Barn/Garage Find
 

A friend of mine recently passed away and his wife asked me to dispose of his spoons for her. I knew Bill had an old Pontiac GTO stashed away but never saw it so when I went over to pick up the spoons I asked to see it. Stuffed away in the old garage, covered with a plastic sheet was this 1968 GTO convertible. 400 CID engine 4 bbl carb, 400 turbo hydro transmission. He was the only owner since new. It has 99K on the clock. Undercoated when new so it has no rust anywhere. Top is perfect, interior near new. Last PA inspection was 1999. Been sitting covered up since then. I asked what she was going to do with it and she said that one of Bills "friends" had offered her $15K for it AT THE DAMN FUNERAL! She turned him down as Bill had told her I was the one to help her with it as well as his spoons. I went over the other day and did a pre start check and all looked good so I fired it up. It had a rubber hose fuel leak so I replaced that and fired it up. It runs good considering it has a full tank of 15 year old gas. I was going to move it when I discover that it had no brakes so I will address that as well to get it running and moving. After that I really don't know what to do with it. I 've done some research and I'm thinking it's worth at least $20K or more. Where and how to sell it? well that's what I would like to hear from ya'll. Opinions? Pics.....

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Barret Jackson. Fix the brakes, clean it, do nothing else.

how does one get it to them though? what about fees and stuff? What you recommend is exactly the plan as far as conditioning.

I would use eBay. Get a proper appraisal and list with a reserve,

Barret Jackson is too much work, too far away, and the commission is too high.

How about contacting the GTO club in Pittsburgh?
Greater Pittsburgh GTO Car Club
They may have some ideas for you for selling and assigning a value to it.
Sorry to hear of your friends passing.

You could also try BAT with a reserve, to gauge the interest level. Not too expensive.

Good for you for helping! Watch all the episodes of chasing classic cars you can :-) I would agree, change out the fluids, fix the brakes, get it running and driving and all systems working and clean. Gather all documentation you can. I would find a Pelican like forum for these cars and get a thread going there about it and ask them. You might consider a BAT auction although I have no idea what their fee structure is. You can set a reserve there I believe.

The "friend" that offered 15K for that at the man's funeral needs a good thrashing.

Clean the car - don't restore it. Fix the brakes and make it safely driveable (e.g. tires, fluids, etc). Get a thorough appraisal and put it up for sale.

This could easily go for 30-35 and with good marks from the appraisal along with documented history, mid 40's might not be out of the question if you can get it in front of the right people.

I think "fire sale" on this would be mid twenties.

angela

what motor matters a lot
there were 3 400ci versions in 68
base 400 D port , named for the siamese center ex ports 3 logs
a ram air version of the base motor worth 2x
and a trick rare 4 port NOT siamese center with 4 ports on the ext logs
ram airII with round port heads worth way more 3-4x then the D ports

your's looks like a base 400 motor
but rag tops also carry a premium
esp if really unrusted original with matching numbers and date codes

yes the big auction house's charge too much
but they also get the real money
and may get 20-30k more then an E-bay sale

I had a 68 goat with a 71 455ho swap in a tin top

there was a GTO restoration book that listed everything
and should be worth the hunt to find to prove everything is original
9780879389536: Pontiac GTO Restoration Guide - Paul Zazarine, Zazarine, Charles Roberts, Ph.D.

The friend at the funeral who offered $15k was no friend.

That car is a survivor.

Plenty of folks out there that pay good money for unrestored examples.

My gut tells me you are looking at $30k easy.

A buddy has a 70 GTO Judge when he was thinking of selling it 10+ years ago I did a search on ebay of like vehicles and the average selling price was $28,000. So a current market value of $40,000+ isn't out of the realm.

I'd suggest starting with the National GTO club GTO Association of America and see what they say. A unmolested car with no accidents will peak their interests and a private selling to a interested party is the fastest way to move it with less hassle to you and your friends widow. Send them the pictures you posted here and who knows they might write a article about the car for there house magazine.

The owner of the local FBO where I learned to fly sold a very similar GTO in that condition for $50,000 last year.

Said the value has gone up so much it's no longer fun to drive, worried that it might get a ding or paint chip. It just sat under a cover in the back of a hangar.
Outside of different colors and having Rally wheels, the cars look identical.

With good photos and a detailed story, this car could do well on BaT.
One of the nice things about their formula is that all the bidders come registered with a CC on file, so as soon as the auction concludes, the buyer's fee is instantly processed. Does a decent job of weeding the flakes and tire kickers out.

I called Wayne Carini and he'll be there around 4pm today.

I've been watching the cars on BaT for some time now.
I'd have to agree with Sarc and the others here recommending BaT as the means of selling this car.
The key there is photos that tell the true condition of the car from all aspects, top, bottom, inside and out.
Good luck getting most out of this you can for your friend's wife.

I hope who ever winds up with that car does not restore it. That's a fantastic looking as is driver.

Cool car and it is great that the widow has you in her corner.

Speaking of spoons, any pistols in his collection?

With friends like that, who needs enemas?

Call Gas Monkey garage!! So, they can wash it, put airbags in it, tacky wheels and ask $100K. It's all about win, win, win, win!!