Cannot build GD with autoconf 2.57

I'm  trying to build GD (2.0.34 and 2.0.35RC1) on some old version of  
RedHat or Fedora I'm forced to use at work.

After running:
   ./configure --prefix=/home/nvanderwilt/devlib/
I run:
   make
which results in the following error:

cd . && /bin/sh /home/nvanderwilt/gd-2.0.35RC1/config/missing --run  
autoheader
configure.ac:28: error: Autoconf version 2.58 or higher is required
aclocal.m4:7856: AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE is expanded from...
configure.ac:28: the top level
autom4te: /usr/bin/m4 failed with exit status: 1
autoheader: /usr/bin/autom4te failed with exit status: 1
make: *** [config.hin] Error 1


I'm rubbish when it comes to Makefiles and autoconf, but I found a  
tip on a forum that suggested I try:
   autoreconf -f -i

which leads to several errors of "require version 1.7, but have 1.6.3"


I just need the libraries built so I can link them to a C application  
that I've developed. What's the quickest way to do this?

Also, could the makefiles be fixed to be more compatible?

thanks,
-natevw