Ol' Fart's Firebird Fantasy

[oldskool]

OK ya'll, I've been encouraged to start my own thread. So here goes. I reckin my story started way back around 1963 or so when the GTO was born. A popular newspaper in my area started running ads about the GTO. And many of the ads would have a Tiger in 'em. Well, it was love at 1st sight, I guess you could say. I collected all the ads I could find and started covering the walls in my room with 'em. Within a couple of years my room had GTO wallpaper ! I also bought the 45rpm record of the GTO song and played it over and over til my family was tired of hearing it.



I suppose you could say that from that time on I was a "Pontiac Freak". There was no doubt in my mind that I would someday drive a GTO of my own. I remember examples of the 1st 3 year model Goats in my home town. The 1st was a red '64, then a light blue '65, then a black '66--all 4-speeds with 3-dueces. I watched 'em cruise around town lookin real cool and then burnin rubber when the law wasn't lookin. Hey, a schoolmate even borrowed his brothers '65 and took some of us guys for a spin. It was awesome ! I'd never ridden in a car that would burn rubber and bark 'em again when shifting. Yeah, the Musclecar era was a great time to be a young gearhead.

Anyhow, fast forward to '69. I was going to college and working all the hours I could at a nearby Pizza Inn. I was only making $1.50 an hour. That's right-- a buck fifty. But you have to understand, things were a lot cheaper back then. So, since I was makin the big bucks, I decided it was time for me to have my very own GTO. So I went down to the Pontiac Dealer to order one. They had a Judge in the showroom. I really liked everything about it, except the color. To me it looked like "Halloween Orange". I told the salesman that I was not about to ride around in no orange car--not even a GTO !

So, I was gonna order one in a different color. But in early '69 that was the only color they came in. Later in the year, other colors were available. But I didn't know that then. So I asked the salesman if I could get the Judge engine and stuff in a reg GTO. He said I could get everything except the rear deck spoiler and the Judge stripes and decals.

So, I ordered it--silver with black int, bench seat with fold down arm rest(so my girlfriend could sit closer to me ), 400 Ram Air 3 engine, close ratio 4-speed, 3.90 posi rear, radio with a rear speaker, and nothing else. Less than 6 weeks later, I was driving down the street past the Pontiac dealer when I met a truck load of new Pontiacs coming down the street. And there it was, in the middle of the bottom row, my silver GTO !

So, I did a "bat turn" and followed the truck to the dealership. I sat and watched as they unloaded all the new Pontiacs. I went in to talk to the salesman. He said they would have to service it out in the shop before I could leave with it. So, we took care of the paperwork, and soon they were thru with it and parked it right outside the showroom door. I hadn't ordered any special wheels, so it came with some rinky dink hub caps. I took 'em off and gave 'em to the salseman.

Then I got in MY GTO and drove off down the street. I'll never forget that feeling as long as I live. That car was a source of great pleasure for me that day and for many years thereafter. Yeah, I love Pontiacs ! So you guys will just have to excuse me if I seem a little prejudice and talk mostly about Pontiacs. And it makes no difference at all, that Pontiacs are no longer made. The last 400 engine came in a '79 model. So except for the little 301, that was it for Pontiac powered cars.

But, because of aftermarket parts, you can now build a Pontiac engine without a single GM part. NHRA even allows many of these parts in Stockers and Super Stockers.