Best Muscle Cars

Buy Of The Day, 1965 Pontiac GTO 389 TRI POWER, 4 SPEED

By FastMuscle | February 20, 2015

Buy Of The Day, 1965 Pontiac GTO 389 TRI POWER, 4 SPEED

ENGINE: 389 V8
TRANSMISSION: 4 Speed Manual
EXTERIOR COLOR:
ODOMETER READING: 9462

Few car guys will dispute that any GTO is cool or not, but when they’re as nicely done as this 1965 GTO 2-door, well, it’s easy to understand why they never last long around here. Tri-Power and a 4-speed make this the Goat for guys who want to experience the fun first-hand instead of sitting on an investment.

Who cares if the cowl tag says this one was originally Turquoise Metallic, the brilliant red hue looks like a million bucks on the early GTO sheetmetal. Applied to some very, very straight sheetmetal, the two-stage urethane consists of three coats of color and three coats of clear, so there was plenty there to handle a professional cut and buff session that left it looking like a million bucks. Deep, shiny, and reflective like a piece of glass, this deep red Goat is almost too pretty to be this nasty. Chrome and stainless serves to accent the rich and handsome paint in wonderful fashion, and there are rumors that those taillights are the most expensive ever devised by a major automaker.

The beautiful white on red vinyl interior is borderline artwork. Pontiac pushed a few boundaries with the mere introduction of the GTO, but they never forgot their mission of providing the young executive with first-class transportation. Check out the bright white bucket seats with the unique diagonally-pleated seat covers facing a deep-dish wood grained steering wheel that’s more than a tip-of-the-hat to their European inspiration. Hurst supplied the shifter, complete with a white knob that’s synonymous with performance, and the beautifully restored Rally instrumentation looks suitably racy. An AM radio resides in the clean red dash, and everything appears fresh and new from the elegant two-tone door panels, to the sharp red carpet.

Of course, the heart of any GTO is the engine, and the period correct WT-Coded Block, 389 cubic inch V8 topped with Tri-Power carburetion was the top of the muscle car food chain in 1965. Detailed to show with Pontiac Turquoise paint, correct small-diameter air cleaners, and chrome valve covers, this is a lesson in how to get it right. Underneath, there’s a 4-speed gearbox and a dual exhaust system with Hooker headers, so it sounds more ferocious than it appears. Bright Crager mags were fitted with 215/75/15 Coker redline radials for the ideal period performance look.