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A fresh shot of Dan Roy's fine '74 GTO. Included are two views of the
interior. You can just barely see the factory tach peeking out on the
left side of the dash next to the speedometer.
Projects Page 2 has a slightly better
view of this dash configuration. Note Pontiac emblem on the shifter. |
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A rear seat view, with the inertia-reel seat belt retractor visible.
The engine shot shows his new 455 in place. And Dan's no wuss...he
takes this terrific car down to the drag strip! |
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(L) A hodge-podge of '74s turned up thru surfing the net. The white car
might be from Colorado instead of DC, but here is some tech info:
"Big block Chevy motor - 550/600 HP, pro shot
nitrous (additional 250HP), EST ET: mid 10's, bored 60 over, balanced,
forged pistons 10.25 to 1, ported/polished heads, roller rockers, torque
intake w/ 1"spacer, 850 demon carb, turbo 350, shift kit w/3200 rpm stall,
line lock, 411 gears w/spool, c-clip elimination reinforced, MSD ignition,
6AL timmins retart and 2 step, 29.50-1100x15 quick time pro tires, auto
meter gauges, fiberglass seats, certified seat belts, frame connectors, race
shocks, fuel cell, traction bars. No miles, NO runs."
Believe it or not!
(R) Here's the only example of
a GTO in this color that I've ever seen (can anyone identify the color
code?)...this one is in a museum in Ypsilanti, MI. According to the
museum website:
"Built
during the second shift at GM's Willow Run Assembly Plant on June 6, 1974,
this final year Pontiac GTO has just 24,000 miles on it and is in thoroughly
original, unrestored condition. In its last year, the '74 GTO was a package
on the Ventura series, and only 7,058 were produced. Naturally, it is still
powered by its original engine, a four-barrel 350-cid V-8, and transmission,
an Ypsilanti-built 350 Turbo-Hydramatic."
Update Mar'04: The color may be Code 49, "Pinemist Green Iridescent
Metallic", according to one GTO authority (thanks, Dan!) |
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(L)
The salt demons have had their way with this Kentucky GTO. Great
Scott! As I recall, the seller had another '74 Ventura that was
included as a parts car. The seat material is an interesting weave,
but kind of gross-looking now. This car has a manual tranny, too. |
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(L)
More neglected cars; "See 'em and Weep"! The grey car has been
previously featured on
www.ultimategto.com, of course. If anyone has tried to rescue any
of these neglected classics, drop us a line at
pontiacv@pontiacventura.com
-Roland (R) I found a
larger photo of this Fire Coral Bronze beauty, so here it is! |
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(L)
Dave Lanzo ( d_lanzo@hotmail.com
) forwards these fresh photos of a
rather ripe old GTO that he just bought. It certainly doesn't look as
bad as others we've seen, but apparently the car is pretty rusty, so his
plan is to find a rust-free body and transfer the GTO parts over.
(R) Don McKay ( goat74@shaw.ca ) turned
up a number of shots of his very first GTO (not his popular camper model) and
shares them with us here. The car is wearing Cragar rims. |
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A
few more pics from Don's personal archive. I believe Don still owns
this car, but has not yet restored it. Looks like those rear leaf
springs had a hard time with the two Honda Odysseys on the trailer. |
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This could be the actual car that originally re-kindled my interest in buying
another Ventura (and as a bonus, starting this website). To protect the owner's
privacy I've wiped the plate and will not disclose the location.
Are those Buick sport rims? The fact that they're perfectly lined up for
the photo is just too
cool! This car also has a rare vinyl top. |
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Super-sleuth "Detective" Don McKay has been out and about capturing Canadian
goats on film, but this is no nature documentary! The car at far
left used to hang out at a trucking firm (gone) in Kamloops; Don left
messages but the owner never contacted him. At right is a goat Don
spotted for sale for $3995 in Sorrento (north of Kamloops), it was a
non-running car with a 455. I've seen this curious purple-red color on
GTOs before and am curious if it's an authentic color. The dealership
closed down and all the cars disappeared, nowhere to be found... |
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(L) Don
also snapped this white GTO in Troutdale, Oregon. It was owned by a
lady who didn't want to sell it at the time, and eventually Don lost track
of her. She's got a Skylark and another X-body parked in the
background, too. Looks like a Skylark wheel cover made it onto the
rusty GTO. (R) From GoatHunter Don. He captured this blue goat in
Abbottsford, BC. It was being offered for $700 but "the only thing
going for it was a tilt wheel". |
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(L) An older photo of one of Butch York's
'74s...this is before an encounter with a crazed 4x4 created some
unscheduled repairs.
