Car brings in $400,000

A gold-colored, 1965 Pontiac GeeTO Tiger, billed as one of the most famous muscle cars of all time, sold for $400,000 Saturday during an auction in St. Charles.

The car was driven up to the auction podium by 81-year-old Jim Wangers, whose marketing savvy helped make best-sellers out of high performance cars of the early 1960s.

Wangers, a Chicago native who now lives in California, said he didn't come up with the term "muscle car," but it was first used when he was at the helm of Pontiac's ad campaign.

"I can't take the credit," Wangers said. "It came out of the ad copy. But the more we used it, the more we liked it,

"In the early 1960s, the guys at Pontiac took a big, 389 cubic-inch engine and put it into smaller cars, like the Tempest," he explained. "By doing that, they created an incredible high-performance car that became known as the muscle car. The GTO was the last of them."

The 1965 model that was sold Saturday during the St. Charles High Performance Auction is famed for its history.

The car, which has had only a handful of owners, was given away as a prize in a contest that attracted more than 250,000 entries. The contest was based on a 45 rpm record -- called "GeeTO Tiger" -- recorded by the group the Tigers.

Wangers said the popularity of the original muscle cars was helped by a maturing baby-boomer generation. Many people attending Saturday's auction are part of that generation.

"I think the average age of people here is probably about 50," said Jim Sarallo of North Barrington, himself a baby boomer.

"People come for the entertainment, and because they like cars," Sarallo said. "There are a lot of vintage cars here we couldn't afford when we were growing up. It's nostalgia."

Glen Kellmann of Rockford says he came "to see what the market is like."

"From what I can tell, it's down," Kellmann said. "I have a 1967 Dodge Coronet RT convertible to sell."

The St. Charles High Performance Auction features more than 800 classic cars noted for performance and design. It continues from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today at the Mega Center at Pheasant Run, 4501 E. Main St.

For information, visit www.mecumauction.com or call (815) 568-8888.