A Real Muscle Car Enthusiast - Restored His Dream Car first And Then Got Married.

July 30, 2006
By Kenn Peters

Can you imagine knowing when you were 21 that a certain muscle car was what you wanted, and once you got it, you were going to hold onto it, maybe forever?

Such is the case with Jeff Fortuno, of Eastwood, who owns a 1966 Pontiac GTO, a classic among muscle cars. Fortuno has owned the car for 16 years and says he can't imagine having to part with it.

Even though he was 21 at the time, Fortuno didn't rush into his purchase with youthful enthusiasm. He carefully looked at GTOs from Niagara Falls to Albany, focusing on the '65, '66 and '67 models.

His first choice was the '66, if it had the optional louvered taillights, a rare and often overlooked option, he said. "I spent a couple of years looking at cars, and the funny thing is, I found this car in Kirkville," he said.

Fortuno didn't want to waste any time, so he got the GTO into a shop. It was stripped, because the paint was cracked and in generally poor condition. When the car was down to bare metal, it became apparent that the left front fender had been replaced with a 1967 fender, so it was removed and a new 1966 fender was bolted into place. The outer skin on the doors was replaced.

The trunk lid was beat, so a new one was located and fitted.The Pontiac had a vinyl roof, but that was removed and a lot of the chrome was replaced. The exterior was brought back to its original black luster with coats of primer, finish and clear.

The car looks as good as it did in 1990, and the paint job is 16 years old. It was nearly a year from the time the car rolled into the shop until it was driven out, but it was time well spent, he said.

Fortuno recalled he and a group of friends decided they were going to get collector cars and restore them to perfection, but as luck would have it, he was the only one who followed through. "The other guys got married, and the cars became low priority, he said. "Me, I got my car and did the work, and then I got married and started a family," Fortuno said. He has children, 4 and 7, who all love to go in the car.

Long-Term Commitment

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