namonam9244

[namonam9244]

Help Needed

What I am going to state goes against everyone’s common knowledge. I'm seeking help concerning my memory of a 67 GTO I had for three days about 1980. A guy I met several times at my local auto parts store owned a 67 GTO. We became friends a while later because we both had GTOs. He had been working on upgrading his car with new suspension work, a reprogrammed rebuilt Turbo 400, a WS-6 steering box, and 3.70 gears. The 428 had a .30 bore, Speedpro pistons, a Nunzio Romano optimized Ram Air camshaft, valve porting, an Edelbrock 4-bbl intake, a Cloyes double-roller chain set, and a reworked oiling system.

One night, he smacked a curb badly and collapsed the right front suspension members back into the frame. He called asking if I would buy his car. He quickly needed $700 to secure another vehicle to continue attending vocational school to become a certified mechanic. I paid $800 because the engine cost nearly twice as much. He flatbedded the car to my house and dropped it before my parents. Understand that there were two 70 GTOs, a 71 Chevelle SS, and a 68 Firebird 400 out front already on a seldom-trafficked street.

I took the next three days off to dismantle the car. During the strip of the car, I found it had a “removable hardtop.” Frank mentioned I would find a surprise; it did not seem weird because my brother’s Corvette had a removable top. I had ridden in the car several times before and never knew. Two latches at the top of the windshield mounting and two heavy-duty integral hooks at the rear window deck lid. I had my father and sister help me remove the hardtop from the car. Flip the latches at the front and pivot it skyward and back toward the rear. The third was in the backseat to control the hardtop when you worked it out of the two receiving wells at the rear decklid. It was heavy so you needed three to protect the paint and the edges where the hardtop flowed into the side panels. The integral hooks were built like the hook of a tie-rod adjusting tool. The well had about a 3\8″ bar from which you had to work the hook. We removed the hardtop, moved it to the backyard, and placed it on carpenter horses. Months later, I placed an ad in the Want Ad Press. Three days later, I sold it to a guy from upstate New York. I remember the guy’s excitement when he traveled 100 miles with a flatbed to purchase the hardtop. I thought I got away like a bandit when he paid 400 dollars.

Sometime in the next decade, I discovered how rare this hardtop was. I thought it was just an option like my brother's Corvette. There exist printed media concerning the 67 GTO that states there were 173 produced with the removable hardtop. It was in a booklet concerning GTOs. It may have been written in literature from Ames Performance or H-O Racing Specialties. I thought it was like the Corvette my brother owned; not readily found but not rare. If I knew the rarity aspect, I would have resurrected it. I would have sent it out to have the frame checked rather than strip it for parts. I bought it for the 428 motor and the reprogrammed TH400.

Two decades later, Vin Diesel's xXx movie features the same hardtop setup. The same twist latches near the ends of the top front windshield mounting surface. The scene where the hardtop is blown off the car once you flipped the latches with the car in motion. That was how we removed the hardtop. It was structurally sound and fit without leaks because I rode in the car before its demise.

I am bedridden in a care facility. If I were mobile, I would be hounding N.J. Motor Vehicles for my friend’s VIN. The car was sweet. I didn’t know how sweet. I would have added it to my stable of cars.

I recently read about the body options for the 67 GTO on the Internet, I realized that the car was most likely a convertible with a factory hardtop. The fit was too perfect to be anything else. I'm writing this because I need your help in keeping my sanity. I know what I experienced is contrary to what others think. Does anyone in the Pontiac GTO community know about this hardtop option? I believe others are knowledgeable; it probably was the Winchester 73 of its time.

I believe the 67 GTO convertible has two receiving wells for the ragtop framework hidden under the boot at the rear valance. The posted image has four red-bordered highlighted areas where the hardtop was attached to the body. At the rear of the hardtop were two integral hooks similar to the highlighted hook in the image of the tie-rod sleeve adjusting tool. The hooks were constructed in the same manner as the tool; the same width and radius. The hardtop required the hooks to slide into the receiving well as you lowered the hardtop. The radius would engage around the aforementioned 3/8-inch bar built into each well.

An e-mail with an attached photo of the rear valance deck of a convertible with the boot removed would help prove or disprove my supposition. Any information or help would be deeply appreciated.