# 1968 GTO 400 2bbl. 242 vin



## 44070dart (Mar 25, 2010)

Hi .. new here but old gray beard car guy.. thinking of buying this 68' GTO 400 / auto trans. .. really nice shape inside and out $16,000 car was redone in 2003 body and interior, has 35,000 miles since,with same owner.. I'm wondering on value seeing as it a 2 barrel 400 .. sometimes rare isn't the best thing.. any opinions would help me one way or the other ..


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## PontiacJim (Dec 29, 2012)

44070dart said:


> Hi .. new here but old gray beard car guy.. thinking of buying this 68' GTO 400 / auto trans. .. really nice shape inside and out $16,000 car was redone in 2003 body and interior, has 35,000 miles since,with same owner.. I'm wondering on value seeing as it a 2 barrel 400 .. sometimes rare isn't the best thing.. any opinions would help me one way or the other ..


Looks nice. _Value_ is what you put on it. If you think it is a good price, then it is.

Check all the usual things for rust/rot and wear/tear. How many miles on the engine? 35,000 on the body and interior, but if the engine has never been apart, it may need to. Do a compression check or have it done as this will give you a good idea of the condition of the rings/engine. Trans ever rebuilt? Rear-end ever rebuilt? Front end ever rebuilt?

The fact that it is a 2Bbl does not make it rare per say. Probably not many made with the 2Bbl versus the 4Bbl, but the 2 Bbl lesser HP engine is not what most buyers/collectors want. If anything, the engine hurts the value. BUT, like any engine, you can always rebuild it with more HP.

So if the mechanics are in top shape, then the price is about right. If you have to start rebuilding/replacing mechanical things, then the price is too high. Sometimes those shiny good looking cars on the outside and inside are the ones that are money pits under their flashy appearance.


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## Bredfan (Feb 20, 2017)

Yep, the old adage - something is worth whatever someone else is willing to pay for it... Not much help, I know.

But - I do have some experience that may give you some food for thought. This past spring, I bought a 1968 GTO and paid 22k for it. The car in your pic - the interior color is almost identical to mine.

My big concern was sheet metal. Since I am completely lost with body work, I needed to make sure that was buttoned up. On the mechanical side, I didn't want to deal with pulling an engine, so I wanted to be reasonably sure there were no internal engine issues.

With those two boxes checked off, my 68 was exactly the year I wanted, and was "done" to the point I wanted it.

To me, that was worth 22k.

Now, I had been looking at another 68 and the guy wanted 36k. The big difference between the 36k and my 22k was that the 36k car had documented frame off bodywork done, while mine was anecdotal. But the 36k car was otherwise very similar - darn close - to my 22k. It was an AC car, but it was disconnected and the parts were in the trunk. I think there is a thread in here somewhere about that - I had asked the SAME question you did. 

Lastly, something you need to wrap your head around...the price you pay is not really the price you pay. It is the price of admission! There will be things you'll want or need to replace - this is a certainty.

In the past 6 months, I bought a wiper motor, side view mirrors, new Ram Air manifolds, new oil pressure gauge, new h20 gauge, and just yesterday, a new Q Jet carb and threw in some engine mounts onto my Summit order.

All that to say, if the big boxes are checked, and it is the car you've been looking for (I searched for 2 years!) then I think 16k is a good price - actually pretty dang good compared to what I paid...


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