The rarest GTO you may have never wanted

Posted on Sep 3, 2015 in Featured | 2 comments

Here’s an example of a chrome bumper 1968 GTO, but it’s not the same car discussed in the blog, as understandably, we couldn’t locate a photo of a factory Pink Mist GTO. Photo by author.

When it comes to collecting vintage cars, generally, nostalgia, value (real or perceived), budget and rarity all come into play. Many option combinations were rare for more reasons than just the fact that they were more expensive. On occasion, they were specifically sought out and ordered by the original buyers who wanted to further tailor their vehicles to their personal tastes.

Case in point—a 1968 GTO restoration project offered at $8,500 that recently came to my attention via friend and Hemmings contributor, Rocky Rotella. Along with the standard 400 and a Parchment interior, it was well equipped with a Turbo-Hydramatic transmission; air conditioning; Ivory Cordova top; 8-track tape player; Rally IIs; Custom Sport tilt steering wheel; and a few other popular options. Its most interesting features, however, were a chrome front bumper and “special” paint—pink—in this case. Rocky related, “Pink Mist was one of the code SPS Spring-promo special order colors that cost $83.20, but because the Endura bumper wasn’t available pre-painted as with other standard colors, the SPS colors were credited $26.33 for the chrome bumper.”

Yes, by checking option code 674, you could make your 1968 Motor Trend Car of the Year GTO muscle car look like a Le Mans up front! And receive the cash credit in the process. Pontiac was hedging its bets in late December of 1967 by offering the chrome bumper as a delete option for the Endura bumper, since the latter was not a prime example of fit and finish when first introduced. Paint adherence and color matching problems were common early on.

Possibly, some of the 2,108 purchasers of chrome bumper 1968 GTOs actually felt that they had dodged a bullet so-to-speak by not having to deal with those potential issues. What they saved in bodywork grief may have been offset by frequently having to defend their GTO to others, however. I hold owners of these GTOs in the highest regard for having the intestinal fortitude to explain to people over and over again that their Pontiacs are in fact GTOs and not Le Manses.

I also have empathy for the owners who tried sell a chrome bumper 1968 GTO in the 1970s and 1980s. They probably needed to stamp the decoded VIN on their foreheads to convince the uninitiated buying public that their Pontiac was a real Goat.

By the 1990s, the chrome bumper GTOs started to get some of the respect that they deserved, and they became standouts that would garner attention at car shows when competing amongst a sea of Endura-nosed Goats.

This GTO, with its pink hue and chrome bumper is certainly rare, but is it also desirable? Low production numbers alone don’t always make a vintage car more wanted than all of its more popular stablemates.

For example, for 1969 Pontiac built just 1,246 GTO hardtops with the 265hp stepdown 400 two-barrel option and 6,428 hardtops with the Judge option and standard 366-hp Ram Air III 400. Despite the disparity in overall production, the Judges were worth considerably more then and today.

Will collectors consider this uniquely optioned 1968 GTO a must-have? Or has the Endura bumper become so identifiable as a GTO-specific component of the era, that a Goat sans one is a harder sell, even though it’s rarer? This GTO would certainly draw attention at the shows, once it’s restored, but is a pink GTO someone’s dream car today as it was back in 1968?

Like any other muscle car offering, some won’t be swayed, but others will most likely love the color combo and the chrome bumper and will actively pursue purchasing it. It’s just one of the things that make the vintage car hobby so interesting. We all have different opinions and there’s seemingly something available for most everyone. Will the pink chrome bumper GTO garner more cash than a comparable GTO with a more common color and an Endura nose? We may never know, since the car isn’t being sold at an auction, so a final sale price won’t be made public.