# 1968 drm gto test car



## PontiacJim (Dec 29, 2012)

Always looking to add to my library of Pontiac/GTO things. Got an article from the May/June issue of *Drag Racing Magazine* - "GTO Drag Test"

Just pointing out a few highlights that I found interesting. The car is not specifically referred to as a Ram Air car as most articles will note, but it had the 360 HP engine (360 HP @ 5100 RPM, 438 ft lbs torque @ 3600 RPM, Max RPM - 5800), Ram Air system on the engine, TH-400 trans, 3.90 gears. It also stated that the heads were the same ones used on the larger 428CI.

Car is equipped with power steering, power disc brakes, power windows, air conditioning, His & Hers shifter, hideaway headlights, and vinyl top. What is did not have, and was noted, was a tach. List price was $3242.80 and the price as tested was $4044.84.

The first photo shows the Ram Air air cleaner. Second photo shows the engine with air cleaner removed. Third photo shows the hideaway headlight drooping - so even fairly new, these were not perfect in their alignment once they got used a little.

The article noted that the engine did not like to start cold. The cold engine took a little bit of cranking to get it fired up. Once warm, there was no problem starting the engine.

"The GTO has one of the best, and meanest, sounding exhaust systems around. It combines the low, sharp rumble of a gas class car with a subdued enough tone to keep the law from giving you too many second looks."

"The car's biggest fault showed itself in no uncertain fashion. Those big Firestone Wide Oval tires (F70-14) look good, and handle well on dry pavement, but get a little water on the ground and the car goes every way but straight. A good set of radial tires are a must if you are going to realize all of the road holding and control that the GTO is capable of."

At Lions Dragway - "That big four-barrel feeds the fuel in as fast as you can use it, under even the most demanding of conditions. Once again, however, the tires were the limiting factor. There is just no way to get the car out of the hole decently, and every start left the line hidden in a cloud of white smoke."

At the strip, The best the car could do in the 1/4 mile, stock tires, exhaust & air cleaner left on, was 14.94 seconds at 90.23 mph without a tach to watch RPM's. Later a set of 7" cheater slicks were installed and the times dropped to 13.92 seconds at 100.21 mph. This was in a car weighing as tested, 3,715 pounds. 0-60 time was 7.5 seconds.

:thumbsup:


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## Pinion head (Jan 3, 2015)

Definitely a ringer! Note the factory AC, yet a 3.90 HD STT rearend. Just dont buy the accuracy of the scale weight, not as tested, not a '68 or '69 with all the options & additional weight of hideaways. Most of us realize today, that most Pontiac test cars were prepped by factory Engineering staff or through Royal Pontiac to record strong numbers, there's a good possiblity there was a 428 hiding under the 16 casting heads. Have always loved the simplicity of the '68 RamAir set-up, whether it was installed on a GTO or on a RA Bird.


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## PontiacJim (Dec 29, 2012)

Agreed, but always interesting to read these tests. I thought the car a little light myself with all the options.


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## El Monte Slim (Sep 8, 2014)

PontiacJim said:


> I thought the car a little light myself with all the options.



According to the GTOAA guide, a 1968 A/T GTO weighs 3654. Add 125 for AC, 29 for PS, 10 for PB and 7 for pushbutton radio, you have 3825 lbs vs 3715 "weighed as tested". That's not counting gasoline.


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## Pinion head (Jan 3, 2015)

Slim, the 68 GTO test car mentioned also had power windows, heavy hideaway headlamps, & at least a 160 lb driver.


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## PontiacJim (Dec 29, 2012)

El Monte Slim said:


> According to the GTOAA guide, a 1968 A/T GTO weighs 3654. Add 125 for AC, 29 for PS, 10 for PB and 7 for pushbutton radio, you have 3825 lbs vs 3715 "weighed as tested". That's not counting gasoline.


Looked up another '68 GTO road test, a RA with 4-speed & 3.90 gears. Tires were BF Goodrich Wide Trac G70-14. Weight as tested was 4135 pounds - RA engine, hideaway headlights, rally gauges, hood tach, power steering, power disc brakes, ride & handling package, AM/FM radio, tilt. Base price $3101, as tested $4595. 1/4 mile time - 14.42 @ 101.01 mph. 0-60 6.6 seconds.

