Will he leave it that way? That’s the question…
Clay Millican is just a good ol’ boy who loves burning rubber and driving fast. It’s what makes his Youtube channel extra entertaining, especially when he drops content that wasn’t expected. One of his recent video sagas and new projects cropped up recently, and we had to see what this new ‘barn find’ is all about. What has Clay gotten himself into now?
In his big dually truck with an open car trailer ready for cargo, Clay is off to south Memphis after surfing the internet and finding a car that caught his eye. As his wife, Donna, can be heard off camera reminding him, he already has a few projects at home. But, car people know just exactly how much weight that logic holds, living more in the land of ‘what will another hurt?’
A GTO Instead of GTX?
As anyone who watches Millican’s Youtube channel knows, he’s a huge Mopar fan. Surprisingly, the car Millican found didn’t turn out to be a beloved 1969 Dodge Charger or even a new Challenger stashed away. Instead, he came across an example from the modern Pontiac GTO generation. This particular goat is a 2006 year model, representing the last of the Pontiac GTOs, especially since General Motors rolled up Pontiac shortly thereafter. So this car already has some positive marks in its column, but does it have a lot to offer a professional drag racer?
It would be hard for any performance enthusiast to ignore this modern muscle car showing only 1349 miles on the clock. However, the car lot has more allure than just this single silver GTO. Sitting next to it is a red 1800-mile Pontiac GTO and two third-generation Pontiac Firebirds — all from the same collection. The 2006 model Millican is there for proves to be a real-deal genuine timepiece. It still rolls on the same tires it left the showroom floor wearing, and the interior couldn’t be distinguished from a car that just left the factory. The 6.0-liter, six-speed GTO seems too perfect.
While it would be interesting to see Clay Millican use his nerves of steel on a used car dealer, the more interesting question is how the auto center ended up with these four Pontiacs. As the dealer explains, there was an unnamed car collector in the city who purchased only Pontiacs. He had models of all kinds, ending up with nine in total. The dealer shared that the cars were stored somewhere where they were at risk of being vandalized and bought all nine cars.
After some off-camera wheeling and dealing, the silver GTO is on its way home with the Millicans. While the car dealer tried one last time to convince the couple to take the red GTO home for Donna so the set wasn’t separated, they decided that one non-Dodge was all they could handle for now.
Taking The GTO Home
At home, Clay gets to know his new toy and checks it out thoroughly. It still has the exhaust stickers on it, some factory undercoating, and nothing that needs help other than some cleaning of storage dust. Will it stay stock? Heck no!
Off to the Edelbrock Group offices Millican goes, where he meets with the V.P. of Sales & Marketing, Mark Campbell, to devise a plan for the GTO. Since it’s starting with a near-perfect foundation, the possibilities of modifications with the power brands are vast. From heads and cam to superchargers and everything in between, there’s no stopping this stock goat from being turned into a fire-breathing monster. But how far will Clay and his team really go with it?
Since the internals in the Pontiac are low-mileage, there are fewer parts that need to be replaced to accommodate the build, which is heading in the direction of a supercharger and complimenting custom camshaft. A few days later, Mark rolls up at the Millican house with a pickup truck packed with goodies for the GTO, so Pontiac purists, look away!
First out of the box is an Edelbrock E-Force Supercharger for the LS2 engine. Clay notes how compact the design is. That’s likely down to the fact that the cowl on F-bodies is so constraining, although that might not be the same case for the Pontiac GTO platform. The camshaft is out of the pallet of boxes next. It is going to allow the supercharger to make more power with less boost, underlining the importance of pairing a camshaft with the supercharger or any other major modifications you’re planning to do to your engine.
It’s worth noting a few things about Mark’s Santa bag full of parts. All of the parts are from Edelbrock, from cast to finish. They’re also made to work with the stock computer. On a final note, once installed, this Pontiac GTO is going to maintain its street manners. We suspect that the next time we hear from Clay’s YouTube page, the parts will be installed, and the GTO will be on the dyno. Of course, he is sending it up to Jeff Lutz’s shop, so you never know what will happen with it. Go ahead and tell us your predictions!
