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1965 GTO owned by Gary and Sandy Kornahrens
I have always been a car guy and like fast cars. Over the years, I have owned
quite a few classics. That long list includes my first car, a 1965 Chevrolet
Malibu SS with a straight 6 and a powerglide. Nice car, but way too slow for a
16 year old! Sold it to buy a 1969 Mercury Cougar with a factory 351 and 4
speed, which saw a lot of street racing in the San Leandro/Hayward area in the
late 70’s. I hope the statute of limitations ran out! Some of the others include
a 64 Malibu SS, 72 Vega w/V8, 63 Impala SS and a 65 Mustang T5. During the late
80’s, I got the itch to have a project/show car. I had just rebuilt a 66 VW bug
for my wife and decided to get into Volkswagens. I bought a decent 1964 Karmann
Ghia and spent about two years thrashing on it. I entered 7 VW shows and took
1st places every time. That Ghia was also featured in Hot VW’s magazine, which
was a great thrill! I then decided to move on and restored my first Pontiac. It
was a really sharp 67 Firebird convertible with a 326 and two speed trans. Never
being satisfied, I sold it after completion and bought a 57 Chevrolet wagon that
I showed for a couple years. The wagon also won a few awards and had some
magazine coverage.
This leads me to the story of my 65 GTO. In the Summer of 2000, I decided to
sell the wagon, pull out a little home equity and buy something that I had
wanted since my youth! You guessed it, a GTO! I started doing internet searches
and read the classifieds, but really could not find anything within my still
meager budget. Most cars were either total basket cases or very high priced
total restorations. I needed something in the middle price range and thought it
would be a good idea to go to Hot August Nights with a load of cash in my
pocket. I thought I could find my dream car out there at the swap meet. On that
trip I only saw two GTO’s for sale and the cheapest driver was still out of my
price range! I came back that Sunday a bit discouraged and burned out. For the
heck of it, I went on Ebay that evening, and searched the GTO listings. Since I
never considered buying a car sight unseen from out of state, I did not expect
much out of my search. Almost immediately, what I thought impossible happened. I
found a new listing for a 1965 Pontiac GTO with PHS documentation, which was in
San Bruno, Ca. The listing had been up for a few days but because the owner
started the bidding at $14,900 it had no bids. I immediately showed my wife the
photos of the car (which looked quite good) and quickly emailed the seller. I
told the seller I was in the market and would make him a cash offer the next day
if I liked the car. What I saw the next day really intrigued me. The car was a
super clean 65 with factory tri power, safe t trac and M20 4 speed. The seller
had PHS documentation. What he also had was about $8,000 in receipts for
suspension work, brakes, rear end and a lot of miscellaneous. Well, we worked
out a deal very close to the opening bid price and my dream car was mine! One
other item of interest was that the owner thought that the odometer was correct
reading only 73,000 original miles! I was not so sure, but my friend who is an
engine builder and Pontiac guy looked it over and thinks all the gaskets are
original. This leads him to believe the miles are original. The owner also told
me that he was told a previous owner was Reggie Jackson. I have never been able
to verify, that “Mr. October” owned the car, but someday might do some title
research!
The car had at least one repaint and a ton of checking, so at least some
bodywork and paint was in order. In December of 2000 I started the “frame up”
restoration in my two car garage. Two gallons of paint remover, a ton of 80 grit
sanding discs and a huge mess got the 65 to bare metal. I found a ton of filler
and rust in the lower quarters, but no other rust areas as the car has been in
California most of its life (originally sold in Oregon and built in Fremont).
Luckily, I have a friend who owns a body shop and got a lot of free advice. His
comment was, “I hate old cars”. He “roughed” in new lower quarters and left them
for me to hammer/dolly and finish. After about four rounds of block sanding, his
painter, who needed to pay the rent, sprayed the car on his day off (Cheap!).
Color is the original Teal Turquoise in PPG Base/Clear. This winter I will be
installing an aftermarket air conditioner, power brakes and Ram Air exhaust
manifolds. In closing, even though I have owned quite a few nice cars, my GTO is
a keeper. See you out there cruising low and fast!
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Webmaster email: Skip Hendricks
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