Jon Scott Wacholtz was born March 21, 1950 in Austin, MN to Henry B. and Barbara K. (Basseler) Wacholtz. He married once and had a daughter in June of 1975, Sara Irene.

Jon went to Pacelli High School and went on to attend St. Thomas University in St. Paul, MN and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Accounting degrees.

BIOGRAPHY

Jon owned and operated his own Tile Craft business for over 30 years (believe me he was Concours perfect at that, as well), but his true passion and gifted talent laid in drag racing, GTO restoration, and car clubs. Jon was an active member of the GTOAA, the Minnesota Tomahawk Chapter 13 of POCI, NHRA drag racing, NHRA Division 5, USA Stockers Association, Midwest Heartland Stock/Superstock Association, and the Land of Lakes GTO Club.

Jon began serving on the GTOAA’s Concours Car Show committee in 1992 and worked closely first with John Johnson and then with Bill Markowski to bring the Concours Judging Standards up to the high level they are at today. At the time of his passing, he was the GTOAA’s Concours Car Show Chairman and was also a technical advisor for the Land of Lakes GTO Club in Minnesota.

Being Jon, he liked to work out of his small two door southwest garage in southern Minnesota. Throughout the years Jon restored many Pontiacs and has been recognized in several car magazines.

In September of 1988, he was featured in Muscle Car Review for the work he did on his and his daughter’s NHRA drag racing car. It was the first one that started Jon’s passion and love for the restoration for this classic and iconic Pontiac, the 1969 Carousel Red Ram Air III GTO “Judge”.

In December of 1990, Muscle Car Classics magazine posted pictures from the GTOAA Nationals in Bloomington, MN showing three of Jon’s beauties all lined up together.

In October of 1991 Muscle Car Review approached Jon about another feature spot in the magazine. This time it was for the restoration he did on a 1970 Cardinal Red with a white hard top Ram Air IV GTO Judge.

In the September of 2003 issue of High Performance Pontiac magazine, they rolled out the “Split Personality” article showing the world his 1971 “one” of none, the “one” and only 455 HO Laurentian Green with honeycomb wheels GTO “Judge” wagon ever made. In 2017, a good friend and fellow GTOAA member Doug Pulskamp was finally able to purchase the rare build wagon and then surprised Jon’s daughter, Sara, at the Pontiac Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, OH in August of that same year. It was an emotional yet comforting reunion with the rare beauty, knowing that she is finally safe and in the hands of someone who will not only honor this gorgeous girl but also honor my fathers’ gift to the Pontiac world, Sara explains.

In the April 2009 issue of High Performance Pontiac magazine another of Jon’s award winning GTOAA Concours Gold restorations was featured. It was his Best of Show (scoring 392 out of 400 points) 1971 Lucerne Blue with Ivory interior 455 HO GTO Judge.

His last restoration project was a rare 1973 Ascot Silver 4-speed GTO that he completed in time for the 2015 GTOAA Meet in Columbus, IN. earning another Concourses Gold award.

Even though Jon had a wealth of knowledge on GTO’s and he could tell you the difference between a 1969 GTO bolt and a 1973 GTO bolt, some thought he was “grumpy” from his argumentative manner. That only happened when he knew he was right. Jon was a very modest man and enjoyed being a mentor not only to his grandson, Burton, who also inherited the love of racing and got to drag race along his grandfather’s side for several years, but to anyone wanting to learn the craft of restoration and passion for keeping “the class” in the muscle car. He is truly missed by his family and the GTO community.

ADDITIONAL MEDIA