A Classic Beauty Awakens: 1964 Pontiac GTO with Mysterious Modifications Unveiled After 40 Years in Storage

Pontiac kicked off the GTO production in September 1963, and as most petrol heads know already, the new nameplate was originally offered as an option for the LeMans.

The first GTO could be ordered as a coupe, hardtop, or convertible, and cost just $295. It was a fair price for a massive upgrade that included a 389 (6.4-liter) V8 with 325 horsepower (the maximum power was increased to 348 horsepower if the Tri-Power option was installed), dual exhaust pipes, a three-speed manual transmission, a new front sway bar, hood scoops, and the famous GTO badges.

The GTO that we're all looking at here was produced in February, so it's one of the first units to roll off the assembly lines (Pontiac produced close to 32,500 GTOs for the model year 1964).

Sure enough, it no longer comes with a tip-top shape, but this isn't necessarily a surprise after approximately four decades in storage.

eBay seller tim54575 says the car was parked inside on a concrete floor, but this didn't help much because it still had to face extreme temperatures. As such, the GTO now comes in poor condition, so saving it will require a lot of work.

For some reason, though, the car has already received a series of very questionable changes during its lifetime. For example, the four horizontal headlights are no longer there, so I wouldn’t be surprised if you believed this was a 1965 GTO.

A previous owner replaced the original front fascia with one donated by a later GTO, so it now sports the vertical headlights that you typically find on the 1965 model year.

The car still sports the pedals for the manual transmission, but on the other hand, it now comes with an automatic unit. It's unclear who and why performed this swap, but the next buyer will have to decide which way to go anyway.

The 389 under the hood no longer runs and comes without the Tri-Power upgrade. Unfortunately, we have no clue if the engine can still be saved, but after four decades in storage, I think it's safe to assume it's already locked up from sitting.

The car comes with the original owner's manual, but otherwise, it lacks all the other paperwork. Again, this isn't surprising, given it spent 40 years in hiding, but it makes it harder to figure out what happened to this otherwise very intriguing GTO.

Getting it back on the road is going to be a challenge, not only because of all the rust and the dirty interior but also due to the unclear health of the engine. Interested buyers should travel to Minnesota to check it out in person.