Nice '72 Manufacturer's plate.

The state of Michigan offers a retro "Water-Winter Wonderland" plate which is reminiscent of the '65 or '67 version, that has proven very popular. I see a lot of these (even beyond my own driveway).

K

What a Beautiful Car! A guy in town here a Convertible twin to this car. I tried to buy it for over 5 years, but it was always "Not For Sale" at any price. Bill

https://images2.imgbox.com/c3/b4/mAUM0bB3_o.jpg

The color is called: Radiant Green

https://images2.imgbox.com/3e/ad/uCinLrNG_o.jpg

When I lived in Tamarak, FL my townhouse was right on the intersection of two canals. I never enjoyed fishing so I didn't do it. But my son loved to fish and he was very good at it. He convinced me to try it and I got hooked - BIG TIME.

I would either walk the canals fishing as I went or get up at 6AM and fish while having my morning coffee. And on the weekends, fished during the day. I always practiced "catch and release" with the exception of snakeheads which you are not allowed to do that. They are an evasive fish that FL deemed unhealthy for it's aquatic life. You catch one - you kill it - then you can throw it back for food for the turtles.

One Friday I am fishing and I catch a small blue gill less than the size of my hand. I looked over to my right and standing there is this BIG bird watching me. He's at least 4 feet tall and that knife like beak is close to 15 inch's long. On a whim, I threw him the fish - he gobbled it right down. Then he move closer to me. Nows he's about 7 feet away from me. I go into the garage and grab the small fish fishing rod and intentionally try to catch more blue gills. Success! Each time I catch one, I toss it to "George." That's the name I picked for him. Pretty soon he's standing literally right next to me watching my bobber in the water. He figured out when it disappears, there's a fish on the line.

OK - enough fishing. I put all my stuff back in the garage and tell George it was fun. Then I go back in the house and look out the window and sure enough - he's still standing there.

The next morning - 6AM - grab my fishing chair with my coffee cup holder, my rod and as I am walking out to my spot, I hear a flutter of feathers. I look up and there's George standing on top of my garage waiting for me. Well I wanted to fish for big mouth bass so he will have to wait. He flies down and once again stands next to me. I can't got over being nervous about his beak and his speed.

About 30 minutes go by and finally I get a hit and it's a big one, 10 inches long. As I am removing the hook George decides he wants this fish and literally takes it out of my hand without hurting me. I am terrified and angry at the same time. I start yelling at him - he's trying to get the fish down his gullet and having problems of his own.

I had to give up fishing for 4 days by the house because each day he would wait atop my garage. Finally he left for good.

I’ve always loved this ‘66 442 W-30.

From the front bumper with scoops for the Ram Air 3x2 to the rear trunk compartment with the battery mount makes this car ridiculous.

Every time I see this photo of the battery in the trunk it reminds me of a wrecking yard I was in, in the very early 80’s.
Looking for GTO items in the GM section I come across a 442 with the battery cables and battery tray still in the trunk.
No, I did not remove it as I was on a mission for goat parts ….. idiot me.

https://images2.imgbox.com/03/22/F93cgnm4_o.jpg
https://images2.imgbox.com/8c/4c/lt0cJRMJ_o.jpg

https://images2.imgbox.com/f0/a0/FRHE8UbX_o.png

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This Olds is cool beyond belief!!
But I have a question. If this were a Chevelle it would have a spatter painted trunk unless it was built at Oshawa (Canadian). Is this Olds Canadian built, or did US built Cutlasses have body color trunks?? :hmmm:

Bill W

Hi Bill,

Yup, this unsuspecting two tone paint W-30 is a very unique cool car.

The 1964 Tempest Series cars which includes the GTO had the trunks painted body color.
1965 and beyond were spatter painted.

As for the Oldsmobile Cutlass in ‘66 I’m not sure.
Maybe an Olds guy will chime in.

