Getting a proper color match is as much art as it is science. To ensure the shade of Tyrol Blue was exact, Michael Mancini not only had the paint
matched to several areas on the car, but he then laid that color over the same shade of red oxide primer the Baltimore assembly plant had used
originally. “Presto! The color was exact,” he says. “It has a bit of a flop to it and looks brighter or darker in different light. This is something I’ve not
seen on any other Tyrol Blue GTO I’ve looked at.”
25-YEAR RESTO
18 SEPTEMBER 2019
AT A GLANCE
196 7 PONTIAC GTO
Owned by: Michael Mancini
Restored by: Owner; American Muscle Car Res-
torations and Instrument Specialties, both in N.
Kingstown, RI
Engine: 400ci/360hp Ram Air V-8
Transmission: TH400 3-speed automatic with
Hurst Dual-Gate shifter
Rearend: 4.33 gears with Safe-T-Track
Interior: Black vinyl bucket seat
Wheels: 15-inch Cragar S/S Sparkler
Tires: E60-15 front, G60-15 rear Goodyear Poly-
glas GT
Special parts: Extensive use of N.O.S. and day-
two parts (see sidebar)“I was the only kid in the fifth grade reading the
Ames Performance
catalog”
The day-two equipment Mancini added to the engine included vintage Cal Custom chrome-
plated aluminum finned valve covers, a vintage (and N.O.S.) Mallory Double-Life Dual point dis-
tributor, and Packard SS550 solid-core Burn-Proof spark plug wires with Rajah terminals. The GTO’s 400ci Ram
Air engine was built to
exact factory Ram Air
specs and blueprinted
to NHRA tolerances
throughout. The cyl-
inder heads and carb
were done to exact
Royal Bobcat specs
by the original Royal
mechanic, Milt
Schornack. Even the
TH400 transmission
was rebuilt with correct
Ram Air internals, not
generic parts.Fascinated
During my early research, I became fas-
cinated by the tricks of the day that I was
reading about in my vintage magazines. I
especially liked those in Hi-Performance
CARS magazine. I even tracked down an
original Royal Bobcat catalog that had all
the details of the performance goodies of-
fered back then.
I became an expert in Royal Bobcat
mods, parts, and so on. I researched the
part numbers they used, and searched the
country to obtain the N.O.S. parts needed.
I learned of a mechanic that was the big
wheel at Royal Pontiac, Milt Schornack.
I looked him up and wrote to him. After
quite a few exchanges, I made arrange-
ments to send him the GTO’s cylinder
heads, carburetor, and distributor for the
complete Royal Bobcat treatment, true tothe original mods of the day back in 1967.
As I saved money, I purchased parts
needed for the very special restoration I
envisioned for the GTO. It was a slow pace,
but I was always working towards the goal