BRAKES & SUSPENSION

"A Tribute to Jim Wangers' 1964 GTO 'Test Car' built for Car and Driver March 1964"

CHAPTER 19 Greg Raymond

Patterson’s Speed & Kustom is taking the frame on the 1964 GTO Pilot Car Tribute Build far beyond anything Pontiac ever released from the factory. Every weld, every seam, every contour is being scrutinized, corrected, and perfected until the frame becomes a showpiece in its own right. Instead of accepting the typical production‑line imperfections, uneven scaling, casting flaws, or hurried factory welds, the team is blocking, straightening, metal‑finishing, and refining every surface by hand.

The front suspension received the same obsessive attention, right down to the correct orange spring‑rate stripe on the coils. The result is a foundation that isn’t just restored, it’s elevated. A frame and suspension so clean, so precise, and so meticulously detailed that it surpasses OEM standards by a mile.

Authenticity in Every Component

To keep the Tribute Build faithful to the exact configuration tested in the famous Car and Driver article, we added the correct power‑brake setup, matching every component, bracket, and geometry to factory spec. The steering box, normally left bare and destined to rust, was matte clear‑coated to preserve its raw cast‑metal appearance while sealing out corrosion.

The steering column was refinished in the proper Pontiac satin low‑gloss black, restoring the understated look the Blue Car originally carried. Once installed, the assembly looked so crisp and precise it reminded me of building model cars as a kid, only this time, the “model” is a piece of Pontiac history.

With the steering, power‑brake booster, and front suspension in place, we moved on to detailing the brakes.

A Detail That Means Everything

It’s hard to imagine a more meaningful detail on this Blue Car tribute than the discovery that surfaced during the brake restoration. When my father passed his 1964 GTO convertible down to me in 1994, I found a complete set of Grizzly drum‑brake shoes tucked away in the trunk. He had purchased them in 1972, fronts and rears, still sealed in their boxes, each one labeled in his handwriting: “GTO Fronts, GTO Rears.”

These weren’t just any brake shoes. They were the old‑school, asbestos‑lined type the car would have worn in its era-rare, historically accurate, and untouched for more than half a century.

Using those very shoes to complete the brake system didn’t just bring the car to period‑correct spec. It wove my father directly into the build. A simple service item became a generational connection, one that tied him to this project in a way no reproduction part ever could.

In a build defined by authenticity, craftsmanship, and reverence for history, those Grizzly pads became the most symbolic detail of all... linking the past, the present, and the purpose of this Tribute Car.

“Thanks Dad”... RIP 1942-2016

Col. Herbert Dwight Raymond, III, USMC