SPACE RACE – FRANK FALZON 1966 PONTIAC GTO
The GTO released in 1964 was a score for Pontiac, considered by the majority of enthusiasts to be the car that kick-started the muscle car wars of the mid to late 1960s. Until that time, the big three had only offered their largest power plants in full-size models or factory-prepped racers, so close to 400 cubes in a mid-size sedan was definitely something new. Initially only available as a performance add-on to the Tempest Lemans throughout 1964 and 1965, Pontiac soon realised the potential and offered the GTO as a stand-alone model in 1966, complete with a potent 389 V8 and styling that still suited a modest budget, and it was a hit, especially with the American youth.
Another product of the 1960s is Frank Falzon. Whilst the Pontiac GTO didn’t play a role in Frank’s early years, he was nonetheless immersed in cars, either Aussie muscle cars or his father’s modest collection of Mazdas. “He was a DIY guy,” says Frank, crediting him with some of his automotive know-how today.
Frank soon developed an interest in American cars, sliding behind the wheel of a ’68 Camaro convertible and then selling it to go backpacking through Europe and the USA. Still at home he had waiting for him a 1974 Pontiac Firebird Formula in need of restoration, hence bought back with him a bunch of parts. A rebuild ensued and it hit the road in 1987. He still has the car today.
By now, Frank had a wife, Danielle, and three rug rats, and a Chevy Bel Air sedan was the family haulier.
“We had a ’65 Chevy which was my everyday car for 7 years,” he sighs, admitting that it was too big anyway. “We wanted something to replace it, but something that the kids could fit into a lot easier than the Firebird.”
With only two doors and slightly more compact than a full-size Chevy, Frank figured a GTO would be a good choice, and the big hips and coke bottle shape of the ’66 model really appealed to him. He also had a hankering to restore another muscle car.
“I put out the call to everybody to look for a GTO for me, we had a bunch of different options, this one was sitting in a back yard, a real doer upper. It took about six phone calls to track it down, I got a brief description over the phone and bought it sight unseen.”
Of course that was over 12 years ago, in the days before you could take a photo with your phone and send it to someone!
“We actually pulled it out with another ’66 GTO,” Frank continues. The ‘other’ GTO also belonged to the seller; it was the one he had originally tried to sell Frank. “He wanted 12k for the good one, it was a real nice car.”
What Frank got for a fraction of that price was a RHD ’66 GTO, a factory auto with a junk 350 Buick motor in the engine bay, no hood or front bar, but in general, not a bad thing. “I threw that motor away. I looked for a 389 for it but couldn’t find one.”
Frank threw himself straight into what he thought would have been a two-year project that ultimately ballooned to 11 years!
“That’s not exaggerating! Because I could only work on it on the weekends and any holidays, plus I did a lot of the work and didn’t farm out, I just had to find the time. It did take a while, but we weren’t in a big rush because we had a car to drive,” he reasons, referring to the Firebird.
Stripped to a shell, the body was lifted and in time Frank tackled almost all of the mechanical and body work himself, farming out only the engine machining, partial trim and final paintwork.
The GTO’s are a full chassis car which means they can handle a decent amount of power without major mods, although Frank did partially box the frame for some added insurance.
Failing to locate a period-correct 389 motor, he found the next best thing in the form of a 400 Pontiac. “It came out of a ’75 Trans Am; the guy was pulling it out to put a Chev in it; I was really lucky.”
A Pontiac GTO with a 400 on board certainly has street cred, but Frank decided to up the ante and placed an order with Butler Performance in the USA for one of their stroker kits, which stretches the stock block out to over 460 cubes! Westend Performance in Campbelltown got the nod to machine the tired block and heads before Frank assembled the engine with the high performance rotating assembly, mildly worked heads and a new tri-power setup.
Whilst the hardtop was a factory auto, Frank scored a Doug Nash five speed gearbox from a fellow Camaro/Firebird Club member. The box is unusual in that fifth gear is 1:1 ratio, meaning a very low first gear which gives the impression of lower diff gears. With the current 3.0:1 gears now, Frank reckons it’s like running 4.56s.
Purists may not appreciate the Ford nine inch rear but the original GM 8.2” 10 bolt diff would never have survived, and was all wrong for the engine/gearbox combination anyway.
“It had 3.5:1 gears, you’d go a car length and be looking for another gear. Plus, they’re very, very weak; with the manual gearbox, it was never going to last long.”
Suspension, brakes and steering were a breeze, in fact in some cases components are the same as HQ Holden, or is that the other way around! Firewall mounted brake booster and master cylinder are XB Falcon, whilst the Wilwood slave cylinder for the clutch is mounted beneath the dash. A power steering box from an 80s Camaro was included for snappier turns, Frank reports it’s a vast improvement with about three turns lock to lock now.
I couldn’t help but be impressed by Frank’s admission that he drove the car in primer for a couple of years before applying the final paint; remember when people did that? When the time came, Frank Fudaanother Camaro/Firebird Club memberat Fuda Bros completed the job in a two-pack Debeers Candy Pearl reminiscent of the factory Burgundy hue but with extra zing. “The colour was chosen by the three girls. Thanks to Autolac for mixing the colours,” adds Frank.
DA Motor Trimming restored the bucket seats, aside from fresh door cards, carpet and headliner, the remainder of the black vinyl interior is original. Frank found a plaque that said ‘Ray Morris Motors’ completed the RHD conversion in the 1960s, but by now, the dash fascia was ‘a piece of crap’ in Frank’s terms. They re-laminated it, finishing off with half a dozen coats of lacquer. The Grant wood grain steering wheel seems right at home, and so as not to clutter the sixties cockpit, the stereo and Vintage Air Gen-II AC controls are hiding in the glove compartment.
So wot-il-it-do?
“I haven’t given it everything in first-second-third yet. I haven’t had the opportunity, plus it’s too new. That shifter is an old-style shifter, and you know what they’re like with the linkages. From what I can feel, it’ll go pretty hard. If you’re going up a freeway ramp, by the time you get into third, you’ve caught up to the traffic and are going past it.”
We mentioned Frank’s club before, the Camaro-Firebird Owners Club of Australia, of which Frank has been President for the last ten years or so. “It’s a good club, no bickering, and it works,” comments Frank. Equally active is wife Danielle, whilst their son Karl owns a 10 second Mazda RX-7, and twin daughters Brittany and Jade have promised to pay off the now affordable 1995 V6 Camaro waiting in the wings! “What a great car for a young person,” Frank reasons.
“The two girls were really great,” he continues, “even before the first show we took it to, they were elbow deep in POR15 because we’d just got it back from the painter, and we had to assemble it all and touch it up. We came home with a trophy; I got them to go up and collect it; I was that proud of them.”
While Frank displayed the car at Custom Auto Expo and Meguiars MotorEx last year, that was pretty much for fun, and the street is where it belongs. “It’s not got 200k worth of polish and supercharger, but it’s got something about it that people like, and that’s good to me because that’s how I like to build cars. I like a little bit of alloy and black hoses.”
Proving that family matters, Frank happily admits that Danielle and the kids have been a huge influence in the build and that without them, he could not have completed the car. Considering the 11-year time frame for this build, he won’t be embarking on another anytime soon!
