72Chero
05-11-2007, 01:49 AM
This month is showcasing the beautiful 66 GTO owned by Bill Arnold.
I always try to get the nickname of each vehicle but Bill stated he really hasn't given it a name, maybe we should for him. Bill has but one picture of his pride and joy...
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i258/19RED72/vbgarage.jpg
you have a truely amazing car...one to be extremely proud of.
Bill purchased the car in West Palm Beach, Fl. in Feb. 2005. It has been repainted in the original color (Fontaine Blue). The interior is black. It has a 389ci engine with a Carter AFB carburator and a 3.00 posi rearend. The engine and transmission are original and this car is all numbers matching. Bill had the headliner replaced, the instrument cluster and the windshield replaced. Bill also replaced the drag link and the idler arm. His car is a weekend driver, although it is not used every weekend due to weather or schedules. The following is the listing/build sheet of this car at date of purchase. This is great paperwork to own for any collector.
1966 GTO Sports Coupe(post).
It was assembled in Kansas City in Dec. of 1965 and shipped to a dealer in Garland, Texas.
The options included were:
Automatic Trans $194.84
Push button radio $61.09
Remote control side mirror $7.37
Vanity Mirror $1.68
Deluxe wheel discs $16.85
Console $ 47.13
Power steering $ 94.79
Power brakes $41.60
Air Conditioning $343.20
Front & rear mats $12.70
Final price $3762.93
Here is a little information that Bill might not know....
Pontiac GTO - The Greatest Muscle Car of All Time
GTO is the monogram for the most famous muscle car in high-performance automobile history - the Pontiac GTO. Also known as "The Legend" and "The Great One," GTO is the car that started it all. Prior to 1964, performance cars were full-size hardtops and sedans with the largest displacement engines available. They were a little slow off the line, but once all that sheet metal and chrome got rolling, they pulled like a freight train. Hot rodders had known for years that you could go even faster if you put those big engines in smaller, lighter cars. Engine swaps were standard operating procedure for hot rodders, but that was backyard tinkering, not corporate engineering.
The GTO option was available on three LeMans bodies, the two-door coupe, hardtop, and convertible. More hardtops were produced than the combined total of the coupes and convertibles. Engines with the single four-barrel carburetor outsold the Tri-Power models by a margin of three to one.
An extensive list of LeMans options allowed the potential GTO owner to build anything from a bare-bones muscle car to a loaded high-performance cruiser. Option choices included a four-speed manual transmission, a two-speed automatic, a 348-horsepower Tri-Power engine, Safe-T-Track differential, air-conditioning, power seat, power windows, tilt steering, tachometer, metallic brake linings, an AM/FM radio and a Verbra-Phonic rear speaker. In less time than it took to change spark plugs, a young performance enthusiast could check the appropriate LeMans order form boxes for a factory-built hot rod. The Pontiac GTO launched a whole new market segment.
Pontiac already had somewhat of a European racing theme in place with the Grand Prix and LeMans, so Chief Engineer John DeLorean appropriated the Italian racing designation Gran Turismo Omologato. The name was closely associated with Ferrari. In English it means, "Grand Touring Homologated." The Pontiac GTO was a grand touring car homologated (or made) from different parts, specifically the 389 Bonneville engine. It is doubtful whether many GTO owners understood the name or could even pronounce it, but it projected an image of a powerful, exotic, high-performance car. All that really mattered was that the GTO was a great car and the name was very well received.
A tremendous amount of free advertising came about when a Top 40 song was written about the GTO. John Wilkin penned the song "GTO" and a group of Nashville session musicians recorded it under the name "Ronny and the Daytonas." The song went as high as No. 4 on the charts during its 17-week stay. Over a million singles and 500,000 albums were sold. The refrain, "three deuces and a four-speed and a 389," played repeatedly to the GTO's key customer group.
Several strong competitors had joined the GTO by 1966, but that didn't stop the GTO from selling almost a 100,000 cars. The final tally was an astonishing 96,946 units. Pretty impressive for a car that insiders doubted would sell 5,000 two years earlier. The GTO was by now so highly regarded inside GM that it was made a separate model line in 1966. The A-body intermediate platform was redesigned and Pontiac's Coke bottle shape was born.
Even though the body was restyled, the '66 lineup included the same three body styles as before. The engine choices were again the 335-horsepower four-barrel version and the potent 360-horsepower Tri-Power-equipped 389 V8. Over 19,000 Tri-Power '66 GTOs were sold, but they were to be the last multi-carbed Pontiacs.
