Royal GTOs and Pontiacs
A car club that celebrates the excitement of the Pontiac GTO and other Pontiac models
Our club is a chapter of the GTO Association of America (GTOAA)
Also check the Collector Car Guide for local events!
A V-12 Ferrari powered Pontiac prototype? Read more here.
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Member's Featured Car!
Mike Schuncke’s 1964 GTO
(Widetrack Panic)
September 2025
I received a call from my friends back in January 2025 and they needed a place to store a couple of their fathers cars, who had recently passed away. (RIP Mac) I had room so we had them moved to my house. 1964 GTO and 1957 T-Bird. I have always loved Pontiacs, and now one was sitting in my driveway. It had been in storage for 5 years, but it looked beautiful. I drained fluids, added a battery, changed out fuel filter and rebuilt the Carter AFB and it fired right up. The exhaust note was quite seductive and really pulled me in! We had it appraised, and became a first time Pontiac owner. Everyone in the Royals has been great in terms of encouragement, advise and friendship in getting this car back on the road. Other than appraisal and PHS history, I do not have a lot of background on the car. Previous owners appear to have taken good care of it. No obvious damage or rust repairs were noted. Fuel tank/lines and brake lines were replaced before it went in storage. It was originally Gold, but was resprayed probably 20yrs ago. The original 389 4bbl still resides under the hood with 114k miles on the clock. The S-T automatic was replaced with a TH350 sometime in its past. The car was well optioned from the factory with A/C, power steering/brakes/windows/defrost.
Jeff Raff helped me out with getting the first round of maintenance issues that a 61yo car presents. Water leaks around windows have been resolved and trunk pan looks like new! I was able to get it to the Royals car show last month. Future projects I am looking at are power disc brakes for the front, heater core, and fixing fuel gauge as well as adding gauges under the dash. The is a 60s era sun tach on the column that I need to hook up. AM radio is out getting repaired, and will go back in when done along with a Marantz FM converter in the glovebox. I do get some vibration >60mph, so need to go through steering/suspension.
My goal is to have a somewhat original, reliable, safe and drive-able classic. The GTO was one of the first muscle cars, so I want to do my part and represent where it all began.
Widetrack Panic refers to the initial reaction I had the first few times I drove the GTO, as it took a little getting use to its wide stance on the road. It is also a nod to one of my favorite bands from Athens, GA still going strong after 40yrs.
Michael Sledge’s 1971 GTO
January/February 2024
Text and photos by Michael Sledge
I bought my ‘71 GTO in New York state almost 20 years ago. It was pretty much an all-original car that came from Arizona, and it was the right color Lucerne Blue with the honeycomb wheels. The only thing that would have been better is if it were a four-speed car. I have only in the last year really driven the car much. Before that just short trips around DC and it sat in the garage for years when I lived in England.
Covid was a good excuse to sort things out. My ‘71 GTO is a 400/300 hp automatic car with well over 100 thousand miles on it. I was told it was rebuilt sometime in the past but hard to say. It ran good but kind of lazy or am I just used to modern fuel injected cars and modern automatic transmissions? I spent most of the lockdown repairing everything (fuel pump, gas tank, timing chain, fluids, hoses, plugs, rebuilt carb with new bushings in base plate etc.) Big improvement with the drivability but I was still not satisfied; it ran well but I felt there was more to be had. So, after some research I purchased a Mr. Gasket mechanical advance curve kit for my HEI distributor.
The HEI distributor is the only non-stock item on the car. The kit came with springs, new weights, and nylon bushings. I made sure to take photos, so I did not forget anything. The Gold- heavy were just like the stock springs so I installed the Silver-medium springs taking care to install the new weights and bushings and lightly grease the shaft. A quick test drive was disappointing as it was no real difference. A few weeks later I installed the black light springs which made huge improvement. They claim the advance is all in by 3000rpm. I now have the initial timing set at 12 and the distributor has 23 for a total of 35 degrees which should be good.
I am planning to go back to the stock distributor in the New Year and upgrade it with an electronic conversion kit for a more stock appearance. Plan to just run it with the points initially to see how it runs more for my own curiosity than anything thing else before installing the conversion upgrade.
I plan to fix a gas tank neck leak in the new tank (they sent three and this was the best one as the other two were damaged.) New springs in the driver’s seat and just basic maintenance. I still must get the tires balanced better. The honeycomb wheels are almost impossible to get balanced properly. A radio would be nice as well.
