Harry King's '67 GTO
Well, the
story of my GTO begins way back in 1988. The Fall of 1988, to be exact. I was
14, and had a really cool job helping out the company that flies banners at ball
games and other things. I was a huge airplane nut, and I got flying lessons, in
addition to my pay, so I loved it. I was heading back from Athens, home of the
University (sic) of Georgia (and, as we say here: TO HELL WITH GEORGIA!!!), to
Griffin. We would always pass this junkyard just outside of Monroe. One day,
Todd, who drove a 77 Formula Sunbird, aksed if I minded if he stopped in. I
didn't care, so we stopped, while he searched for a piece of the spoiler that
had broken on his car. No spoiler, but there was a gorgeous white 70 GTO there.
It had a crumpled fender, and a black spoiler. Now, I don't recall there having
been any Judge emblems on it, but when I went back to check on it, the owner
said that that car had only stayed there a week or so before some one bought it.
When I asked about it, he replied "that Judge?" So, that makes me
wonder if I missed out on a Judge with a pretty rare option (the black spoiler -
available only with white Judges). And the owner of the junkyard said it had an
engine in the trunk, too (arrgh!). It was a nice car. White, maroon interior,
with Cragar S/S wheels, too. Anyway, the day I saw that car was the day I
decided that I was going to get a GTO, come Hell or high water.
I got my GTO in May of 1989. I was 15, and completely determined to get a
GTO. I didn't care which year, body style, or what. I had saved about $1500 or
so from working, and still had a job, so I thought that I was in good
shape to get one!
Well, a little bit of background on mine. I had a friend who knew how
much of a GTO nut I was. He just so happened to have a cousin who lived down the
road from a guy who had one sitting in his back yard. Unfortunately, his cousin
planned on buying it. First, he thought that it was a 69, then a 73, then he
didn't know what. When his cousin found a Dodge Demon for $1100, I was the next
guy to look at the GTO.
As I had said, I was only 15. So, I had to get a friend of this friend of mine
to take me to look at the car. I gave the guy gas money, seeing as how it was a
45 minute drive and I didn't know him. Anyway, that was May 6th, 1989, a
Saturday. So, you may be asking where my Dad was. Well, Dad wasn't too keen on
my idea of getting a GTO. Hence, he didn't take me to look at it. Back to the
story. First thought was that it was a 66. But, it had 67 chrome and 67 tail
lights. So, seeing as how the grills were LeMans, and not GTO, I checked. 67. It
had a 66 LeMans front end.
Now, here is where I would like to tell you that I knew all of the codes
to check. The whole "242" beginning of the VIN, and the date codes on
the engine. But, seeing as how I was a young kid who was just so happy to have
potentially found a GTO that he could afford, all I cared about was "How
much?" and "Will I be able to drive it home?" The answers were
"$1200" and "yes." Oh yeah, I should mention that I didn't
know anything about the codes anyway, so it wouldn't have mattered had I known
to check.
So, fast forward to that night. I told dad about it. I will never forget
his response: "There is no way in Hell you are gettin' a GTO." No
amount of discouragement would deter me, though. So, all he heard about the
entire week was GTO this and GTO that. Well, I had to work the following
Saturday, so Dad went and looked at the car, just so he could shut me up. I got
home from work that Saturday night. I asked him what he thought. He asked me if
I had to work tomorrow. I honestly don't remember if I did, and got off, or if I
didn't. Regardless, he had a friend who ran a convenience store, so Dad wrote
the guy a check for $1200, and I paid Dad back Monday (being a 15 year old, I
wasn't paying a whole lot of bills, and just kept my money in a savings account,
rather than having a checking account). Anyway, we picked it up the next day.
The bill of sale says May 13, 1989. The reason being is that the 14th, the day
we actually made the transaction, was a Sunday, and my father was a bit worried
about doing that.