If you were driving one of these back in the day you really would have been the Man, or the Woman!
This was the Japanese answer to the Ford Mustang Fastback!
Well ahead of there time these cool and very exotic little Coupes had a lot of factory accessories right out of the box that were a very big deal back in 73!
For instance, the 2000 cc Twin Carb engine, 5 Speed manual gearbox, factory green tinted glass, styled steel wheels, super cool full instrumentation dashboard, with plenty of switches and lights, leather wrap styled sports steering wheel and the super cool overhead roof console! The things dreams were made of compared to what was available in the equivalent 1973 Ford Cortina or Hillman Hunter!!
This particular GTO has quite an interesting history being purchased brand new in the start of 1974 by its first owner a change in circumstances meant it was sold to the next owner in late 75.
The next owner kept his treasured GTO for many years driving it as daily transport until he retired it to storage when its condition got a bit average, still very original but at the time just another old well-worn 30 year old Japanese car, worth nothing
Fast forward to 2001 and the original second owner tracks the car down again, and negotiates a deal to buy it back, then being an old school panel beater and a bit of a perfectionist as well as having an unbelievable knowledge of all things GTO having owned and restored several of the countrys best examples, the transformation was on, and this little gem couldnt have gone to a better home.
Fully stripped back to a bare shell and then stripped back to bare metal, the shell was found to be in remarkably good condition, so after ironing out a few bumps and bruises with an old school dolly and file, the body was first media blasted and epoxied before being fully repainted in the original and factory to the car striking blue metallic, then full cavity waxed before being complemented by a genuine new old stock white side winder stripe along the flanks.
The brightwork and chrome was all sent away to different parts of the world to be re chromed, and the plastics re chromed as well, so the attention to detail certainly shines through.
Mechanically the engine had new rings and bearing fitted while the full brake system was complete over hauled, and a new clutch fitted along with the diff being treated to new bearings and reset.
Some parts have been sourced Ex Japan including a NOS steering wheel and some of the body rubbers and the engine bay has been treated to the same level of detail with new decals and re anodised fittings.
The end result is a very cool little GTO that looks pretty much like it would have the day it rolled out of Cooper Hendersons over 50 years ago!
You couldnt buy an average one of these and restored it to this level for the price of this car, you wouldnt even come close today, and that would be if you could find a complete one, so if you understand the costs involved and the rarity of this GTO you wont hesitate to enquire today, the chance to buy one of these in this order is almost as rare as the car itself!