The Official GTO Purchase Story
The latest red-letter date (no, not November 5, 1955) in the history of my garage has been reached, and I’m now the owner of a new Pontiac GTO. I touched on it briefly the other day after I got home from the big adventure, but such momentous occasions deserve a more in-depth account, and so here it is.
So it was Thursday the 12th that I received official word from the Pontiac dealer in Orlando, FL that the GTO I ordered in August had arrived. Not wanting to delay any longer than necessary, I decided to drive up the next day, check out the car and sign for it. So on Friday I got up early, put some materials together and went to get a haircut. Uh, no, the haircut had nothing to do with the GTO at all. I already had an appointment, and it was early enough that I could still make it, so I went. After that was done, I came back home and changed into my official apparel for the day: the red 6.0 Litre GTO polo shirt that Apple got me for Christmas. Now I was ready for this.
Right around this time I realized it was Friday the 13th, which provided the possibility of an interesting omen. I’m not the superstitious type, so I chalked it up to irony. As far as the thirteenth day of the month goes, however, I have had some pretty good ones. In fact, it was exactly eight years ago — January the 13th, 1998 — that my dad and I went to the Detroit auto show together and I got my first look at the black Trans Am WS6 that would, five months later, become my first V8 muscle car. So there’s at least one cool tie-in to this whole saga.
Before Apple and I headed out, I talked to the dealer some more re: financing. I had wanted to get a more firm idea of the APR they were going to be able to offer me, so I had them run a credit app over the phone. It only took them about twenty minutes to come back with some figures, but they seemed a little on the high side. Guess what happened was that they got me prequalified, but couldn’t nail down an interest rate until I actually committed to the car. Okay, well, I had done my own research, was aware of my credit rating, and knew what kind of payments I would accept and what kind I would not. So we decided to get in the car and head for Orlando, and let the rest iron itself out.
Proud New Owner
I am now, officially, a 2006 GTO owner. Even though the car is not here in my garage yet, it now belongs to me! (Well, and Bank of America.) After a painfully long five months of waiting, today Apple and I drove up to Orlando and signed the paperwork on GTO order number JGTPG6. The car was beautiful, stunning actually, and it drove, handled, and felt like a dream. My time with it was sadly limited, and the weather was only partially cooperative, and the traffic…oh sweet Jesus, the traffic. But all complaints aside, it was a great day, and one that I will never forget. I want to thank Apple in particular for sticking by me today and putting up with the whole ordeal, right down to when we finally got home at 12:30 in the morning!
I’ll soon post a full account of the events this weekend, complete with pictures. But in the meantime, here’s just one photo that I’ll leave you with. It is, shall we say, proof enough.
