Madison Meadow is a two acre undeveloped open space two blocks down the street from us on West 22nd. Ave. I have some considerable personal history with it, as I bought it on behalf of a group of neighbors who wanted to preserve it from a prospective dense development. I held it for two years while the group incorporated into a non-profit and raised the money to buy it from me, at no profit, of course. Deed restrictions I placed on the property mean that it can never be developed. Some more history is here, although my role is notably absent, as my relationship with the group turned rather acrimonious, but the end result was achieved.
Anyway, as I drive by it frequently, one day I noticed this customized GTO being attended to by someone. It went on all day. And then again the next day, so I stopped to inquire.
This is clearly not a stock GTO, with a blower now crowning its V8. And it’s also a very immaculate engine compartment. I noticed that the issues were (not surprisingly) electronic, as the owner was using at least two different electronic tools to diagnose it. Apparently there is anti-theft device function that disables the starter, and that was now in full force and not wanted. Something had thrown that device into that mode, and getting it to undo was not happening.
There’s one of the diagnostic tools he was using, on the far cylinder bank. What a change from decades past, when a supercharged hot car was very likely to have various mechanical issues. Not this GTO.
The owner was giving up after two days of his ministrations to the errant electrons, and the flatbed truck was now on its way.
The open engine compartment in front of the open space. One simple; the other complicated.
My relationship to the property is not totally severed, as I still own two small lots on the north-east corner, which the seller insisted upon, as he was interested in possibly buying back the old farmhouse there, after I renovated it. But it turned out to be too far gone, as the roof had been leaking for over a decade, and in 2011 I tore it down. This shot from 2010 is before that decision was finally made.
here’s how it looks now. I had to get a building permit for house on the rear lot (what looks like one lot is divided in the middle, from left to right), as the codes changed a few years back restricting what can be built on an alley access lot. I put up a For Sale sign last summer, but my asking price was apparently a bit ahead of the market then. But I’m going to have to do something about it before long. Am I up to building another house? Preferably not.
How’s that for digressing. GTO? What GTO?
I always liked this gto. I drove a couple and that are wonderfully comfortable. Not hard to get in and out of like a camaro and much more refined.
So you dropped a pretty penny on all those mods but didn’t fix the hood struts? (As evidenced by the prop rod to hold up the hood.) 😉
Don’t worry guys, this old Hot Rodder understands.
Came for the car, stayed for the real estate shenanigans. 🙂
+1, 🙂
I had the same problem with my VW once, but I opened the points up a bit and it was fine after that. Looks like this GTO has a bit more than 40hp though..
A bar’s give-a-way matchbook cover made for a darn fine, dead-on-the-side-of-the-road gapping tool for a V-Dub’s points.
Please don’t ask me how I know this.
Nothing New For a GTO of any year.
🙂
A little harsh but pretty common for people to spend big bucks on accessories and go-fast items but not fix original parts like the gas strut for the hood in this case.
I see many bombed-out cars with wheels and tires that are worth more than the car, and likely too is a loud stereo. Of course the loud music may be to mask all the bad noises the car is making!
It’s nice to see another 1st gen Pacifica cruising around. I see a fair number here in metro Detroit, despite the tons of salt applied every winter.
It’s too bad that GM couldn’t put more distinctive fascias and maybe a little different sheet metal on the GTO, it is pretty bland. They did the same thing for the SS which no one even notices. Yes I know a few people like sleepers but most people buy on attention, hence the number of BMWs and M-Bs sold.
Just Kidding, Just Joshing.
I trash all car makes & models; at one time or another.
I have no loyalty.
Maybe the owner can’t get new struts anymore. Or maybe all that’s left are NOS struts which relieve the purchaser of a bunch of money, but are just as old as what was in the car and last only a couple of weeks. Or maybe this is a replacement fiberglass hood, which would need (if still available) different struts than a steel hood.
Just speaking from experience…
That’s what I think as well, it clearly is a non-factory hood. Closing a lighter weight fiberglass hood on factory struts is a pain, and sometimes can rip off the mounts. Common practice on some cars is to scavenge a pair of worn out ones at a junkyard, but that’s probably not a viable option with a car as rare as this.