(R) The scoop-less GTO was up for sale at Kamloops
airport at one time, but the trail on this car also went cold for our
fearless Detective. A new shade of green, which could even be
original. |
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(L) This modified GTO
appeared in Bend, OR a while back and was up for sale.
(R) Was it the film
they used, the lighting, or was there some airbrushing done? These
brochure photos always look a little unreal, halfway between a photograph
and a drawing. Oh well, at least the car looks good. |
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NEW INFO, June'05 Some
spectacular images of a GTO wearing a color we haven't seen here before.
According to the car's owner,
this is Fernmist Green Metallic (previously identified here as Limefire
Green and Pinemist Green, all my fault...), and
the event was the 2004 GTO Nationals. He adds: "I am 18 years old and have
owned 3 X-bodies. The first is the green GTO on the website, the second was
a 1973 4 door Ventura (got rear ended and I no longer own that one), the
third is a 1974 GTO in my back yard (fully load, 4 speed, ac, everything)
but it's ruff and I'm trying to fix it...I am about to buy a 1974 2 door
Ventura.
"The blue GTO next to mine is Diz Dean's. His
car was featured on the cover of The Legend this month, he was also in High
Performance Pontiac a few months ago. I had some time to talk with him this
summer and he is an interesting man. This is my first time to visit your
website and I enjoyed it very much...Keep up the good work." Bob Rynearson (
mr1974gto@yahoo.com ) |
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This
car is so sweet... I believe this is a 455-equipped (former?) North Carolina
car. I've included the second photo so you can drool over the
marvelous paint! |
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If this
keeps up, we'll soon be able to account for all of the 7,058 of the '74 GTOs
made...Don McKay has photo'd another goat, this one apparently missing the
motor. He got some info from the owner, but we'll have to dig it up
again. Check out the Chevy rims! How often do you see this happen? Not one, but TWO '74 GTOs
on the cover of the October 2004 High Performance Pontiac magazine!
Hope you picked up your own copy! :-) |
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Tom Nelson's Admiralty Blue Metallic '74 GTO was the subject of a 5 page
article in a recent High Performance Pontiac issue. These photos were
taken by one the magazine's contributing editors. Tom ( tomnels@iw.net
) adds a footnote: "The photos in
High
Performance do not show the color of the car, as it was a poor time of day
with clouds instead of natural sun." My image software's automatic
color adjust seemed to think this is what the car should look like...hopefully
it's close. Metallics are VERY difficult to photograph successfully,
and some colors are more challenging than others. |
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More
cool contributions from Tom Nelson, at left a series out
of his scrapbook showing the evolution of his car (I'm sure quite a few
readers can relate to the living room full of car parts!) At right is a set from
a World
of Wheels indoor car show. |
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Dennis Homsey (
dhomsey@callgulfstream.com )
checks in with these photos and tech data for this GTO he bought off of ebay.
The lounging cat has taken a real liking to the
car. |
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Dennis saved your webmaster some time by
creating some of his own slides, with all the relevant details. (Note that the
production figure shown pertains to the total number of hatchbacks produced
for the '74 GTO. Total production of coupes and hatch models was 7,058) |
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Guess we'll just let the pictures do the talking
for this good-looking ebay offering. |
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A very
nice-looking GTO (e-bay offering)...
Oct04: New owner Jon (
wizandoz@sbcglobal.net ) checks in!
"Hello, Roland Great web site! The reason I'm emailing you is because I saw
my 1974 GTO (e-bay offering) on page 9...the last one listed on the page. I
am restoring it, its interior is currently gutted out. The car is rough and
needs a lot of work. But sure looks good in the pictures. Thanks for the
site, I really enjoy it. Jon"
Be careful with those
white paint jobs, they can hide a lot of sins!
(R) A bit of bad luck for Butch York's daily-driven
red GTO which appears elsewhere on the site. He was attacked by a
Subaru SUV, luckily escaping without severe injury. This is the same
car that was eaten by a 4x4 earlier in its life! ( gtonut1@comcast.net
) |
If you have some '74 GTO pictures you'd like to share, just drop me a
line at pontiacv@pontiacventura.com
; this site is updated about every 4 weeks. -Roland (It's OK if you
no longer own the car, too.)
