1966 PONTIAC LEMANS 2 DOORS WAGON PHANTOM CUSTOM

This is a story about Virgile from Belgium, a 34 year old who is crazy about cars, who bought one of the most unique mopar muscle cars ever made.

One day in 2014 I bought a nice 1966 LeMans that needed restoration. Nothing crazy. This car was sold new in Belgium thus with a special vin number. But I had no time and space at that time, so it just had to wait for me.

Then one day in 2018, an ad popped up locally with a 1966 GTO, sold new in Belgium too, 389 tri power 4 speed. Oh lord! All the good stuff. The bad, it had been converted to be a hearse in the 70's. It was ROUGH as hell! It had been left outside for more than a decade and you could see through the roof.

So of course, I bought it.

The original plan was to use the LeMans Body, to restore the GTO back to original.
So I gathered all the good parts on one side, and all the bad parts on the other.
I was ready to put sell all the parts I wasn't going to use (Lemans drivetrain with hearse body and Lemans title/paperwork) but I kind of felt this car had something. It had something that made it impossible for me to sell.

I did always love the 2 door wagons and I kind of knew a bit how to do stuff with metal.

And then the vision came. I knew what I wanted to do with this car.

From day 1 the goal was to make a car that people who are die hard Mopar lovers, would beleive it is a factory car. Make it look as OEM as possible. Get inside the head of the 60's designers.

This was a first for me. Eventhough I had never drew or make a car design before, I drew it out. It took several weeks to figure out exactly the right lines. With such an overhang on the back, it was tough.
Sober, with smooth flowing lines. Nothing too daring, but including visual elements like the recessed rear window that would also remind of the coupe. And since I'm from Europe, add a bit of an European shooting brake flavor to it, with a dropping roofline. I made a Phantom.

For the next 5 years, I pursued that vision. Like Rich, I got filthy!
I started with the usual rust repair, then to the drivetrain rebuilt. I scraped all of the existing roof from the hearse, to building the new roof and not liking it, then starting all over again, then building the liftgate and all interior parts, the trims... I also prepped and painted it myself. I did the final interior myself. All the electrical, ........


Cheers from Belgium.
To everyone in the world reading this: you are welcome to come and see the car.