What to buy and how much to pay
Unless you have some good mates stateside, it pays to buy a complete example. Scruffy and all there is infinitely better than tidy but missing stuff. It was never sold in Europe so any spares will, almost certainly, be on the other side of the pond. If you must buy an incomplete example factor in import duty, handling fees and VAT along with the now astronomical shipping cost most Americans seem obliged to charge for missing parts. That’s the bad news. The good news is that prices for used parts aren’t too salty. A pair of cylinder heads for £100 doesn’t sound too bad, likewise used mudguards at £40 a pop. Although not common by any means 350 GTOS do come up for sale and a tired but complete example will set you back around £3000 – which sounds like a bit of a bargain. For a mint original or concours restoration your bank balance is likely to be relieved of around £7000-£8000. Between those two markers you’ll need to set your own budget having first carried out some research as to what’s readily available and what’s not required in terms of replacement parts. Basket cases do turn up and start from around £2500. What would we go for if we had the dosh? It’d be a toss-up between a sun faded chrome tanked model with patina or one of the last examples with a simple painted tank. Whichever it was, chances are we’d find lots of interested enthusiasts at the local bike meet: ‘Blimey, you don’t see many of them about do you mate!’