So its evident that the Pontiac GTO was one of the pioneers in Muscle cars. Bill also gave me some information about himself. Bill was always interested in cars as far back as he could remember. Bill learned to drive in his Dad's '49 Ford. It had a flathead V8 and a 3 speed column shift. The car died before Bill was able to own it. Bill then entered the Navy 1 month after high school and didn't get his own car (a 1962 Ford Galaxy 500 ) Bill was discharged in 1964. Bill then learned to do tuneups (plugs, points, rotor, cap, wires, dwell & timing) from his next door neighbor and subsidised his income by doing them on saturdays (sometimes 4 or 5) for $20 + parts before going to the drag strip (Westhampton Dragway) on Long Island NY where he worked for 10 years 1968/1978. It was a NHRA sanctioned track and Bill worked at every area except Tech Inspection. Bill will never forget those years, what he learned about the drag strip operation and drag cars will always stay with him. Bill also told me he really wanted a Corvette, but a close friend who owned a 1970 talked him out of it due to his poor back condition and how stiff they ride. He convinced Bill that he would not enjoy the car. Bill had owned a couple of muscle cars back in the day a 1965 Mustang, 1967 Mustang With a Hi-PO 289 4 speed ( his favorite) a 1968 Torino GT with a 390 and a C6, my last muscle car a 1969 Olds 442 with the Hurst his/hers shifter. Bill then started searching for a collector car in 2004 and found the GTO. The price was right, it was original and numbers matching and so Bill bought it. It
drives great, comfortable and will cruise at 70 forever or until it sees a gas station, 9/10 mpg. Bill also own a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 with a Hemi so you can see the go fast bug has never left him. But who could blame Bill, Adreneline is the most potent of all senses.
Bill's 66 GTO was originally chosen to be March's spotlight but he was in the process of relocating. Bill just retired in January moved into a new home in SC next door to my daughter and is really enjoying being with his grandsons every day instead of once a year. As a grandmother myself I can vouche for the joy those grand kids are. I also asked if he had any plans for his Goat, he had pointed out that the odometer on this jewel reads 32536 so he believes it has rolled over at least once. His car is a great runner and when the time comes to rebuild that 389, he will seriously consider tri-power during the rebuild.
Thank you so much Bill in sharing your story, your love of this fine machine with me. And I'm sure that you have one extremely happy Pontiac to have an owner such as yourself. Afterall, what better gift can you give those grandsons..... than the gift of building and owning one of the finest muscle cars ever built.... your pride.... the 1966 Pontiac GTO.
I always try to get the nickname of each vehicle but Bill stated he really hasn't given it a name, maybe we should for him. Bill has but one picture of his pride and joy...
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i258/19RED72/vbgarage.jpg
you have a truely amazing car...one to be extremely proud of.
Bill purchased the car in West Palm Beach, Fl. in Feb. 2005. It has been repainted in the original color (Fontaine Blue). The interior is black. It has a 389ci engine with a Carter AFB carburator and a 3.00 posi rearend. The engine and transmission are original and this car is all numbers matching. Bill had the headliner replaced, the instrument cluster and the windshield replaced. Bill also replaced the drag link and the idler arm. His car is a weekend driver, although it is not used every weekend due to weather or schedules. The following is the listing/build sheet of this car at date of purchase. This is great paperwork to own for any collector.
1966 GTO Sports Coupe(post).
It was assembled in Kansas City in Dec. of 1965 and shipped to a dealer in Garland, Texas.
The options included were:
Automatic Trans $194.84
Push button radio $61.09
Remote control side mirror $7.37
Vanity Mirror $1.68
Deluxe wheel discs $16.85
Console $ 47.13
Power steering $ 94.79
Power brakes $41.60
Air Conditioning $343.20
Front & rear mats $12.70
Final price $3762.93
Here is a little information that Bill might not know....
Pontiac GTO - The Greatest Muscle Car of All Time
GTO is the monogram for the most famous muscle car in high-performance automobile history - the Pontiac GTO. Also known as "The Legend" and "The Great One," GTO is the car that started it all. Prior to 1964, performance cars were full-size hardtops and sedans with the largest displacement engines available. They were a little slow off the line, but once all that sheet metal and chrome got rolling, they pulled like a freight train. Hot rodders had known for years that you could go even faster if you put those big engines in smaller, lighter cars. Engine swaps were standard operating procedure for hot rodders, but that was backyard tinkering, not corporate engineering.
The GTO option was available on three LeMans bodies, the two-door coupe, hardtop, and convertible. More hardtops were produced than the combined total of the coupes and convertibles. Engines with the single four-barrel carburetor outsold the Tri-Power models by a margin of three to one.