An anti-theft device that the car’s owner cannot get around in two days of trying? That’s one impressive anti-theft device. 🙂
Sounds like it is the factory immobiliser. I dare say that trying to figure out what is wrong with a very complex electronic system that _should_ be working is not simple!
I like these Goats. My son had one a few years ago. He modded it, but not like this one! His was limited to intake and exhaust work and a tune.
Can’t say I’m a fan of this ones paint job though.
The tale of today’s GTO is why I resist modding cars nowadays.
Paul, I ended up detouring to the Madison Meadow link, which taught me plenty about somewhere I’ve never been. “Location” seems to be everything, with two unspoiled acres a precious and expensive thing in your neighborhood, but vast areas of the U.S. wide-open and vacant.
M.M. sounds like something to ask you about at a meet-up sometime, though I’ll understand if you’d not dwell on its downsides…still, an admirable and neighborly gesture .
Get that car over to Earl Scheib or Maaco and give it a proper paint job.
Good strory!
Normally I’m an each-to-their-own kind of guy with regards someone else’s car, but that stripe job couldn’t be any more execrable.
As a slight aside (and apropos of your acrimony), there’s a thing over here in oz for people buying our increasingly expensive land in groups of friends, then building multiple dwellings on the property. While it might make sense now, seems like a heap of trouble down the track.
That is a recipe for…future lawsuits. Unless they subdivide the land first before they build their houses.
I don’t see how you could readily do that here. certainly not in the city, where lots are for single homes only. In the country, our building regulations in Oregon are very restrictive, and you also can’t build multiple houses, even on a giant ranch. Probably easier in other states, perhaps. But the obvious thing would be to subdivide the land first into individual lots for each house. That’s doable in most states for rural land, but not in Oregon, as we have the country’s most comprehensive and restricted land use laws.
In fact, that’s exactly why Rajneeshpuram fell apart. it runs out that the Rajneeshes picked the one worst state in the country to do what they had in mind: build a commune/city on a huge ranch out in the high desert. That turned out to be a major no-no in terms of Oregon’s 1971 land-use law, and started the whole legal process against them which then made them become aggressive and even violent.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajneeshpuram
Did you happen to see the miniseries on the subject, Wild Wild Country? Excellent.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Wild_Country
Yeah you can’t build multiple dwellings on a single parcel in WA. in cases where it is zoned for multi family you must have more than one until per building in most instances. Now you can get away with sharing a contiguous roof but no shared walls and call it a duplex, in some jurisdictions. I have seen places allow cottage houses in multi family zones. Also in many area when they do allow an ADU in a single family zone one of the units must always be occupied by an owner.
I haven’t looked too closely into, but I think it’s people buying outside the metro area. Not sure whether they’re subdividing or retaining single title.
I just drove through Antelope yesterday! The cafe, the school and the old houses are just like they were during the Raj years. According to the nice ice cream shop lady in nearby Shaniko, the population is down to 12.
They would have to subdivide, otherwise what do you own? And assuming there is some common property eg a driveway or stairwell and hallway they would need to form an owners’ corporation for maintenance and insurance.
Of course if they are not doing things legally, anything is possible, especially in a hilly rural area out of sight.
A friend and I looked into buying a little industrial unit, talking to and advisor the first question was “are you friends?”, the second “do you want to stay friends?”. Nothing sinister implied, but if one party has to sell up for some reason, Murphy’s law says it will be at the worst time for the other.
Good immobilizer, some are just a bit too clever, I had to remove the immobilizer from my Xsara when it shut the car down completely fortunately it only acted on the fuel supply being a mechanical injection diesel but it involved removing the injector pump and cutting the anti tamper armour off it to remove the offending device, not something to attempt roadside. Including research I spent two days doing it.
I was happy to discover my base ’04 Titan came without immobilizer and key replacements are $2.00.
My sentiments when reading this post.