take those sweet bucket seats as well, thank you very much, since I'm not paying extra for them.I found this article to be quite entertaining, and slightly familiar.
I heard that buzz word “rare “about a dozen times when I looked at my 72 before I bought it.
Almost NO options – no power anything, 3 speed floor shifter and a bench seat…..The guy who makes repro window stickers said it was one of the lowest optioned cars he has seen.
Cant confuse rarity with desirability…….
I appreciate your research, and you were polite about it. I'm just having fun here. If you look at most of the videos on my youtube channel, you'll see that I don't take myself very seriously. Mostly I'm just a weird dude. I like old cars, and my flip phone, and my 200 plus 8 tracks, all rebuilt with new pads and splices. I can talk 8 tracks for about as long as I can talk cars and have just as much fun doing it. I've never owned a car that was newer than 1975. I'm not normal. When look around at everyone else, I think I might be marching to the beat of a different drummer. Also I wasn't allowed to march in the parade at basic training, back in '90, TI said I bounce too much.Just a quick scan on the internet, I found several 68 GTOs with bench seats, 4 speeds, and A/C (all factory installed). Now I will say I didn’t find the exact combination of having no power steering and no power brakes but of those cars that I found they either had no power steering and had power brakes or vice versa. So we’re only talking one option off to have these exact options you’re talking so much about. So common sense would probably say your clone existed at one point in time with the bench seat, 4 speed, A/C, no power steering, and no power brakes.
Now having those exact combinations of options in your exact color combinations of paint and interior is different story. Anyone that specials orders a car could be in the same “rare” definition that you define. I’m sure my car could be 1 of 1 as well as the rest of the members on this forum as well.
Welcome to the GTO club, we all have rare GTOs!
Well, you're talking to the right guy, I just happen to know this story, and unlike most of my stories, this one is pretty short and sweet. I have a '66 Alpine, no Chrysler pentastar on the lower fender. I had a '67 Alpine and that had the pentastar on it. So Sunbeam went to Shelby and said hey we like what you did with the A/C Ace, help us figure out how to do that with the Alpine, we want to sell a 1964 Tiger. Shelby sends a couple guys to England, they fit the small block, transmission, and rear end, and I think the biggest modification was probably rack and pinion steering. Only Tigers got it, not Alpines, and only because there was no other way to fit the SBF in there. It's a tiny engine bay, when I stand in that engine bay, it make me look fat:If I remember it right, Sunbeams were a Chrysler of UK product. When imported they were sold by Chrysler/Plymouth dealers. When the Tiger came along you had C/P mechanics working on Ford 260/289 small blocks.
I can't recall why they didn't use the 273 Chrysler V8.
niceI have a
I have an all original 1968 green GTO 400 HO bench seat 4 speed M21 with 390 rear end from the original owner all numbers match