égoggto2

It was not my intention to turn into a GTO-enthusuast. The first cars of mine were four wheel drives, two of whom were russian. When I decided to sell my first american car, Dodge Power Wagon 1968 that I had restored almost from a complete wreck, a GTO 1969 had to be a part of the deal. This was in 1987. Of course I intended to sell this hungry beast, but no real buyers turned up.

At that time I was a pupil and later a colleague of a devoted pontiac enthusiast, Arnlaugur Bergsson. He wanted me to believe that Pontiac GTO was a remarkable phenomenon. His friend Ingimar Baldvinsson (www.ib.is), who has imborted hundreds of american cars to Iceland, went on about the same, and as time went by I started to believe these guys. Actually my GTO had survived some serious blows from previous ownersd. Therefore it was easy for me to believe what my friends told me about the charms of the original GTO.

In spite of previous sufferings, my GTO was in prett good shape. The front and rear window panels were an obvious problem. A previous owner had tried to stop the leakage but not susseeded. I did my best to weld the fornt frame but the rain kept dripping into the car.

My GTO originally came to Iceland in 1973. Sveinn Halldórsson, who grew up just a stones throw away from my home in Selfoss, bought the car (and the yellow one too plus 2 other cars) in North-Carolinafylki, USA. The 4 cars were owned by an estate and had been stored in a barn for some time since the owners had died in a car accident. When Sveinn bought the car it had been driven 27.000 miles, and when he sold the car in 1980 or 1981 it had beeb driven around 70.000 miles.

Quite a few of my neighbours (from Selfoss, Iceland) have been the owners of this car since Sveinn sold it. Among them are the Baldvinsson-brothers, Eiður og Ingimar, Þórir Sverrisson, who still is rapairing old pontiac by the number, og Einar Baldursson who sold the car to me. Some of these guys even posessed the GTO more than once!

At first my GTO had a rough life in my posession. Al least on winter it was parked unprotected from frost and snow outside my home. The rust came through the paint in doors and panels. Another winter it was stored in a barn in the neighbourhood. Eventually I managed to talk my father into storing it in his big garage. Later on he started to repair the damages in the body, indluding the rusted window panels. Since 1996 the car has been a slowly ongoing project and still will be for years to come.