A '68 RA 4-speed, 3.90 gear, GTO with Royal Bobcat treatment by Milt Schornack Stock, best 1/4 mile on a 500 mile engine was 14.20 @ 102.50 mph. Bobcat kit installed, heads milled to 65 cc's, Schiefer aluminum flywheel, pressure plate & disc, 5-bladed flex fan installed, carb rejetted & timing all in @ 2500 RPM. It did a best of 13.85 @ 106.13 on factory tires and exhaust hooked up. On M&H 8 x 14 slicks the car went 13.02 @ 107.56. The GTO weighed in at 3650 pounds. 

And one more '68 GTO with the Royal 428 swap did not have specific data, TH400, 3.55 gears. It stated that the car weighed near 4000 pounds and it could hit 100 mph in 13 seconds.

So, when you compare car weights and performance to other '68 test cars, was the DRM car a "ringer" or was it indeed a stock 360HP 400CI car?


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## Pinion head (Jan 3, 2015)

"Engine did not like to start cold" reads like blocked center crossover, typical Bobcat type mod that so many of these prepped Pontiac V8 magazine test cars received....Hmmmm.

Differential was 3.90 HD STT. Definitely a swap, nothing more than 3.23's avail with factory AC.

A real '68 RA stick car should have better valve springs & bigger cam than what should be in a bone stock auto 400 HO engine.


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## PontiacJim (Dec 29, 2012)

PH: "Differential was 3.90 HD STT. Definitely a swap, nothing more than 3.23's avail with factory AC."

PJ: Yep, I thought the same thing that you could not get AC with a 3.90 rear, so it must have been swapped.

PH: "reads like blocked center crossover, typical Bobcat type mod that so many of these prepped Pontiac V8 magazine test cars received....Hmmmm."

PJ: Another good point as the Bobcat Kit did indeed include the intake gaskets with the blocked crossover.

OK, so I think what we have here is a factory 360HP engine with the Bobcat Kit (and possibly the top end worked over) installed at Royal, the Ram Air system (which was most likely added with the Bobcat Kit), and a 3.90 gear swap. So not a "ringer" but not a car right off the show room floor either. :thumbsup:


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## ALKYGTO (Mar 29, 2010)

This "stuff" is why I keep coming back........:wink3:


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## Pinion head (Jan 3, 2015)

The term "Ringer" is an old one, don't hear it a lot these days. in the context of original muscle cars, the term has been used to note a car that just flat performs considerably better than one the average Joe could special order from the factory & go pick up at the dealer. A totally relevant term in regards to one noted GTO. As a comparison of stock performance, the 1968 GTO was Motor Trend Car of the Year, article was printed in Feb, 1968 Motor Trend. Very famous article, along with the new body style helped sell a TON of '68 GTO's. Two '68 GTO hard tops tested at the several month old Orange County drag strip (220 ft elevation)

- One a '68 base 400 4bbl YS automatic no AC with 3.23 rear gears, ran the 1/4 in 15.93 @ 89 mph. 

- The other, a 400 RamAir engined, M21 4spd with 4.33 HD STT, PS, pwr disc brakes, console, rally gauges, rally II wheels, hood tach car ran a 14.45 sec 1/4 after its RA air cleaner was removed & Goodyear slicks on Ansen wheels were installed. Before these easy mods, on G77x14's and original 14x6 RallyII's, the GTO ran a 14.80... Can only assume, as with press lead time, the engine was a '68 RA engine with 31 heads, stiffer valve springs than a pair of 400HO's 16 casting heads. A '68 400 RA engine would have had the 301-313 adv duration camshaft not the HO engines smaller 288-302 adv duration "HO" cam.

