Gold-on-Gold 1966 Pontiac GTO Makes Weird Noises and Hides Surprise Under the Hood

The Pontiac GTO is the car that sparked debate in the automotive industry. While many muscle car enthusiasts point at the Ford Mustang as having started the muscle car movement, some credit the GTO.

But to set things apart, we can go for the "Mustang was the pony car while the GTO was the muscle car" principle. After the GTO was introduced, all four domestic automakers came up with competing models. The era of the muscle car had started.

Pontiac unveiled the GTO in 1964 as a Tempest/Le Mans option package. John DeLorean was the chief engineer for Pontiac. He was the one who wanted more for the GTO, whose name was inspired by that of the Ferrari 250 GTO. So, you can imagine the high expectations that the car came with.

In 1965, the Pontiac GTO stopped being a version and turned into a model. One year later, it became an instant hit. Pontiac was hoping to sell around 3,000 or 4,000 examples in the first production year. But they sold around 35,000.

This 1966 one-family-owned car was bought new by Bobby Morgan, who was a service shop owner, but also a race car driver. He was 35 when he purchased it. After he passed away, in 2020, his daughters, Lisa and Tracy, sold the car to Craig Stanley, the Collector Car Podcast host and part-time consultant for RM Sotheby's.

Craig is the one who was asked to represent the historic sale of a 1962 Ferrari GTO, which sold for $52.7 million back in November. One day, he got a phone call from someone who told him about a 1966 Pontiac GTO, bought new by Bobby Morgan, with special options and special paint. The dealer invoice only mentions it is a "special color," but it doesn't say which color.

The person asked him for help to sell the car. But Craig fell in love with it and he knew he just had to buy it himself. After 40 years in storage, as they were getting the car ready for sale, they found the bill sheet, which said "Tiger Gold with red pinstripe." So, the Pontiac was, indeed, special. It was an era when the GTOs only came with white or black pinstripes.

The car came with a paint can that was only available with the special-ordered cars. The original owner used it to paint the tissue box, so that it would match the rest of the interior.

That was because the original owner, Bobby Morgan, had a thing for this color combo. He had also picked out red fender liners and red-line tires. Everything is original about the car. The vinyl roof, the gold upholstery, the carpeting, everything. The DeLuxe steering wheel and the wooden shifter knob are also on board. It's got power steering, power brakes, and power windows. The original tool kit is still in the trunk.

Craig did have to rebuild the engine, a 389-cubic-inch (6.4-liter) Pontiac V8 from the Pontiac Grand Prix hardtop coupe, which came to replace the standard 326-cubic-inch (5.3-liter) V8 of the Tempest. The 389 generates 360 horsepower.

The big surprise under the hood is the Tiger horn, a period-correct aftermarket unit, which makes the car sound like a growling tiger. That is the first thing that Jay Leno tests when he gets behind the steering wheel.

The odometer of the 1966 Pontiac GTO shows around 58,000 miles (93,342 kilometers). Back in the 1970s, Bob unplugged the odometer to keep the mileage as low as possible. He was a Sunday driver, who also took the car to Florida to see the Daytona 500 every February.

Two pictures from the day he bought the car show the Pontiac GTO in front of the dealership with a stuffed tiger on the hood. Bobby Morgan paid $42,000 with around $12,000 in options. He got a $6,000 discount and traded in a 1965 VW two-door and a 1960 wagon.

There is also a black and white photo showing Bob's two daughters, Tracy and Lisa, in front of the car. Craig and the daughters recreated that photo the day he bought the car.

Lisa and Tracy Morgan tell the story of the Pontiac GTO

Lisa and Tracy remember they were more into Barbies than cars. But they do remember when their father bought the Pontiac. He used to tell them that, when Tracy would be 16, the GTO would be her car.

But there was a change of plans over the years. No one could drive this car. Their father wouldn't let anybody touch it. The car was always stored away from home. Their father used to pay to keep it there safely.

Later on, when the Morgans moved to a bigger house with a big garage, Bob parked it there and never drove it again. The car was in storage for 40 years. But their father could never let go of it.

The two sisters only got the chance to drive it recently. But their mother got a speed ticket for it in the late 1960s before their father became so possessive of the car.

There is a single defect inside the four-seat cabin with seatbelts. Tracy knows the exact story of that. On a Sunday drive, their dad decided they were not going to get ice cream. Tracy was four or five years old. She stood in the back and made two tiny holes with her teeth in the back of the seat. That was her revenge. Ice cream would have been cheaper.

Their father ordered seat covers after that but never used them. The original seats were too good-looking to be covered. Furthermore, Craig was fascinated with the gold-on-gold, one-family-owned, single-defect Pontiac GTO.