We Found a Factory Tri-Power MONSTER GTO Royal Bobcat

Welcome back to Horsepower Warehouse!
We are starting off 2022 with a super rare and absolutely exceptional restoration on our 1965 Pontiac GTO "Bobcat" Tuned by Royal Pontiac. Also, we will take a peek at a few HW logos and prepare to send $1M+ in Corvettes to auction.
Hit the like and subscribe, rumor has it we have another 1966 vehicle coming of equal quality for next time! Email for Inquiries: [e-mail]

[@jamesgreg5542]

The Royal Bobcats were from my home town, Royal Oak, Michigan. Right on Main Street, U.S.A. Tore the dealership down a few years ago to put up high rise condo. shame. Obliterate our History, folks and before you know it, no one will even know what "Pontiac" was. let alone G.T.O. Hail Royal Bobcat, Royal Oak, Michigan, U.S.A!

[@joehart9957]

I had an " evening orchid " 65 with nothing extra Other than an am radio. No hard top no air almost no brakes .3 carbs 4 speed posi track. What a runner! In decatur il

[@morganbrantley9058]

I was just in royal oak for the woodward dream cruise, I went looking for the old dealership and found the condo. I'm a huge gto fan.

[@steveskuras2515]

Exactly right my fellow Michigander. Detroit, the birthplace of MUSCLE! That's a very rare car as Royal Pontiac only ordered a few of those bad boys. Wish I could afford it , I'd buy it tomorrow!

[@mikeswartz3146]

It will live on in the internet until that goes down. Then it will live on in libraries.

[@xelphinx]

​@@steveskuras2515 hi . Touching READ MORE does not Respond correctly . AQuired an HO 421🏁 Grenadier RED/Red '64 GTO from the Original Owner in '68, southwest Miami. It's still in the Family . . 🎶"When I turn it ON Wind it Up, blow it out, G T O" 🏁JDF NM Fla USA

[@rampant59]

Coolest Goat ever. 65 GTO, best looking of all made. The bobcat tune is frosting on the cake. The old ponchos had their own distinct burble on idle. Love it.

[@bunk-bn9eo]

They really did. Could you imagine if other GMs dealerships took a page out of their book?

[@eugenesonger9426]

Absolutely Amazing GTO special royal Bobcat

[@garybierman3929]

Remember the Bobcats back in the day. Almost unbeatable.

[@audieconrad8995]

When I Was a kid, the lady up the hill had a '65 GTO. We heard her coming before we saw her...when she turned the corner on her way home all the kids would run to the curb and chant G-T-O! G-T-O! and of course...she'd give us a goose with that 389. She was our hero - still is...

[@mariozamprogno1654]

That brother is the real deal Royal bobcat doesn’t get much better than that

[@ricksidenstricker2144]

Stellar GTO. My favorite year. Pontiac had a crystal ball advantage on the competition in 65, IMO. My father had a 65 2 door post back in about '67. It was one of the first cars I remember, and is completely responsible for my fascination with muscle cars. What a great era to be alive!

[@thomashibbert6152]

That GTO is stunningly gorgeous , rare isn’t a powerful enough word , more like Holy Grail . GM was strange in those years almost prescient , like they knew the whole muscle car thing was going to be killer, but short lived and the skunk works were VERY “ secret “ but working in hyper drive . This gem was too secret but that motor !! I have a stroked 421 tri power motor in my 66 Bonnevile convertible which PHS docs say was born as a Hurst equipped 4 speed air conditioned car and still is , I love me my Pontiacs . But C2 I’d my absolute dream bucket list car , but that GTO obviously has me stoked !! Great stuff, glad I found your channel BTW I vote for the blower logo!!! Cheers , keep up the fantastic work !!

[@caddi70]

You have a "motor" or engine? A car guy should know it's an engine

[@buzzwaldron6195]

@@caddi70 - Came from The Motor City !!!

