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Car
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For March 2000 |
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KEN & BARB DAVIS'1965 GTO CONVERTIBLE
OK folks, This will be a long story so hang in there (please.) Back in 1965 (when I was 11 yrs. old) we had just finished a little league baseball game and decided to go over to my buddy's house right across the street to see his brother's new car be brought home. Little did I know that it would be a 1965 GTO, 2 door hardtop, Teal Turquoise, Tri-Pwr., 4 spd, ralley gauges, etc., etc. Well, he pulled into the driveway and eased her into the garage. The engine had a slight lope and the smell of raw gas flowed from the splitters. You could smell the new paint burning off the 389 c.i. monster under the hood. He brings the car to a slow stop, climbs out of the black bucket seat smiling from ear to ear and pops the hood. There I am standing right in front of the engine looking at those three Rochesters, chrome valve covers and individual chrome air cleaners sitting on the top of each carb. WOW, am I getting excited now! Me, an 11 yr. old just wanting to (go for a ride) in this new Pon Ton. "Well" say's his Dad (a PLYMOUTH MAN HIMSELF) "not until I see for myself if this LIL' GTO can whip my 383 hypo '65 Sport Fury 4-SPEED!" So they decide to do it. They leave for a while and come back, Joe (with his GTO) smiling from ear to ear. "YES, I blew his doors off" he said. His Dad did admit to being beaten but never did say how badly. I could only imagine. Well I never did get a ride in Joe's new GTO, two weeks later it was in the junk yard with the hood in the drivers seat and Joe in the hospital. A little racing that didn't work out so well. He spent the night in the hospital and came home the next day only to be reamed out by good old Dad. Then two months later Joe was off to Viet Nam, did his time as a gunner on a helicopter, took one in the butt, was sent home. Never did get another GTO as far as I know. So now I am walking home from school one day later that year and as we (my buddy and me) walk past the house of another friend of my brother. We hear this ungodly roar coming from in the garage. We stopped in our tracks and looked inside and Roy, a friend of my brothers, is standing there with his older brother looking over the fender of a Brand New 1965 Pontiac Catalina sporting a 421 c.i. BEAST with Tri-Pwr., 4 spd, tac, buckets posi. This thing was beautiful. Black on Black 2 door hardtop. Well, we got a ride in that one and I have NEVER forgotten that day. That was when it happened, my want / lust for POWER 'N TORQUE and the smaller GTO package. Man did we lay down a couple of black stripes for what seemed like forever, smoke bellowing out all over, just awesome. It was shortly after that that I met Barbara in the 7th grade (my wife to this day.) So instead of a muscle car when I got my license, my Dad bought me my first car, a 1930 Model A Ford Coupe, for throwing a no hitter in Colt League baseball. Instead of pursuing the ever so mighty GTO we had our son in 1971.We still have our old Ford A (in pieces at my Dad's.) Now after some 28 years of marriage, we went to a few car shows around and saw John Phillips '66 GTO and that gave me the BUG. We joined the club and I started looking for my dream machine, The 1965 GTO. We looked for almost a year, driving our 1996 Toyota Landcruiser to the club events and drove some six GTO's. Hardtops and convertibles (thanks to BARB.) These cars were all pretty nice, but not what I wanted. I wanted it loaded to the max, (sorry about the pwr. windows now.) So I advertised on the net in the Classic Pontiac sight and got a response in a couple of days. I called the guy back and we hit it off pretty good, he sent me some 75/100 photos and two videos. The car was undergoing a complete frame up restoration that took some three years, just what I wanted. All the parts powder coated, engine rebuilt, as was everything else. This thing has it all but 4-way flashers and AC. Hey that's ok it is a Convertible. So it didn't take me long at all to restore the car, it was done. All I had to do was turn the key, exactly how I had dreamed, except was now 1998. Yep, in Dec. of 1998 our GTO rolled off the car carrier, Dec. 14th actually. This turned out to be the worst part of the purchase, after having flown back to Treverse City, Michigan in November to look at the car and be sure it was what it looked like in the pics and videos, drive it and look it over real good, the moving company decided to CLEAN my new Dream car because it had gotten a little dirty somehow. Thanks for asking me if I wanted my car cleaned. Well we won't go into that, it turned out to be a joke and if you would like to know who the moving company is just ask me at one of our events, I would recommend another mover. The car was beautiful, all except the scratches all over the paint from some truck driver that thought he was a car detailer too. I don't think so, he should have stuck to driving only! So I have been polishing it and trying to work the scratches out here and there, also been doing some things to it to put some of Me/Us into the car since we purchased it already restored. Like a new convert top, another head light bezel re-chromed to the tune of $135.00, a desert cooler Radiator, Stainless mufflers by Dynaflow Ultramax. Like all Pontiac's (I guess) it has developed a rear main leak, and a speedo that does its own thing when it feels like it, so when we can save up some more money to spend, hopefully Wayne Barnes will help me seal it up. And at that time I will be getting the exhaust manifolds Jet Hot Coated. Then the gauge cluster will be pulled out and all the gauges will be re-done along with the dash bezel and hopefully that will be the last time it has to come out. We have been to most of the events, we have missed a few, but Cherry's was pretty awesome, as was the other events we were at, Pontiac Bar 'n Grill, the wine cruise. Heck all the things we have done with the club have just been great, as well as (ALL) of the people in this club. Everyone is just great to be around and we have had so much fun. Barb an I would like to thank everyone, cause you can't have much fun by yourself. Jim and Jeannie Lent, John and Marsha Mekisich, Wayne and Jodi Barnes, and all the people in this club. You are all what makes it one of the most noted clubs in the Bay Area. THANK YOU ALL FOR SO MUCH FUN and all the great cars in our club! And for those of you that have NOT been to any events, GET OFF OF YOUR LAZY BUTTS and come see what real Pontiac Fun is all about, bring your tiger out and let us here it GRRRRRRRRowl! Thanks for reading this book, hope you to can have your dream car someday, and may it be the ORIGINAL MUSCLE CAR, Yes the 1965 Pontiac G T O! THE BEST YEAR! "O" Yes, thanks to John DeLoren, Jim Wangers and Pete Estes and all those old Pon Ton folks that had the original idea. A BIG BLOCK in A Mid/Small Sized Car. Without them the MUSCLE car may have never have gotten off the ground. Thanks again to all. |
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