QuestionI am new to the classic car market. The term numbers matching means that all the parts on the car are original. I suspect there are varying levels of numbers matching. What parts on the classic vehicle should one insist that are numbers matching to ensure maximum value? I am interested in a 1967-1969 GTO.
Thanks.
hart bueckert
AnswerFor some reason, this question did not come through to me until after I returned from vacation - so I apologize for the delay.
"Numbers Matching" means different things to different people, as does the term "Classic Car". To those of us in the hobby for many years, "Classic" means a car so identified and carried on a list by the Classic Car Club of America. There were very few true Classics built after 1942, and none at all after 1948. So to us old timers, your GTO would be a "Special Interest Vehicle", or a "Muscle Car", but not a "Classic". But, I realize this is like pushing water uphill with a broom, as many of the Baby Boom generation and later have started calling anything older than 10 years a "Classic".
As for "Numbers Matching", dealers in old cars began using that term about 10 years ago to indicate a car with all its original parts still installed and usable. There were a few very expensive cars which actually had the car serial number stamped on each of the major parts (and some modern cars are doing that again, to assist in stolen car identification), but to most in the hobby, what they are trying to tell you is that all the date codes on the various parts are consistent with the known (from factory info) date on which the car was assembled. There are a few cars from the era of your interest in which the engine and/or transmission was actually stamped with the VIN of the vehicle, but those are so easy to fake that I wouldn't believe it even it you bother to check.
Thus on a GTO, if the Pontiac historical files indicate that it was assembled on, say February 17th, 1968, there had better not be any date codes on any parts which are date coded that show a date of manufacture after that date, if the car is represented as an unrestored original. Personally, I think this is foolishness, since it is easy to fake those dates, people are fabricating forged paperwork and VIN tags, and the whole dealer and auction "business" is mostly scams and cheats. This is my opinion, and is widely held amongst the old timers, but many people will argue that they know the cousin of the gardener's wife of the original owner, and they know for absolutely certain that the car has never been out of sight for 30+ years and therefore they are certain that all the parts are really, really original.
Believe it if you wish, but the only important thing to me is whether or not there are any inauthentic items on the car, and what condition it is in. Don't buy the car on anyone's say-so, and especially shy away from "vehicle appraisers", who are usually full of B.S. Locate a member of the local POCI group, or a GTO club, and have someone who really knows the cars go with you to examine the car, with a eye for any attempt to counterfiet a standard car into a GTO (there are more GTOs now than were ever made in the factory, as it is so easy to make a standard car into one, even to changing the VIN plate!). Don't buy the car unless you plan to enjoy it for what it is - old cars are not an "investment" regardless of what most of us tell our wives. They are a permanent hole in your wallet, and spending all that money to maintain an old car isn't worth it unless you really enjoy driving or showing the cars.
Good Luck, and be careful out there - there be bears in those woods!
Dick