Thus, we have easily the most storied article & road tests on a pair of relatively bone stock '68 GTO hardtops. The factory hotrod of the two is several hundred lbs lighter than the supposed 400 HO engine (with a RA air cleaner) automatic/AC equipped GTO hardtop detailed in the Drag Racing Magazine article. The factory RA engined car has an over 200 lb weight savings, nearly all from over the front 50% of that GTO. Better weight distribution, lighter car, stronger factory 400 performance engine from the specifications, lower rearend ratio, & in many Pontiac'ers experience, an easy pick to be a quicker bone stock performance model. Obviously with modifications, blueprinted engine with milled heads, milled intake, alum flywheel, trick Quadrajet, curved distributor, headers with cutouts, no more tight kink 2 1/4" head pipes & tailpipes, there is quite a bit of room for improvement, just as similar modification build & subsequent road test of the time have shown.


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## PontiacJim (Dec 29, 2012)

Here is how the 1968 GTO track tests stack up for 1968.

*Motor Trend*: 1968 GTO 400ci/350hp, 3spd auto, 3.23, 0-60 - 7.3, 1/4 mile - 15.93 @ 88.32mph.
*Motor Trend*: 1968 GTO 400ci/350hp, *3spd manual*, 3.23, 0-60 - 7.3, 1/4 mile - 15.1 @ 90mph.
*Car Life*: 1968 GTO RamAir400ci/360hp, 4spd, 3.90, 0-60 - 6.6, 1/4 mile - 14.53 @ 99.7mph.
*Motor Trend*: 1968 GTO 400ci/360hp, 4spd, 4.33, 0-60 - 6.5, 1/4 mile - 14.45 @ 98.2mph.
*Drag Racing Mag*: 1968 GTO 400ci/360hp, TH400, 3.90, 0-60 - 7.5, 1/4 mile - 14.94 @ 90.23mph - with 7" cheater slicks - 13.92 @ 100.21mph.
*Popular Hot Rodding*: Milt Schornack Royal prepped 1968 GTO RamAir400/360hp, 4spd, 3.90, 1/4 mile - 13.85 @ 106.13mph - with 8.0/8.5" slicks - 13.02 @ 107.56.
*Car & Driver*: !968 GTO Royal prepped 428/390hp, TH400.3.55, weight as tested 4111 pounds. 0-60 - 5.2, 1/4 mile - 13.8 @ 104mph with stock tires.
*Super Stock* mag: 1968 GTO Royal prepped RamAir400/360hp, 4spd, 4.33, weight as tested 3810 pounds. Doug's headers - open and exhaust pipes removed, M & H slicks on Hurst wheels. 1/4 mile - 12.93 @ 108.05 

Compare these to the 1969 GTO, Trans-Am, & 428 Grand Prix:

*Motor Trend*: 1969 GTO 400ci/350hp, 4spd, 3.55, 0-60 - 7.2, 1/4 mile - 14.9 @ 98.3mph.
*Car Life*: 1969 GTO RA IV400ci/370hp, 4spd, 3.55, 0-60 - 6.1, 1/4 mile - 14.4 @ 98mph.
*Popular Hot Rodding*: This was 4-Part magazine build. 1969 GTO RamAir III, Dearborn HD 3-speed, 3.55. 1/4 mile - 14.05 @ 100.6mph with stock Polyglas bias-ply tires. 13.95 @ 99.5mph with Goodyear slicks. 13.65 @ 101.1 with Doug's headers (open), distributor advance curve kit, and rejetted Q-jet. Best time with the RA III and upgrades to a 4spd, 4.33, Carter electric fuel pump, Line-Loc, and air bags in the rear coils for improved traction was 12.62 @ 110.7mph. Part 4 was a Royal prepped RA IV engine install, 4spd, 4.33, Slicks, Doug's headers, HD clutch, flex fan, and it ran a best of 12.25 @ 113.92mph. 
*Hot Rod*: 1969 Pontiac Trans Am 400ci/345hp, 3spd auto, 3.90, 0-60 - n/a, 1/4 mile - 14.10 @ 100.78mph.
*Car Life*: 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix 428ci/390hp, 3spd auto, 3.55, 0-60 - 6.7, 1/4 mile - 14.1 @ 95.3mph.


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