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Pontiac advertising called their car "The Great One". This 1968 GTO was no exception. It had a black super smooth paint job. CLICK->
Here I'm wishing the keys were still in this unattended 1968 GTO show car. CLICK->
This '68 GTO is jacked up with ladder bars under it. CLICK->
Monogram made an inaccurate 1968 GTO model car featuring a 1969 interior. This is a large image showing the top and side view of the box. If you want to see more model car GTOs, see the bottom of this page. The menu features Every GTO model kit ever made. CLICK->
Ahh - Freedom! My first car. It took me many places during those teenage years. I paid about $950 for this car in dirty condition just outside of Marion, Indiana. This car wanted to be a GTO really really bad. It was a Verdoro Green LeMans shod with peeling Cragars. It had wide ones in the back with skinnier ones in the front. It had a parchment colored interior. One summer, I had black plexiglas grille inserts made. They popped on and off. They looked great but they severely dimmed the light from the headlamps. They also caused the car to overheat somewhat when cruising the Northpark Mall at 2 MPH.
The wording on the windshield was a custom deal. My Dad and I made P O N T I A C letters out of 3M white reflective sticker material. This was thick durable stuff they make street signs GLOW with. It was cool seeing the car coming at you at night! By day - it was nothing out of the ordinary. CLICK->
68 LeMans - rearend view of my first car. You can't see the trunk dents because I just brushed them away with my paint program. Ahh- the EASY way to do body work! See my old Duster up on blocks in the background? I bought it for $100 from a neighbor - less wheels. All my neighbors were into Mopars. Never got to drive the Duster because I couldn't afford wheels. No matter, a guy came along and gave me $150 for the car the day this picture was taken. CLICK->
(1986 photo) This is the left side of my first car. You can see that I tinted the side windows. It was that crappy bluish stick-on film that they sell at the auto parts store. I wonder where this car is today? The LeMans VIN number was 237378P356986. Have you seen it? CLICK->
(1986 photo) My Dad was a sign painter, so I had him make a "1968" plate for the front of the car. Still, people would look right at the car and ask "What YEAR is that car?". I had added a white pinstripe to the car. You can see it under the side windows. I liked the way they looked. CLICK->
(1986 photo) Two years after high school I had accumulated four cars. Too many for a part-time radio announcer and student. My first car is the green LeMans on the left. It had thin paint, transmission and electrical problems. The transmission problems were only made worse by my neighbor's attempts to fix it in their backyard. This picture of 3 cars in my collection seems less impressive to me now than when I originally snapped it back in 1986. The car on the left looked like it was jacked up, but not so. It had been parked in my Dad's driveway for a long time and had two flat front tires at the time! My second car was the '68 GTO on the right. That car was very rusty in the rear and radiator area (great interior!) but lacked good gas mileage for my long daily commute between home, work, and school,
and girlfriend's house which were all in different cities. So then I bought a black '80 Sunbird (center) which I liked a lot. It had a sunroof and a great stereo. The fourth car I owned is not pictured here. It was a Duster which I bought to re-sell. CLICK->
A closeup of the PONTIAC windshield letters on my old '68 LeMans. Here's another story about that car.
This was a bad episode in 1986. Not because the LeMans broke, but
because it resulted in the loss of another car. Read on.
Before going into work in the late afternoons, I would cruise around the
backroads of Blackford County looking for junkyards or people with backyard
car "collections", which there were many. At one junkyard I found an
unbelievable car parked amongst the obviously wrecked cars. It was a shiny
black 1971 LeMans Sport. With the word "Sport", most Pontiac fans would
recognize it as being a convertible. It was, and the top was in fine shape.
This 15 year-old car had been taken care of, it was clean and had chrome
exhaust tips, good interior and everything. I didn't see anything wrong
with the car other than someone had dug into the ignition key area with a
screwdriver. This black car looked like someone had just driven it into the
junkyard - and I had plans to save it!
A couple days later, my axle in my green '68 LeMans was grinding loud. I
had to stay overnight so the smalltown (Ford) dealership could look at my
axle in the morning. The bearing was ruined. The driver's side axle needed
replaced. It took half a day, but they got a used axle and got me back on
the road.
Next day I go back to the junkyard to see the beautiful black LeMans Sport
convertible again. The car was now UPSIDE DOWN with its axle gone. The gas
tank and the rear bumper was smashed in too. The junkyard owner had flipped
the convertible over with a backhoe so the Ford mechanic could get the axle
off - for MY car. Ouch!
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The 1967 and 1968 car magazines had ads like this one. The image is big so you can read the cool ad copy at the bottom. This was from an era when advertising was about the product. I think today's ads are mostly a distraction from the product. CLICK->
1968 9-passenger GTO limousine. Built in August 1997 using nothing other than a friend's GTO, Paint Shop Pro, and a Logitech MouseMan. Go ahead and click to see the full size version with wording on it. CLICK->
Here's an animated version of this 1968 9-passenger GTO limousine. This variation was created by sduryee@konnections.net and does not require a Media Player to view. CLICK->
1968 LeMans at a drag strip. This LeMans is called LeMonster! CLICK->
Purple! Purple! Purple! Either you like purple cars or you hate them. This '68 GTO looks GRRRRREAT with aluminum wheels. This one has been completely redone.