[@davesayers5809]

My favorite year 1965, I had one back in 1986 when I was stationed at Laughlin, AFB TX. I bought it out of a salvage yard in Uvalde, TX. for $500.00 Dollars. It was missing the GTO Hood and a Chief Master Sargent's Kelly's AFB Gate Sticker on the front bumper. I did a driver's restoration on it, complete new brake system, fuel system, rebuilt the motor, interior, a set of Cragar's Mags, and a paint job by my Cousin!! Back than had about $3700,00 in it with buying it. Don't you wish you could buy one now days for that! Brought it home on leave in the summer of 1988 and sold it within the first week of being home for $6700,00. A Grandfather bought for his grandson for his 18th Birthday/Graduation Gift. I think it was total the following summer when a driver rear end the car. Sorry for long rant but your video bought back some great memories Sir!! Thank You!! Also you have a Beautiful Shop only in America!!!

[@johnjuarez8005]

As you said the restoration is at the highest level! Incredible !!!

[@puddleduckist]

Being a Pontiac lover and owner of a 69 gto for 30 years I absolutely love this car! I have met Jim Wangers, Pete McCarthy and tons of other Pontiac greats and legends. What a beautiful gto, such a rare and special car, the stuff dreams are made of for Pontiac lovers right up there next to a ram air 4 69 judge or the experimental ram air 5. Thanks for sharing this piece of beautiful art with us!

[@chriscrain2878]

Old guys like me who grew up in the muscle car era know about the Royal Bobcat cars. I'd love to put it in the garage. Love watching your C2 restorations. Keep.up the good work. 🇺🇲

[@rpondyke2121]

In July of 1964 I was just out of school. I had loved the 64 GTO, so I went to a Pontiac dealer and ordered aa 1965 GTO convertible sight unseen. It was to have black interior with a white top. The colors that they showed me were paint chips only. So I picked a color that looked to be silver with a hint of pink in it. Two months later the car came in. I went to the dealer to pick it up, and I was blown away when I saw that the car had a pale lavender paint job. The most beautiful car that I had ever seen!! I loved that car like no other even to this day. Sadly, the car was stolen a year later, and I never saw it again. It broke my heart.

[@mongolikechewchew2475]

That sucks! Do you remember how much you paid for her? 4k out the door?

[@rpondyke2121]

@@mongolikechewchew2475 she was $3400. The base price was $2600, and I had $800 in options. Positraction rear end, quick steering package, borg warner floor shift with a four speed, wood dash, wood steering wheel, white walls, and can’t remember what else. She was sweet.

[@mongolikechewchew2475]

@@rpondyke2121 if we knew then what we know now regarding the muscle car era!!

[@rpondyke2121]

@@mongolikechewchew2475 tell me about it. I would garaged it and kept it primo.

[@KevinDOdy]

That was a great color that year

[@JackBWatkins]

It’s okay to love multiple classic cars.

[@nickyanosey2767]

That GTO is awesome, I bought a GTO in the early part of 64 silver black interior 389 cu 348 hp 390 gears it was a beast.

[@davidsmith6308]

The GTO is absolutely beautiful and 1965 is my favorite year of the GTO beautiful car you better take a lot of pictures because you won’t have this very long good luck at mecum can’t wait to see the 63 go through auction block

[@MrTexasDan]

Hey there Junior, I like your choice on the logo. I come here for the Corvettes, but I sure do love that GTO. Wow! Keep it coming! Dan

[@ChetThiele-oz5kk]

Had a 64 and 65 sure love to have that again bad ass cars

[@markweinberger4853]

Absolutely gorgeous, my favorite year GTO, a one only design that should have continued for a couple more years. I love the up-grades like the dual master cylinder brake system which didn't appear until 1967, and the 12 bolt Chevy differential and sway bar which wouldn't have been available in a 1965 GTO...Awesome.

[@frankhoffer3504]

I think that logo on that black shirt you showed at the beginning of the video is fantastic 👌 That GTO, BADASS, BEAUTIFUL WORKMANSHIP. BEST OF LUCK, KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK TCB

[@mrgauges9065]

Royal Bobcat’s pretty famous throughout the GTO community. I don’t think they always swapped the blocks or went all out. I think most cars got an aftermarket tuneup that added up to a few extra horses and some bobcat badges. Sometimes a special paint scheme on the hood

[@brucevincent9876]

GTO The godfather of muscle cars. Brainstorm of John Delorean. I have a friend that has 65 Royal bobcat from Jim Wagner's private collection. Awesome car. All original. Restored is great but they will only be original once. Now if you want to talk about a bad ass GTO, the man that ran the nitro FC I worked on in the late 70's had in 69, a GTO with the dealer installed RA V motor. He told me Nothing on the street could touch it! 427 Corvette, hemi cuda. Nothing. Long live the Pontiac GTO! I have 3. 2 65 hardtops and a 66 convertible that I've had since 1982!