Below are several ‘64 trunks.
Sunfire Red
Saddle Bronze
Marimba Red

https://images2.imgbox.com/ce/e5/jzkGzGI0_o.jpg

An award-winning photo captured a Whale Shark following a school of Barracuda.

https://images2.imgbox.com/29/bd/qmBmHXrJ_o.jpg

New F-150 Tailgate option

https://images2.imgbox.com/27/64/TKr0UMcB_o.jpg

https://images2.imgbox.com/d4/c1/JZM2xn2x_o.jpg

So which roofline do you prefer?

https://images2.imgbox.com/ac/71/14pSFj30_o.jpg

It's easy to see why they call it: Brain Coral.

My '72 bench seat 4 speed that I sold a couple of years ago. It is a very fast car.

#2.

I like the way the metal is formed to create "roof bows" like a convertible top.

The rear window upper edge of #1 looks unnatural to me, like it is in a weird place.

K

Edit: Do I see tow bar tabs on the blue car?

As a (multiple vintage) pickup truck owner and career pickup engineer: do we really need any more tailgate options?

I guess that's why I was never in marketing.

K

Aw, c'mon Lee! It'll be fun!

K

Doubling back to comment on this '68 GTO with the "endura delete" option.

The steel front bumper could be chosen if a person desired, but was forced on the early builds destined for hot climate regions due to durability and paint adhesion concerns. I *think* it was also forced on cars with any special paint options, like Playboy Pink.

Our '68 had the endura front bumper painted probably four times within the first year because we couldn't keep paint on it.

It was a popular (and attractive) feature. We took our car to Florida on vacation and had a little trouble navigating through town because people would flock around trying to catch a glimpse of that front end.

K

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...2&d=1566917267

I remember, too, that during a visit to Rock City on Lookout Mtn (probably that same trip) they had put a "See Rock City" bumper sticker on the car while we were enjoying the view.

Dad was pi-i-issed. Now I see why.

K

This was also the car that we took to a local petting zoo (Mott Farms, in Flint).

As we were exiting we saw a goat sitting on the hood of a car in the parking lot.

"Oh look" we said. "There's a goat on the hood of that car".

As we got closer we realized that it was the hood of OUR car.

We thought that was hilariously funny: A goat on the hood of our goat.

Dad did not think it was hilariously funny.

K

BTW: I was probably 60 years old before I realized you could touch the painted surface of a car with your bare hand and not have something terrible happen.

I'm still a little standoffish about touching the thermostat in the house, though.

We had a lot of trouble with the headlights on that car, too, for some reason.

I remember sleeping under an overpass in Ft Wayne Indiana on more than one occasion, waiting for it to get light enough to continue, because the headlights quit working.

K

I missed the battery in the trunk upon first viewing.

Our GTO already had the battery relocated to the trunk when we picked it up. I suspect it was done in the PMD garage, because the car did not spend much time at Royal before we picked it up IIRC.

The original install was a little shady, as they just took the front fender bracket and modified it to work in the rear. We made the more rigid welded construction early on at the behest of the NHRA tech inspectors, who were not comfortable with the original setup.

[It is now, once again, not NHRA legal since rear mounted batteries are now required to have a master electrical cutoff switch accessible from the outside. I am loathe to do that.]

For some reason the battery would go dead often. Since dad worked second shift he would not be available to come jump us if we were out in the evening, so mom would have to call a friend or a tow company to get us going.

I remember sitting the in back hollering "The battery's in the trunk! The battery's in the trunk!" while the tow truck drivers approached the driver's window.

The tow truck driver would look annoyed, like "lady can't you shut this kid up?". He would then pop the hood, root around a bit, and then return. "Lady - where is the battery in this thing?".

Sheepishly, mom would say "well - the battery's in the trunk", as if to say: the kid knows what he is talking about.

K

You can see the battery installation blocks the location for the spare tire and jack tool hardware.

The car was delivered with three 7.75 whitewalls and one 7.75 redline on the ground, and a 7.35 whitewall loose in the back for a spare.

K

After 45 years I finally gave up on hauling around my signature rally wheels.

After much agonizing and gnashing of teeth I chose the wheels shown on this truck.

I though about a wheel more similar to the ones on the SS racer, for a little more nostalgia look and as a nod to the kidney bean openings in the rally wheels. They were, however, a lot more expensive, perhaps a little more mass, and a lot more wheel showing.

I hope I made the right choice. In the end I saved nearly 90 lbs with the switch to aluminum wheels and lightweight race bucket seats.

K