An extensive list of LeMans options allowed the potential GTO owner to build anything from a bare-bones muscle car to a loaded high-performance cruiser. Option choices included a four-speed manual transmission, a two-speed automatic, a 348-horsepower Tri-Power engine, Safe-T-Track differential, air-conditioning, power seat, power windows, tilt steering, tachometer, metallic brake linings, an AM/FM radio and a Verbra-Phonic rear speaker. In less time than it took to change spark plugs, a young performance enthusiast could check the appropriate LeMans order form boxes for a factory-built hot rod. The Pontiac GTO launched a whole new market segment.
Pontiac already had somewhat of a European racing theme in place with the Grand Prix and LeMans, so Chief Engineer John DeLorean appropriated the Italian racing designation Gran Turismo Omologato. The name was closely associated with Ferrari. In English it means, "Grand Touring Homologated." The Pontiac GTO was a grand touring car homologated (or made) from different parts, specifically the 389 Bonneville engine. It is doubtful whether many GTO owners understood the name or could even pronounce it, but it projected an image of a powerful, exotic, high-performance car. All that really mattered was that the GTO was a great car and the name was very well received.
A tremendous amount of free advertising came about when a Top 40 song was written about the GTO. John Wilkin penned the song "GTO" and a group of Nashville session musicians recorded it under the name "Ronny and the Daytonas." The song went as high as No. 4 on the charts during its 17-week stay. Over a million singles and 500,000 albums were sold. The refrain, "three deuces and a four-speed and a 389," played repeatedly to the GTO's key customer group.
Several strong competitors had joined the GTO by 1966, but that didn't stop the GTO from selling almost a 100,000 cars. The final tally was an astonishing 96,946 units. Pretty impressive for a car that insiders doubted would sell 5,000 two years earlier. The GTO was by now so highly regarded inside GM that it was made a separate model line in 1966. The A-body intermediate platform was redesigned and Pontiac's Coke bottle shape was born.
Even though the body was restyled, the '66 lineup included the same three body styles as before. The engine choices were again the 335-horsepower four-barrel version and the potent 360-horsepower Tri-Power-equipped 389 V8. Over 19,000 Tri-Power '66 GTOs were sold, but they were to be the last multi-carbed Pontiacs.
So its evident that the Pontiac GTO was one of the pioneers in Muscle cars. Bill also gave me some information about himself. Bill was always interested in cars as far back as he could remember. Bill learned to drive in his Dad's '49 Ford. It had a flathead V8 and a 3 speed column shift. The car died before Bill was able to own it. Bill then entered the Navy 1 month after high school and didn't get his own car (a 1962 Ford Galaxy 500 ) Bill was discharged in 1964. Bill then learned to do tuneups (plugs, points, rotor, cap, wires, dwell & timing) from his next door neighbor and subsidised his income by doing them on saturdays (sometimes 4 or 5) for $20 + parts before going to the drag strip (Westhampton Dragway) on Long Island NY where he worked for 10 years 1968/1978. It was a NHRA sanctioned track and Bill worked at every area except Tech Inspection. Bill will never forget those years, what he learned about the drag strip operation and drag cars will always stay with him. Bill also told me he really wanted a Corvette, but a close friend who owned a 1970 talked him out of it due to his poor back condition and how stiff they ride. He convinced Bill that he would not enjoy the car. Bill had owned a couple of muscle cars back in the day a 1965 Mustang, 1967 Mustang With a Hi-PO 289 4 speed ( his favorite) a 1968 Torino GT with a 390 and a C6, my last muscle car a 1969 Olds 442 with the Hurst his/hers shifter. Bill then started searching for a collector car in 2004 and found the GTO. The price was right, it was original and numbers matching and so Bill bought it. It
drives great, comfortable and will cruise at 70 forever or until it sees a gas station, 9/10 mpg. Bill also own a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 with a Hemi so you can see the go fast bug has never left him. But who could blame Bill, Adreneline is the most potent of all senses.
Bill's 66 GTO was originally chosen to be March's spotlight but he was in the process of relocating. Bill just retired in January moved into a new home in SC next door to my daughter and is really enjoying being with his grandsons every day instead of once a year. As a grandmother myself I can vouche for the joy those grand kids are. I also asked if he had any plans for his Goat, he had pointed out that the odometer on this jewel reads 32536 so he believes it has rolled over at least once. His car is a great runner and when the time comes to rebuild that 389, he will seriously consider tri-power during the rebuild.
Thank you so much Bill in sharing your story, your love of this fine machine with me. And I'm sure that you have one extremely happy Pontiac to have an owner such as yourself. Afterall, what better gift can you give those grandsons..... than the gift of building and owning one of the finest muscle cars ever built.... your pride.... the 1966 Pontiac GTO.