[@andrer3854]

Yep produced by Royal Pontiac it is a holy grail of pontiacs. I had the pleasure to meet a pontiac personel who was on the design team years ago. He primarily did test engines and another pontiac that I found about was the "Swiss Cheese Catalina."

[@nickrice7535]

I grew up near Royal Pontiac and had/have a Gto now.

[@alanploetz7100]

As a teen, had a '64 Lemans I was never able to bring fully back to the life it deserved, but the '65 Goat with the headlights turned verticle has always been my favorite Poncho. The detail on this one is over the top. It's too much for someone who would want to put a few thousand miles a year on his car, but hard not to appreciate that deep, jewel-like chrome and the fastidious attention to every part and label. Just WOW! I can understand wanting to preserve a Royal Bobcat, but a restomod emulating the best of the Bobcat would be my choice.

[@mark63366]

Absolutely stunning.

[@donsmith3038]

Incredible build

[@badlyniceness2315]

Former owner of trip owner 65… I love that high ASS…no one has a rear body like a 65.

[@David-up7rv]

O YES THATS A REAL SPORTS CAR. WOW 👌 👏 😍 👍

[@fredfultz5849]

I'm your dad's age grew up in the muscle car Era and street raced in Indianapolis. I knew of the Royal Bobcat facility in Michigan. If you had one you we at the top of the heap with GTO's ! A 421 Bobcat was a bad ass and could hang with about anything on the street. I think your example in the shop you should keep so we can see it again ? Love your KZbin videos keep up the great work that you produce in your shop !

[@rogershelton1312]

It would have been nice to see the original Royal Pontiac Bobcat documents, there were different levels of the Royal Bobcat treatments. So I’m not sure if this is an actual documented Royal Bobcat or just a tribute car. The video talked about the level of detail on this restoration but the car does not appeal to have pinstripes, that was part of the GTO package.

[@budwilson2788]

I no the owner it's not a matching numbers car

[@seeharvester]

@@budwilson2788 Bummer. But I'd still take it!

[@edb3877]

The 1965 Pontiac GTO is my favorite muscle car of all time. The styling was impeccable, the engine very strong, and the sounds of that 389 or 421 taching up are amazing. This is a stunningly gorgeous car from every possible angle and VERY desirable.

[@scottteeselink6251]

Stunning example of a Pontiac muscle car!!

[@richard3536]

I’ve got a really , really good 65 GTO , but this one is supreme !

[@allantaylor3288]

AWESOME ❤

[@65gto32]

Jim Wangers was the man responsible for the Royal Bobcat treatment. He was tight with DeLorean. He was a fixture at countless GTOAA meets/conferences. This example is what we’d call a “modified Bobcat”. Neat car, excellent resto and thanks for posting. Cheers🍺

[@tbart765]

I had the opportunity to drive a 65 Royal Bobcat 421 GTO.. I was amazed at how docile It was at partial throttle and how It destroyed the tires when I stomped the gas pedal.

[@tonysteppan8495]

What a find! Quality vehicles are what you folks are about, no ands, ifs or butts! I couldn't add anything more then what's already been posted as to how cool that GTO is. Between the corvettes you build, and the new inventory you guys find, how could you choose? it's good to see your vett build side is packed. Lots to enjoy on future blogs. Junior, I know it's been all hands-on deck to prep for upcoming auction but when time permits the shop looks like it could use a tire rack per car. storage racks for parts per car, that could be moved as the car moved. If needed. I mean no insult to you. I couldn't produce a build that comes close to yours, so there must be a method to your process. Thanks for posting some truly COOL videos. os

[@glenchesnick6131]

Glen chesnick here I got my 66 GTO in 1971 it had no power steering full on 389 bored and stroked to a 421 with tri power 433 rear end gears you can't run 355 in a high proformance GTO it will not have enough torque power off the line I miss this car and those days in the 1970s it also had a 4 speed close ratio transmission those were the days and I do know a lot about the royal bobcats of that time. (

[@jameslahee3658]

The Logo is great

[@walterniklowicz9141]

Milt schornac was the guy that came up with the royal bobcat program at royal pontiac in royal oak Michigan.

