Does anyone want to make any suggestions on what a fair price is on a GTO ragtop?

My neighbor is looking at a 1-owner '69 GTO convertible that I told him about. The owner, a doctor, is a personal friend of the family and he must be at least 75 years old. The condition of the car is a low 3 to high 4 condition. It may have seen salt early in it's life but it always has been a 2nd car at best. Today it has about 87,000 original miles. The body has never had rust perforations but it has some filler on the side due to a scrape. Minor surface rust may be present if you dig. I haven't seen the car in person in about 9 years, and that was only passing by it. I have looked at the car closely back in the late 1970s.
It has the standard 350-horse 400, TH400 trans (probably a 3.36 rear), p/s, power brakes (I believe they're drums), power top, non-working power rear antenna, AM radio, full gauges with hood tach, power windows, Custom Sport wheel, 5-spoke factory wheel covers. It does not have hidden headlights. We know that the drivetrain is all-original. The top is about 20 years old due to a tree dropping on it, but it has a small patch repair on it.
I know, a picture is worth a thousand words. The guy had it advertised for $18,800 in Old Autos (the newspaper from Bothell, Ont., Canada). The 'Old Cars Price Guide' for Feb. 2004 lists the following prices in U.S.D.: #4 - $5,200, #3 - $10,400, #2 - $18,200, #1 - $26,000

I think you would have a tough time finding even a basket case 68-69 GTO CONVERTIBLE for less than $5k. Maybe a lemans cloned into a gto, or a GTO hard top but not a true GTO convertible.

A friend of mine has a 68 GTO ragtop, in decent condition but not great condition- He paid $7500 for it in 97, and he has had REAL offers of up to $20k for it in the last couple years. (Including one last summer where the guy had $10k deposit money with him!)

I can't say if $18k would be high or not... Is that canadian $ or US $ ??

Oops! The pricing guide is in USD, but the $18,800 figure is Canadian dollars.

I'm thinking top, body & paint, maybe weatherstripping. A rebuild is not necessary as far as I know, but it doesn't have hardend valve seat either (I believe its a 10.75:1 compression).

Surprised he did not get any decent offers when it was advertised before...what is the color of the GTO?

This site may gfive you some direction.

http://www.vmrintl.com/cctm/coll_frame.htm

WWW.NADA.COM (http://WWW.NADA.COM)

Classic Car Consumer Prices
February 4, 2004
1969 Pontiac GTO
2 Door Convertible

MSRP
Original Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price when new $3,382

........Low Retail..Average Retail...High Retail
...........$9,300....$19,100.......$28,800

Other Vehicle Information
Model Number: N/A
Weight: 3553

Value Explanations

Low Retail Value
This vehicle would be in mechanically functional condition, needing only minor reconditioning. The exterior paint, trim, and interior would show normal wear, needing only minor reconditioning. May also be a deteriorated restoration or a very poor amateur restoration. Most usable "as-is".

Note: This value does not represent a "parts car".

Average Retail Value
This vehicle would be in good condition overall. It could be an older restoration or a well-maintained original vehicle. Completely operable. The exterior paint, trim, and mechanics are presentable and serviceable inside and out. A "20-footer".

High Retail Value
This vehicle would be in excellent condition overall. It could be a completely restored or an extremely well maintained original vehicle showing very minimal wear. The exterior paint, trim, and mechanics are not in need of reconditioning. The interior would be in excellent condition. Note: This value does not represent a "100 Point" or "# 1" vehicle *.

Guys, your input is really helpful (including Mr. Lightfoot's e-mail). I'm looking foreward to checking this baby out, although it isn't going out on the road because of all the snow, salt & slush up here now. BTW, the car is silver (Cortez Silver using Chevy parlance) with a black top & black bucket seat interior.

I'd say the Old Cars Price Guide should be deposited in the nearest recycling bin (being ecologically correct here tongue.gif ). If your friend can pick that car up for $18.8K Cdn he should be all over it. If he hesitates, you should be all over it. A documented one owner car at that price - that's a no-brainer.

I agree w/Bill $18000.00 is a steal for a 1 owner car w/that low of mileage...

Update: We went to look at the car. You’ve heard of 20-footers? This car is a 50-footer (looks great from 50 feet)! The owner is not trying to misrepresent the car or hide it’s past, but the car was repainted about 5 years ago. It looks like it was repainted due to a scrape & rust. He certainly didn’t blow the budget on bodywork. There were heavy barnacles underneath, the driver’s floor had a section welded in, the front fenders are bubbling where the filler was applied at the bottom, the doorskins have telltale major bubbles along the lower edge, the inner door frames have cheese, the door hinges allow the doors to sag when opening the doors, the hinge pillar has cheese (it is that obvious), the tach & rear antenna did not work, the front bumper had been hit & had minor cracks, the rear bumper chrome was poor, the rear bumper brackets have 3 layers of flaking rust. The frame itself wasn’t great, but it didn’t look half-bad either. Now the engine sounded nice and did not smoke, but hardened seats definitely are a must for future operation.. The GTO emblems, grille, taillight bezels were all cracked plus the trunk lid said ‘PONTIAC’ in the lower middle instead of ‘GTO’ on the RHS(it was replaced; rust?). The car is worth saving but will take substantial work, cash and commitment in bodywork, plus numerous other things. Calling the car a condition 4 is even a stretch. At $18G the car will sit a long time. Maybe $6G (we didn’t want to insult him, we just thanked him for his time and said it wasn’t what we were looking for). Still I'm glad that we at least checked it out and made the 100+ mile round trip. The owner is a nice guy, but at his own admission not a car guy. He has heard that they are worth something, but they have to be far more solid than his. In my opinion the car needs a frame-off; now what does that make it worth as it sits?

I think my friend just needs to find himself a decent, turnkey SS396 coupe for about $18G. We’ll keep looking. Thanks again all!

You might try www.performanceyears.com (http://www.performanceyears.com) for a car and pricing.

Hmmmm, amazing the toll the years can take. Obviously a much different car than you had previously described and seen years ago. I'd say you're right on in estimating $6K Cdn now. Rust perforation in the hinge pillar? don't think I've ever seen one that bad. Bet the farm that it will be much worse once it is stripped down than it looks as you just saw it.