Ever take the bait and regret opening your mouth?

Oh man, I really did it this time.

Earlier today, I saw that someone posted an old Pontiac on one of those local Facebook yard sale pages. So, I click on it. They had a 1965 Tempest post sedan with 4 doors for a reasonable $1700. But they were adamant that it was a GTO. It had a GTO hood and a GTO badge up front, but as we all know, Pontiac never produced a 4-door GTO. Making a "GTO" wagon or sedan clone or "what if" project has always been high on my list, but passing it off as a real one? Seriously?

I felt a moment of weakness and had to comment, because others that said that there was no such thing as a 4-door GTO were getting killed by the lady selling it. Particularly, the lady was attacking naysayers, and claiming it was in fact a real GTO because her husband said so.

I explained that they never made a 4-door GTO and it was likely a Tempest or even a Lemans, and I said that if they really think they had one, they should get a Pontiac Historic Services package to confirm it. I explained that the car was cool, and that I would love to but the thing if I had the cash, but to stop trying to pass it off as something it wasn't.

Bad idea.

The lady went off on me, saying she had "paperwork", so I explained that having a MA Title for it does not prove provenance. And it doesn't... my last WRX was titled as a white 2009 WRX sedan, and it was actually a silver 5-door. Title proves ownership, not model history. I also explained that I was not trying to call them liars or dishonest, and to understand what exactly they had before they start attacking people who point out their error.

Then the husband, the owner, chimed in. He told me that I had no clue what I was talking about, and that the car is an original 1965 post sedan GTO, one of 9000 built with a factory 326 with the tri-power 3-2bbl setup.

At that point I just had to walk away.

I have no idea why I even bothered, but I couldn't keep my stupid mouth shut while misinformation was being spread.

Sorry, had to vent.

99.999% of the people in this world have no interest in learning anything that doesn't fit into their world view.

The other .001% are on here.

On the plus side, you were able to vent on a forum where, 95% of the time, explaining to someone why they're wrong results in that person sincerely thanking you.

And you bothered because you were trying to add truth, hold back entropy, and generally improve civilization. Everybody should try to do that a couple of times every day, because apparently there's a lot of carbon-based life forms out there who can't manage it to save their miserable lives.

Toyman types faster than I do. His numbers may be better too.

Every time I take the bait I regret it, regardless of the subject. I've had people tell me I'm wrong about the law because "a guy I was in jail with" told them something else. Yep, the mope who got popped for shoplifting knows more about the law than someone who's been practicing for a decade and a half. No doubt their source was the used car salesman who sold them the gen-u-wine GTO.

People have no interest in being correct anymore, only in being "right".

GTO Sedan

Don't let this buttwad dissuade you from your dream. A 4-Door GTO would be cool, and the link has proof.

I ask myself that question every time I foolishly involve myself in politics.

Had a guy swear up and down that our '65 Catalina parts chaser at work should have "One of them rubber bumpers you can whack with a hammer!" because his '65 had one.

Pontiac didn't use Endura bumpers until the 1970's.

There's no helping some people.

My favourite is when they ask me if it has a "Pontiac Big Block" in it.

Now you know why the 3/4 race cam sells so well.

Robbie wrote: Now you know why the 3/4 race cam sells so well.

Most people just buy an RV cam these days..

So the Pontiac version of slapping an SS grill on everything?

I woke up this morning and decided to look at the post again. About 5 more people chimed in and told these delusional people that they never, ever made a 4-door GTO. All of them got the same response: "Lmfaoooooo actually it is a GTO we have paperwork get out of my thread thanks".

I also have a ton of "likes" on my original post which goes into extreme detail on each and every iteration of the GTO and how they never made the car, ever.

Trans_Maro wrote: Pontiac didn't use Endura bumpers until the 1970's. There's no helping some people. My favourite is when they ask me if it has a "Pontiac Big Block" in it.

I thought the 68 GTO used the endura bumper.

BTW on Barrett Jackson this weekend, Steve Magnante said someone needed to put a big block in the place of a 350 in an Olds or Pontiac. Chris prettyboy said Porsche put the 928 engine in the 924 when VW stopped making the 4 cylinder engine.

Happens to me all the time on this site.

^^^^ what he said

vvvv BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAa no

I also find that most people struggle with how right I am all the time.

spitfirebill wrote:

Trans_Maro wrote: Pontiac didn't use Endura bumpers until the 1970's. There's no helping some people. My favourite is when they ask me if it has a "Pontiac Big Block" in it.

I thought the 68 GTO used the endura bumper.

Correct. The Endura bumper was first offered on the 1968 models. There is a commercial where John Delorean wails on one with a sledgehammer. The Firebird/Trans Am got it in 1970 with the debut of the 2nd gen cars.

And on the Pontiac Big Block thing... that always drives me insane too. There are small journal Pontiacs and large journal Pontiacs, not counting the 265/301 turds.

326/350/389/400 = 3.00" main journal

421/428/455 = 3.25" main journal

With some machine work, you can put a large journal crank in a small journal 400 to build a stroker. I always wanted to build a 474ci stroker for my Trans Am. The benefits of doing this to a 400 block include a stronger block and less cost, as the 421/428/455 blocks are scarce and cost a ton now.

Here's a website from the dawn of the internet that has the details on how to do it: http://www.pontiacpower.com/FreeEngine3.htm

lrrs wrote: Not to worry, the 95 subie legacy that I bought for the ej22 had a Porsche engine acording to the owners, I bit my tounge, I could tell, at the time they where Hillary supporters, b4 Bernie announced, I am sure are now supporting him, as they where 60/70s hippies that never grew out of it (no offense ment as long as you are not voting for Bernie), I bit my tounge.

Flounder. Many here have voted for Bernie and given money to his campaign.

And this is exactly why I don't bother with Facebook anymore, it's become nothing more than a soapbox for idiots.

As usual, there's an XKCD for this.

In reply to Adrian_Thompson:

lrrs wrote: Not to worry. The 95 Subie Legacy that I bought for the ej22 had a Porsche engine according to the owners. I bit my tongue. I could tell, at the time they were Hillary supporters, before Bernie announced. I am sure they are now supporting him, as they were 60/70s hippies that never grew out of it (no offense meant as long as you are not voting for Bernie.) I bit my tongue.

Nice Flounder at that.

Midsize Pontiacs got the Endura bumpers in '68 but I don't think it hit the larger cars until '69. I could be wrong about that. Didn't hit the small cars until '70.

SilverFleet wrote: Then the husband, the owner, chimed in. He told me that I had no clue what I was talking about, and that the car is an original 1965 post sedan GTO, one of 9000 built with a factory 326 with the tri-power 3-2bbl setup.

Nyuk nyuk nyuk. I've been in the old Pontiac hobby for 40 years, and that's one I haven't heard before.

I pretty much never tell anyone anything in real life unless they specifically ask. And even then I'll mostly just say I don't know because it's obvious they want a specific answer that is not the one I was going to give them. I think the final nail in the coffin was when I told a coworker they had a flat tire and they said "FU stalker!!".

I'm a little looser on the internet (not facebook though), especially If I can delete my message later if I decide I don't want it out there.