MORE DETAILS
- Greg Raymond
- Feb 1, 2025
- 2 min read
Updated: Apr 24
"A Tribute to Jim Wangers' 1964 GTO 'Test Car' built for Car and Driver March 1964"
CHAPTER 15 Greg Raymond
I came across a post from Speed Society on Facebook that read, “A car build is never about showing off to others. It’s about proving something to yourself.” It hit me in the best possible way. This isn’t my first build, so I’m familiar with the feeling that comes with each one: I genuinely love the process. But with this project, the process has been something special.
When you set out to recreate a piece of history, especially one that no longer exists, the details become everything. The Blue Car will never be seen again; it met the fate of the crusher decades ago. That reality made the research, the detective work, and the pursuit of accuracy the most rewarding part of this entire journey.
This month, another detail surfaced… one that practically fell into my lap.
The 2024 Hot Rod Power Tour made a stop in my hometown of San Diego, and among the cars was a 1964 GTO. Naturally, it didn’t take long to strike up a conversation with the owner about his early‑build ’64. He mentioned something I had never heard before: early 1964 GTOs can be identified by the design of their tail lamp lenses.
And sure enough, the Blue Car had them.
The Early Tail Lamp Lens Design
In the original Car and Driver photos, the Blue Car clearly shows the reflector positioned on the outer corners of the tail lamp assembly. This aligns perfectly with what we know about pilot cars: they were built slowly, under the close supervision of engineering and design teams, and often represented the earliest iterations of a new model.
Later in 1964, Pontiac redesigned the lenses for safety reasons, moving the reflector to the center and pushing one of the brake lamps outward to improve nighttime visibility.
The GTO I saw on the Power Tour had the same early‑style lenses, with the reflector on the outside ends. That sent me digging, and sure enough, I found Pontiac Service Bulletin No. 64‑76, issued in May 1964, documenting the change.
This was a detail we absolutely couldn’t overlook.
A few minutes on eBay, and an OEM early‑style set was on the way.
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