1966 Royal Bobcat GTO

Hello,
I have a couple more questions for you guys out here. I have been a Mopar guy from a very long time ago( I hope that does not count against me?) and can decode whether or not the vehicle has the original numbers matching engine. How can I be sure the car I'm purchasing is a numbers matching vehicle and where can I find the codes?

Also,
The car I have been looking at has Hurst wheels and the Royal Bobcat emblems on the front fenders. How can I be sure this car came from Royal Pontiac?

If there is anyone out here that has a numbers matching 66 Tri Power 4 speed car they are interested in selling please email me.

Thanks Again,
Jim

Jim,
As to engine identification, go to this site:
[www.pontiacstreetperformance.com]
As for whether it was sold by Royal Pontiac, you will either need the “Build Sheet” (located under the front passenger seat) listing dealer #679 in Zone #7, or contact Pontiac Historical Services. They have all the build order punch-cards for all the GTO's, and for a fee, will certify your GTO.

Anyone can buy Royal Bobcat Emblems and Hurst wheels, as they are reproduced. It was a Royal dealer only option that included thin wall gaskets, re-metered jets, and a curved distributer (lighter advance weight springs). It was nothing you could actually "see" for someone to say you did or didn't have the stuff installed. Even back in the day, you could walk into the dealership parts counter, buy the emblems, and slap them on your fenders. There is also a bunch of info on Royal Bobcats at [ultimategto.com]. Scroll down and click on Subject #26.

Up for debate is the matching numbers issue. Finding a 4spd GTO with its factory engine is rare. Too many attempts to power-shift 2nd gear usually ended up over-rev’ing many 389’s, and they went POP early in their life. The best chance of finding a numbers matching GTO is a highly optioned, air conditioned convertible with an automatic trans. Who would want that?? Any engine builder can re-strike the 2-letter block code to match what should be in the car. Only the transmission has the VIN number stamped on it. The engine block date code is cast back by the distributor pad and should be about a one week earlier than the vehicle date of production, found on the firewall tag. So again, unless you are lying on top of the engine with a magnifying glass, you can’t read the date, so who cares?

What I can see when I pass by the open hood of your 4spd GTO is that it has casting #093 heads, which are correct, and if it has block code WG or WH or WJ, which means somebody stuck a “421” in there! This is always way cool to find at a show, especially when you are one of the few with the knowledge to have figured it out!



GTOMAN1952

Also it would have a P in the vin # for the pontiac michigan plant
Dave



65 gto post coupe
4sp, tri-power, 3:90 posi