1970 LeMans.. GTO? etc

Hey guys, I came what might be a GTO sitting at the back of a car lot that I'm interested in purchasing (even if turns out not to be a GTO). Knowing almost nothing about GTOs, I have spent all day researching but I still have lots of questions:

First of all, the door panels say "LeMans". I know the first goats had a LeMans GTO model but is that true for the later ones? BTW it's a 1970. It had bucket seats, console 3-speed auto shifter, and a hood tach. No ram air. A look under the hood revealed what seemed to be a small block (I'm guessing a 400), built up pretty good. The car was yellow with black stripes, no spoiler or rally wheels (just some nasty looking black rims). I'm not sure if the trunk lid had holes for a spoiler or not, didn't check, but there were holes in the fenders for an emblem of some kind (not sure if the non-GTOs had an emblem or not). I wasn't sure where the VIN code was located or I woulda wrote it down. I'm not sure if the hood tach is factory or not, the wires for it ran down through a hole drilled in one of the metal support braces under the hood. Is that how the factory did it?

The only way I'm gonna know for *sure* about all this is to get the VIN and check it out, or better yet find the build sheet (which isn't an option without purchasing it). At any rate, it looks like it would make a good solid project, as well as being pretty unique. The engine looks to be built up good and has obviously been out of the car and rebuilt, the block is painted orange (please tell me this is the factory color as I would HATE to know someone put a Chevy color on a pontiac engine), with an Edelbrock Performer manifold that says "Pontiac Performer", a Holley carb, and some other stuff.

Any clues?



Nathan Cline

Nathan, alright from what it sounds like your car is not a gto, For one 1970 gto's didn't have emblems they just had decals, Secondly the GTO in 1970 wasnt an option of the Lemans anymore it was it's own model now I think they quit the options in 66 and didnt start up again until 71 or 72. I'm pretty sure that 1970 didn't have console shifters but I'm not totally sure. All GTO's were big blocks and in 1970 they had the 400 and the 455.Also, the factory paint jobs werent flashy as too have stripes unless it was a judge. I'm not sure about the engine color but I'm pretty sure most GTO's or other pontiacs were pontiac blue. You should definitely get the vin which should be on the drivers side on the dash by the window if it's a gto hardtop the first 5 numbers should be 24237 and if it's a convertible the first five should be 24267. Whether or not it's The Great One it should be a great project and it is a GTO look a like and best of all its from PMD. Good luck with that.