[@raw720]

The unicorn of muscle cars!

[@mariozamprogno1654]

Oh by the way that 63 split window last of its kind is stunning

[@EliudCastro-kw8kl]

Beautiful

[@joejoe1196]

Beautiful

[@johnhelton4364]

Beautiful GTO Bobcat!!! I had a 1972 DeTomaso Pantera back in the 80’s... 351 Cleveland bored over 30 linked up to 5-speed ZF transaxle pulling 411 final drive gears.... built in Modena, Italy with full 6-point factory roll cage and European instrumentation... chassis #3624, faxed the factory and was informed it was built as a GR3 factory racer... lost it in a divorce. I miss muscle cars!!!

[@dave5833]

Personally I think the top or first one is the best.

[@jessymartinez2422]

I happy to see that there are other people that love GM Pontiac GTO is amazing restoration exactly build like Grave Yard cars restoration. I drove for 12 years a 400 4 Barrel QJet Pontiac Lemans an man that car always started right up an at open fullthrottle it sounded like a jet Race it burn rubber. I never had any problems with it man if I could of kept the car when I got married or put in a storage for later paint n vinyl top an a one quarter panel replace it would of been awesome .Sold it to Mexico person who crash it in Oxxo Store left the scene an got chase by Police an Military Soldiers who shot the whole car up for failure to stop Tried to get the car but Chassis was to far gone bent. Only the engine was good could not buy it the cost of damages to businesses was to expensive.

[@ScottSmith-lx5xb]

While in high-school in 1968 i purchased a beautiful like new 1966 Pontiac GTO from a TWA pilot. It was the 389 tripower with Hurst 4 speed and posi rear end. A gorgeous Black with factory red pin stripe and dark red oxblood interior. In excellent condition & showing no use I got a like new goat for $1800 in spring of 1968. I added exhaust headers, polyglass H-70 back & f-70s front on nice ET universal mag wheels. It came with factory rally wheels and stock tires that burned and smoked rubber too easy as not a racing type tire. My polyglass white letter H-70 rear rubber hooked up way more from a stoplight takeoff launch in first with positraction it laid down two black strips that blasted my goat to almost a car length jump racing a '69 super bee coronet. I raced and beat 1969 Mach 1 Mustangs. Several other GTOs and beat 455 Judge. Also Road Runners, nova ss, camaros and Chevells. Was beaten bad by my neighbors 1966 427 Corvette coupe.

[@petersdraggon]

Did it have the Bobcat badging? I didn't notice. Most were reworked 389's, keeping the original block. Maybe they did with this one, simply swapping parts to mKe it a 421.

[@a.k.a.A.E.]

perfekt work !!!

[@terryhightower7311]

GTO is off the chain wow

[@constantinegalofteanu6755]

Absolutely breathtaking gm muscle 💪 bar none bad ass way to to go on the whole super cool video and incredible treat to see that amazing piece of American classic muscle

[@twillyz9432]

Love to see a dyno on this badass .

[@mikeswartz3146]

It's like a gto shop finding the last split window Corvette. No your not over doing it. GTO are my favorites, but always had a soft sott for our still going American Supercar, all years.

[@FaithfulServant316]

2nd logo looks better. Beautiful collection of vehicles

[@bunk-bn9eo]

Royal Pontiac had the best ideas. A bunch of small upgrades to build it into a monster. Blueprinted - thinner head gaskets - rejet the carbs - recurve the distributer ..etc. All those things and a few other things went along way.

[@johndefelice9365]

Looks good!

[@duanemcdonald3895]

I love you. ❤️ ❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@kevinmanning4880]

That GTO is literally, "Muscle Car Royalty". To think in 1965, Ford had the Mustang, but not a full frame car. Dodge only had the Belvedere. Pontiac was way ahead of everyone else.

