The 1968 GTO was a hit on absolutely all fronts, as every change introduced by Pontiac worked out like a charm. The official production numbers are proof of this, as the company built close to 88,000 GTOs for this model year, up from about 81,700 cars in 1967.
The redesigned GTO came with substantial polishing, including a shorter chassis and a shorter body, improved engines whose upgrades were mostly aimed at reducing emissions and boosting economy, and a refined design whose sporty lines perfectly aligned with the tweaked powerplants.
This 1968 GTO that I recently discovered on eBay is one of those examples still alive today, though as anyone can tell by simply checking out the photos in the gallery, its general condition isn’t by any means good news.
This GTO, or better said, what’s left of it, has certainly been sitting for a while, most likely because it served as a donor for other Pontiacs. If you’ve been involved in the restoration business for more than a day, you probably know already what this sadly means. The car comes without many parts, and the bad news starts when you open the hood.
The vehicle no longer has an engine and a transmission, which can be either good news or bad news, depending on your plans. For example, suppose you don’t necessarily want a GTO restored to factory specifications. In that case, you can use any hefty engine you want – I still drool over a Ram Air II 400, especially because fewer than 250 of them ended up rolling off the assembly lines; in the standard configuration, this engine developed 366 horsepower.
On the other hand, if you’re a GTO collector who’s ready to pay big bucks for all-original everything, then the lack of an engine could be a deal-breaker.
The car obviously exhibits a very rough shape, and the rust has already started taking a serious toll on the body and the undersides. If you want to see the glass half-full, then it’s probably worth mentioning that the floors still look decent, with no holes visible at first glance, at least in the provided photos.
Without a doubt, this GTO’s only option is a full restoration, especially given its rough shape. However, I have no doubt this project isn’t for the faint of heart, as a GTO lacking so many parts and coming with plenty of rust requires a professional job from one end to the other.