Makes › Pontiac › GTO › Second generation › GTO Royal Bobcat · Specialist manufacturer · 1968
Pontiac
GTO Royal Bobcat
Royal Pontiac (Royal Oak, Michigan) Bobcat package on new GTOs
Still being researched: full specifications. Everything shown is checked against the cited sources. Know more? Send us a source.
Photo: Mustang Joe · CC0 1.0
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Contents
01Overview
At a glance
- Built
- Not yet verified
- Years
- 1968
- Engine
- Pontiac 428 V8 taken from a full-size Pontiac (Bonneville) in a GTO · 7,010 cc / 7.0 LFactory: 428 cu in · converted
- Power
- 317 kW / 431 PSFactory: 425 hp · converted
- Top speed
- Not yet verified
- Body
- Not yet verified
- Designer
- Royal Pontiac (Milt Schornack and Dave Warren)
- In this archive
- Not yet verified
- Surviving
- Not yet verified
Sources and any conflicting figures are in the sections below.
Why it matters
The Royal Bobcat was a dealer-built GTO from Royal Pontiac in Royal Oak, Michigan, which worked around GM's 400 cubic inch limit for intermediate cars by installing 428 engines from full-size Pontiacs. Car and Driver's 1968 test of one put a mid-size Pontiac into Hemi Charger and 427 Corvette territory.
How rare is it?
Six separate kinds of rarity – never combined into one number.
Each kind of rarity is rated separately and never combined.
02Production & history
Production
Every figure says what it counts.
No production figures recorded yet.
History
Royal Pontiac's mechanic Milt Schornack and Dave Warren prepared the engines and cars for a conversion costing about $650. The Bobcat kit included thinner head gaskets, a Quadrajet re-jet and a distributor recurve, and the engines were said to give over 425 bhp. Car and Driver tested one in February 1968 and recorded 0-60 mph in 5.2 seconds. A standard Ram Air 400 GTO ran the quarter in 14.53 seconds by comparison.
How many Bobcats were made is not known, and the 1968 car sold by RM Sotheby's was documented by letters from Schornack and from Arnie Beswick, and appeared on the March 1968 cover of Popular Hot Rodding.
Variants
How each version differs from the standard GTO Royal Bobcat.
No variants documented yet. Have a source? Contribute it.
03Specifications
Technical specifications
Engine
| Engine family | Not yet verified |
|---|---|
| Engine code | Not yet verified |
| Layout | Pontiac 428 V8 taken from a full-size Pontiac (Bonneville) in a GTO1 Independently researched |
| Displacement | 7,010 cc / 7.0 LFactory: 428 cu in · converted1 Independently researched |
| Bore | Not yet verified |
| Stroke | Not yet verified |
| Compression ratio | Not yet verified |
| Fuel system | Not yet verified |
| Power | 317 kW / 431 PSFactory: 425 hp · converted1 Independently researchedClaimed "over 425 bhp"; RM Sotheby's describes a 428-cid, 425-hp unit. |
| Power at | Not yet verified |
| Torque | Not yet verified |
Transmission & drivetrain
| Gearbox | Not yet verified |
|---|---|
| Gears | Not yet verified |
| Driven wheels | Not yet verified |
Chassis, body & dimensions
| Chassis | Not yet verified |
|---|---|
| Front suspension | Not yet verified |
| Rear suspension | Not yet verified |
| Brakes | Not yet verified |
| Steering | Not yet verified |
| Body construction | Not yet verified |
| Wheelbase | Not yet verified |
| Length | Not yet verified |
| Width | Not yet verified |
| Height | Not yet verified |
| Front track | Not yet verified |
| Rear track | Not yet verified |
| Kerb weight | Not yet verified |
| Dry weight | Not yet verified |
Performance
| Maximum speed | Not yet verified |
|---|---|
| 0–100 km/h | Not yet verified |
| 0–60 mph | 5.2 s1 Independently researched |
| Standing ¼ mile | 13.8 s1 Independently researchedAt 104 mph (Car and Driver, February 1968). |
| Fuel tank | Not yet verified |
“Not yet verified” means no source has been checked for that value yet. Nothing is estimated to fill a gap.
04Colours & options
Factory colours & interiors
Original paint and trim, with the number of cars in each where a source gives it.
Not yet documented. Have a source? Contribute it.
Factory options & codes
Codes are shown exactly as written by the manufacturer.
Not yet documented. Have a source? Contribute it.
05Individual cars
Chassis register
Every documented car, with its colours, history and where it is now. Open a row for the full record. Known chassis are not automatically authenticated originals.
Not yet documented. Have a source? Contribute it.
Competition history
Every race result of the individual cars, in date order. Click a chassis number to open its full record in the register.
Not yet documented. Have a source? Contribute it.
Auction & sale history
Documented public sales of the individual cars. Click a chassis number to open its full record in the register.
Not yet documented. Have a source? Contribute it.
See one in person
Museums where an example of this car can be seen.
No example is documented on public display yet. Have a source? Contribute it.
06Reference
Identification guide
How to tell an original from a replica or later conversion.
Genuine Royal Bobcats are identified by documentation: dealer or conversion records and letters from the people who built them, such as Milt Schornack, since the package was applied by the dealer rather than at the factory. Typical features of the conversion are a 428 from a full-size Pontiac with Bobcat tuning (thin head gaskets, Quadrajet re-jet, distributor recurve) in a GTO that was ordered new through Royal Pontiac.
Sources
Each number links to the exact facts it supports.
-
1
For Sale: A Rare 1968 Pontiac GTO Royal Bobcat 428 Level B Silodrome
- 428 sourced from a Bonneville
- Royal Bobcat 428
- said to be good for over 425 bhp
- Car and Driver ... 0 to 60 in 5.2 seconds
- 13.8 second quarter mile at 104 mph
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