[@mrgto455]

It's a nice restoration no doubt BUT.....it's not all correct. Also, Royal had all kinds of packages to upgrade the cars. Bad part is they didn't keep records of VIN's they sold parts too and if you were lucky and they did the work the person kept the receipt of the work done to the car. No other way of knowing if the car had been "Bobcatted". It's a hell of a nice car though and with the way prices are these days it's probably in the neighborhood price wise.

[@zadmat5372]

great job you have. refurbishing classic cars for multi-millionaire car enthusiast's. the average income person can't buy or maintain these vehicles. so, have you asked jay leno if he wants the '65 pontiac gto?

[@M21L35]

Good luck on 'competing w/a COPO Camaro' w/a '65 GTO.....as COPO's didn't exist until 1969! However, I so do appreciate the GTO's optional splitters being mounted in the CORRECT manner!

[@buzzwaldron6195]

Nope, the splitters were in the rear wheel well behind the tires... replacements never got done right... unless you did it yourself...

[@peterhogan9537]

I love the Montaro red.

[@cnev3824]

shes a beauty im not sure but i think the chassis was changed in it because the frame was boxed gtos had boxed frames if they were convertibles , and frame boxing wasnt part of the royal bobcat package , so if the frame is original to the car it had to be ordered with the convertible frame making it a really rare goat

[@David-up7rv]

CAN YOU JUST THINK BACK DRIVEING IT TO SCHOOL, AN GOING TO THE DRIVEN MOVIE, FOOTBALL GAME AN THE DRIVEN MALT SHOP! MAN

[@oscarthomas9130]

Everybody knows GTO stands for Greater Than Others

[@scott1395]

Get Turned On

[@johnnywooten7199]

Royal Pontiac is talking about Ace Wilson's Royal Pontiac out of Michigan he was a super tuner dealer like Yahoo !

[@thomasroberts5658]

Never heard of a royal bobcat I run a 68 gto for 17 yrs all street racing still got my notebook of all the cars mens names and ph numbers of 316 street drags never got beat out of all those races most of those races was for money those were the days I bought it from my mail man original owner for 650.00 when I finally got rid of it I got 27500.00 for it boy I miss it

[@darynbrowning9984]

Spectacular Bobcat and rare automotive history. Royal was able to put out a few Ram Air V and Ram Air VI street Pontiacs.

[@dutchpeters7919]

I owned a 1964 GTO, which had a 421 cu inch engine, just like this one, but I had never heard of the "Royal Bobcat" until today. I bought my car used, in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1966, so it seems reasonable to me that it was one of the Royal Pontiac cars. I wish I had kept that car🙁. This is my first visit to your channel, and I have already subscribed.

[@houseofno]

I would like to see the other logos. First two look way too overdone. Thanks for the video. Great looking GTO. Look at the size of that trunk. You could rent out the trunk alone to a family of four. It's sad that current carmakers don't build ROLLING ARTWORK to this standard. This is a masterpiece of pure metal. Not an ounce of cheap plastic to be found on this car.

[@keiththompson7280]

Royal Bobcat from Royal Oak Michigan dealership, there was two basic tunes , but you could add more.

[@buzzwaldron6195]

Yeppers: i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Screenshot_20230807-232645.png

[@joequillun7790]

Didn't know Royal put 12 bolts, with a rear sway bar in their goats. But you're right, that car is "almost" perfect. (It's missin the Ram Air carb pan to hood.). I love the color combo. Wish it were mine. Thanx for posting.

[@davidsmith6308]

I like the Second pic for your logo

[@frankwolfe3181]

Put one of those logos on a T shirt and send it to me.

[@terryhightower7311]

what a nice shop you have amazing

[@gary9426]

Maybe the two best-looking cars of the '60s... the C2 and the GTOs!

[@johnwalenski1555]

That GTO is a fuckin work of art!!! dreamy-cakes!!!

[@mannfan12]

omg those paper thin tires

[@brucehanson7661]

Who did the build? Its awesome!

[@detroit19531]

Let's see what else do!

