My readers will be pleased to read this fourth installment of my Top 10 Muscle Cars of All Time, specifically the 1964 Pontiac GTO. The GTO ranks at or near the top of this popular “muscle car” class and is acknowledged by enthusiasts as the car that started the mid-size muscle car craze, coming to market well before the competition.
Most interesting is how the GTO came to market, and some of the tomfoolery that took place prior to its first national magazine feature article.
Specifically, in 1964, Jim Wangers, then the Pontiac ad agency’s top executive and himself a winning Pontiac drag racer, approached Pontiac General Manager Pete Estes about building a Pontiac LeMans with a huge 389 engine and calling it a GTO, which stands for Gran Turismo Omologato.
Since the General Motors front office agreed to a “no racing” edict in 1963 and shelved all corporate NASCAR programs, Estes felt Wangers had gone completely crazy with his mid-size muscle car idea.
Advertising for the initial GTOs left little to the imagination that this was indeed a true performance muscle car. From a Tri-Power carburetor option to stiff suspension, the GTO was all business. (Pontiac)
Wangers, however, persisted.
He told Estes that since Pontiac wouldn’t be racing officially, building a high-performance street machine instead of corporate backed race cars made sense. Wangers explained that a racecar program and a fast streetcar were different beasts.
Wangers convinced Estes to call Pontiac’s chief engineer at the time, none other than John DeLorean, for some input. DeLorean, meanwhile, was already “in” on the Estes hard sell deal and along with Russ Gee, Bill Collins and Wangers are the actual co-conspirators to bringing the 389 V8 GTO to reality.
Thus, when Estes called DeLorean about putting the 389 V8 in the Tempest LeMans as an option, DeLorean quickly agreed and said, “No problem, we’ll build one right away.”
That same day, DeLorean and Wangers oversaw removing a LeMans 326 V8 and dropping in a 389 V8 between the frame rails. This is how quickly the 1964 GTO was born.
By 1966, the GTO was no longer an option on the LeMans models and became a full-fledged stand-alone Pontiac. Sales shattered corporate expectations and before long numerous competitors lined up with their muscle cars for a piece of the muscle car business. (Pontiac)
This strategy pleased the many General Motors performance consumers that couldn’t find a winning Pontiac or Chevy at the NASCAR tracks. The response to the new Tempest LeMans GTO RPO382 option is exactly what Wangers anticipated, as the option featured the already proven 389-inch V8, special GTO badges, three-speed manual transmission, dual exhaust, heavy duty clutch, tweaked suspension, and special tires for just $295.90 more.
Two 389 engines were available, one rated at 325 horses with a single four-barrel (standard) or, for another $115, the 348 horse Tri-Power three two-barrel carb setup. Add a four-speed gearbox for $188 and a nice $75 upgrade package that included limited slip differential, metallic brake linings and a heavy-duty radiator, and you were ready to cruise the boulevards or enter the races at the area quarter-mile drag strip. Even Ronny and the Daytona’s agreed in theory as their 1964 hit single, Little GTO, climbed to No. 4 on the hot 100 billboard and sold over 1-million copies.
Now onto the tomfoolery, i.e. pulling a prank and some mischievous behavior.
The now famous March 1964 issue of Car and Driver magazine was the first mass subscriber magazine to do a road test on the new 1964 GTO option. Unbeknownst to the editors, this specific GTO was a “bit different” than the “normal” GTOs available at the dealerships. Read on to find out why this GTO went from zero to 100 MPH in just 11.8-seconds. (Zyla collection)
When Car and Driver magazine asked Pontiac to road test the new GTO, Wangers pulled a fast one and quickly oversaw installation of a 421-inch Super Duty V8 instead of the smaller and standard 389. Both engines look identical to the eye, but the 421 was a 450-horse dynamo in the right hands. Wangers tells all in his book titled “Glory Days,” and I highly recommend this book as it details everything about Pontiac performance, past and present.
When the March 1964 issue of Car and Driver hit the newsstands, the magazine thundered the praises of the GTO being the fastest car in America, unbeknownst to the editorial crew that a 450-horsepower 421-Super Duty V8 was under the hood. The test resulted in the GTO accelerating to 100 MPH in just 11.8-seconds, much to the delight of Wangers and his “Poncho Posse.” (Poncho is a nickname for Pontiac, as is Goat.)
Pontiac hoped to sell 5,000 GTOs in 1964 but thanks to the magazine article, the hit song “Little GTO” and aggressive print and TV advertising, Pontiac ended up selling 32,450 1964 GTOs. Included were 7,384 Sport Coupes (window post), 18,422 Hardtop Coupes (no post), and 6,644 convertibles, all built on a 115-inch wheelbase.
There were two Monkees TV series cars, both based on ’66 GTOs. One car was used for the actual television show and the second for promotional tours. The MPC model company sold over 7 million Monkees GTO kits. (MPC Models)
Additionally, in 1966 The Monkees singing group got in on the GTO craze by having two specially customized 1966 GTOs built by Dean Jeffries for use as their personal TV car. These GTOs were called Monkeemobiles, and the second version was utilized for publicity tours. Again, it was Jim Wangers and his magical promotional ideals who supplied Jeffries with two 1966 GTOs to customize for the Monkees.
Overall, more than half a million GTOs were produced during its 11-year-model-run with the best year finding 96,946 sold in 1966.
It was indeed a great time in muscle car history, although through the years the GTO never offered an engine with over 400 horsepower. Further, the most powerful GTOs were the 1969 and 1970 models with the optional Ram Air IV 400-cubic-inch V8. This engine was listed at 370 horsepower and 445 lb. ft. of torque, but with a few bolt-on upgrades here and there, 400-plus horsepower was easy to attain.
Other interesting facts find that every GTO from 1964 to ’74 featured factory air scoops, but most of them were fake and for aesthetic purposes only. In 1965 and 1966, however, you could order Pontiac’s Ram Air kit at the dealers featuring a real fresh air scoop. GTOs with real ram air were available from the factory beginning in 1967 with the Ram Air 400 option for $263.30 more.
From 1964 to 1966, the GTO owned the muscle market, while competitors quickly played the catch-up game. The Judge arrived in 1969 and lasted three model years and then movie immortality as a 1970 Judge painted special Orbit Orange co-starred in the 1971 cult classic “Two-Lane Blacktop.” (Another major recommendation.)
Three cheers for Pontiac and those who made it happen behind the scenes, including creator John DeLorean and marketing whiz and winning drag racer Jim Wangers.
Long live the Pontiac GTO.
Stay tuned; we’re halfway home on my Top 10 Muscle Cars of All-Time series.
(Greg Zyla is a syndicated auto columnist who welcomes reader interaction on collector cars, auto nostalgia and motorsports at greg@gregzyla.com.)
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