Race & Rods: Tiger Hunter
Story and Photos by Cam Hutchins
Dave Warren has two favourite cars. They are a 1962 Belair and a 1965 GTO Tri-Power four-speed convertible...turquoise on turquoise. After racing a 1962 Belair with 1,400 hp for four years in the Doorslammer series, he decided to find his dream car. That was six years ago and he was informed on just what to look for in a 1965 GTO. He had restored two previously, one for himself and one for a customer of his Blue Max Automotive, and was now looking for the perfect car to restore for himself.
It was no small task looking for a 1965 Turquoise GTO with original running gear that was not too rusty. Some rust-free cars are available and generally they are south of the border, as the 1965 GTO model was not sold new in Canada. Warren took his role as a Tiger Hunter seriously, and hunted all over the internet for his car.
As almost the whole free world knows, the first generally accepted muscle car was the Pontiac GTO of 1964. Many previous models of full-sized cars were available with optional big-horsepower mills, but the GTO package was the first to grab the youth of America and whip them into a frenzy - one quarter-mile at a time.
Like a lot of legends, it got off to a rocky start. Hot Rod Magazine tested a four-barrel two-speed Powerglide transmission model and proclaimed the GTO a “slug.” The famous Jim Wangers of Pontiac Public Relations demanded that John Delorean, Pontiac’s Chief Engineer, personally pick the cars to be tested by magazines. At this time, American cars were pretty much the only game in town except for the British cars and a smattering of German and Italian cars. Most import cars came into North America as small under-powered sedans or sports cars or high-dollar under-powered luxury sedans or sports jobs.
The name GTO was meant to poke fun at Ferrari and his GTO that was not going to have enough cars made to officially become homologated for racing. Basically “homologated for racing” means enough cars are produced to be classed as production cars and not specially-built race cars. GT is short for the Italian words Gran Turismo (Grand Touring is generally referring to more luxurious sporting cars…windows and heaters back in the day) and the “O” is for Omologato, Italian for homologated.
Car and Driver Magazine was trying a new marketing trick for its new name (formerly Sports Car Illustrated) and thought it should compare the Ferrari GTO and the Pontiac GTO. The Ferrari GTO (Ferrari North America was not providing any test mules) and the Pontiac GTO never happened to be at any one track at the same time. A great watercolour illustration of the Ferrari leading the Pontiac on a road course apparently at speed was used on the cover and the magazine was judged by that, and many people forgot to read that the two cars were never together on the track.
The story is further muddied by the GTO showing up with a 421 cu.in. tri-power engine instead of a 389, and it was completely worked over by one of the Pontiac dealerships, Royal Pontiac. The results do not matter, but the Pontiac came out triumphant and they sold a huge number of GTOs and Ferrari never quite made enough GTOs to be homogolated….but they kept the name.
The story states that “the Pontiac will beat the Ferrari in a drag race, and the Ferrari will go around any American road circuit faster than the stock GTO.” But it then goes on to state that the test car (no reference to any stock Pontiac GTO) would lap any track in America faster than any “Ferrari street machine.” I am pretty sure that if they had apples and oranges available to them, they would say comparing these two fruits is as unfair as comparing a Ferrari race car to a Pontiac street car, however much it was “tweaked”.
Speaking of oranges, many years later, Warren found his turquoise dream car in Florida, but she had been painted black with the interior also sprayed black. Copious e-mails and photos traded back and forth and Warren went to look at this beauty. The car was transported home and was a wonderful driving car but after only a week on the road, restoration began.
The car was sold new in Georgia, just north of the Florida border, and moved south when it was a couple of years old. Warren bought the car off a fellow who had owned it since 1975, and it had 110,000 miles on the odometer. The car had not been driven since 1982 and was virtually rust-free. Warren completely refinished the GTO to its original glory and all major components were rebuilt.
The first owner or the selling dealership had ticked off the GTO package (#382) to add $295.90 to the base Le Mans convertible, Model 23767, priced at $2,797 with the power operated top. The magic paint code “K” was checked as was the 4-speed transmission for $188.30 (77w) and the Tri-Power carburetor set-up for $115.78 (ws). One of the selected options seems so unusual that it merits special note; option #395 is for the AM/FM Radio with the rear-mounted electrically operated antenna. Unusual in that FM radio was rare before the 1970s, and the placing of the antenna in the rear instead of the front right fender was a $162.88 option, only $16 less than the 4-speed transmission and almost $50 more that the Tri-Power option.
The GTO package consisted of the four-barrel, 389 cubic-inch V8 engine, dual exhausts, 3-speed synchromesh floor shift standard transmission, sports type springs and shocks, special seven-blade fan and fan clutch, 775x14 Red Line or WSW tires, chrome air cleaner cover, chrome rocker covers and, of course, GTO badges.
Not available as a factory option is the very rare 1965 Ram Air induction system and the Hurst package including Hurst badges and Hurst wheels. Both were offered as an over-the-counter option to be installed by the owner or the dealership. Warren had the wheels for a long time and had Panther restore them, and notes that most of the cars advertised by Pontiac in 1965 had the optional Hurst badging and wheels.
Now that his dream car is finished, he plans to go to the largest GTO show around, the Tiger Run in Oregon in late May, and continue his tenth year of racing the bubbletop Chevy…and to restore his newly acquired one-owner 1965 GTO two-door hardtop with under 60,000 miles and a 4-speed. Here is one Tiger Hunter not ready for retirement!
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