[@billfeld5883]

It was a terror on Woodward Ave. 😅😅😅😅😅

[@williamgreen4757]

Great intro music

[@davecarlson5624]

Let’s be true. First, Royal Pontiac sold a lot of pontiacs which did not get the bobcat treatment. Also never documented unless you had a receipt for the extra work, of which there are no records from Royal out there. Second, the Royal Bobcat package wasn’t anything odd. Simply recurved the distributor, rejetted the carbs, put manual linkage on the tripower, replaced the head gaskets with thinner gaskets. That’s it. Now a few, very few, and to the best of anyone’s knowledge there were less than 10 and those were sent out to magazines after the first article where a 4 barrel automatic car was tested and was a huge disappointment. That’s when all the rest of the tested GTOs were prepped by Royal, and the next car tested was a 421. Also while you can run a 421 crank in a 389 block, you have to take a half inch out of your main bearings on the crank to do it. The 421s had an extra casting hump by the distributor which made them obvious to anyone who ran pontiacs also. I could continue, but there is a lot that’s done to that car which is not correct for any GTO in 1965

[@seeharvester]

I'll take it!

[@wallyray9592]

Royal Bobcats are super cool, but Bill Knafel’s dealership won more races and held more records than Ace Wilson’s.

[@verndaley3471]

The absolute best way to enjoy a car is to drive it! Go enjoy your RARE GTO

[@outlawMrTuff]

sweet GTO!! my 65 GTO has a white and red stripe on the drive shaft and it is a 4 speed . white and yellow stripe is for the 3 speed.. cant remember the colors for the automatic white and purple i think.. so what does the blue stripe mean?

[@bigredc222]

What did it sell for? That's better than new.

[@williamgreen4757]

I need to see a complete walk around of the Volkswagen Super Beatle.

[@paulkica4129]

Well done 👏 now find me a 1969 Gran Prix 429 4speed Royal Bobcat package 😂😂😊

[@buzzwaldron6195]

428? i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Screenshot_20230807-232645.png

[@stevenjacobson8177]

Who did this restoration?

[@RBOJCK]

I bought a 64 GTO Coupe, 4 spd 3x2 orig. 389. 3:55 posi. It is a legit Royal Bobcat as I have the paper work from Royal when I bought car from orig. owner back in 1977. Royal Bobcat kits were all diff. It all depend on how much u had to spend. They did swap out the 389 for a 421 short block. used the 716 heads, thinner head gaskets, rocker locks, bigger jets in the carbs, etc. Only a few guys could afford that. Car should have a royal equipped sticker on both sail panels behind rear windows. Most guys though didnt advertise that on the street. Lots of GTO's are claimed to be Royal equipped but with out paper work or proof of some kind its doubt full. If u have paperwork thats great show it, otherwise its all just talk. Mine is blk/white interior. I raced it around Detroit. Only car that could beat me was a 69 road runner with the 440 in it. who ever got the drop at the light won. Hemi cars were no prob as they ran like shit on the street. Corvettes too. Ran it at Detroit drag way also. it is a very rare coupe with the heavy duty frame option, which means it was built with the stiffer convt. frame. PHS has verified it. your car looks great but a sticker doesnt make it a Royal Bobcat.

[@EricScott-jr8wl]

Royal Pontiac Bobcat was the only hot rod dealership in USA. Read some old Car n Drivers...

[@williamglee5113]

How much are you asking for the 65 GTO

[@walterlinney9321]

The first one.

[@rickgentry7272]

BAD ASS CAR I HAVE A 65 CLONE POST CAR WHITE THIS CAR IS A VERY HARD TO FIND CAR MUCH LIKE A 69 COPO CAMARO

[@rickdimsey5459]

So how much did the GTO sell for?

[@ronaldolweiler7745]

My wife had one, same color combination, same power options , except hers had dealer installed air conditioning, factory reverb on the radio . It was on a used car lot ! In 1978 . We paid 1500.oo for it and owned it until the year 2000. Lol she just thought it was pretty and ask if we could afford it. Lol

[@1beatles]

Hi can anyone please tell me what type of oil I use for a 1965 GTO straight 6? I can't find my manuel.. thanx in advance ❤😊 Ps that Bobcat is everything 🥰