General Motors gave America the original muscle car in the form of the Pontiac GTO. Be it the Plymouth Barracuda, the Ford Mustang, or the Chevy Camaro, they all came later, even if they did find more eventual success in the long run. Every classic American muscle car had its own unique quality, and they all looked amazing. With the Pontiac GTO, it was its muscular power mill, which made it an insanely successful car over its 10-year life. The oil crisis of the '70s claimed many victims, and the Pontiac GTO was one of them.
However, there is no denying the sheer appeal and reverence that the GTO holds in the hearts of gearheads. Collectors scramble over each other to get their hands on models of the Pontiac GTO, and that attention is rightly deserved. With such a storied history, there is plenty to know about the Pontiac GTO and its life in the automotive world, and here are 10 facts about the car you probably didn't know.
10 The Pontiac GTO Was Essentially A Souped-Up Tempest
Before the Pontiac GTO came to be, Pontiac had the Tempest, which was an entry-level compact car from 1961 to 1963. However, the Pontiac Tempest had a remarkable front and rear weight distribution ratio of almost 1:1, thanks to its drivetrain.
With a 3.15-liter straight-four engine, the Pontiac Tempest was a successful car. Pontiac then decided to create a Super Tempest, giving the Tempest more power, a bigger engine, and crazy acceleration. Thus was born the Pontiac GTO.
9 It Was The Pontiac GTO That Sparked The American Mopar Wars
Compact cars that came with big engines are essentially all there is to muscle cars. By that standard, the 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket and the 1955 Chrysler with its Hemi V8 came before the Pontiac GTO.
However, it was the Pontiac GTO that took the American automotive market into the whole muscle car era in the '60s and sparked the Mopar wars in the country. When the GTO came out, Ford was already developing the Mustang, but the first muscle car was undeniably the Pontiac GTO, despite being nothing but a Tempest Le Mans trim in the beginning.
8 John DeLorean Himself Was Behind The Pontiac GTO
Who doesn't know and remember John DeLorean? The man behind the iconic DeLorean DMC, John DeLorean is an indelible part of automotive history. What many don't know is that he was also behind the Pontiac GTO.
In 1964, the Pontiac Tempest was all set for a redesign, and DeLorean was working with Jim Wangers, an executive for the McManus advertising agency. By that time, racing advertising was the new trend, and DeLorean thus decided to put a bigger engine in the redesigned Tempest, to make it faster and more appealing to youngsters.
7 Ferrari Inspired The GTO Nameplate
It was DeLorean who suggested the GTO name, and he took inspiration for the nameplate all the way from Maranello. For Ferrari, the GTO stood for Gran Turismo Omologato, which meant homologation for GT-class racing. Of course, Ferrari was upset, but since they didn't hold the copyright to the term, they couldn't do much. After all, Ferrari is a bit infamous for its affinity to sue whoever it can.
Everyone knew that Pontiac had stolen the GTO term from Ferrari, and neither Ferrari fans nor American consumers were too happy about it. As the Pontiac GTO gained popularity and proved itself, fans came up with their acronym for the GTO and termed it the Pontiac Gran Tempest Option.
6 The GTO Was 'Technically' Against GM's Own Rules
The GTO was actually a cheat car. At the time, General Motors was quite strict about its car sizes and the engines they could come with. The GM A-body platform that the Tempest utilized in 1964 was a compact one, and equipping it with the huge 6.3-liter V8 engine for full-size cars would have gone against GM's rules.
However, Pontiac was clever, as they introduced the GTO as a trim of the Tempest and not its own car, which is why GM let it slide. Later on, of course, the GTO became its own nameplate, becoming an extremely popular car that sold like hotcakes everywhere.
5 Pontiac Kept Changing The Nickname For The GTO
As well-known as the Pontiac GTO is over the world, it is known by several names. Over the years of the GTO, Pontiac's marketing team seemed to keep changing the nicknames for the brand's flagship car with each marketing campaign.
When the Pontiac GTO debuted, Pontiac marketed it as 'The Tiger', and three years later, they began calling it 'The Great One'. In fact, another three years later in 1970, they began calling it 'The Humbler'. Of course, there is also the most famous nickname the car had, which was 'The Goat'. This was a play on the GTO name and also came about in one of the most controversial advertisements in the history of the brand.
4 The Pontiac GTO Sold 500% More Than Expectations
Before the 1964 launch of the Pontiac GTO, a sales manager from the company was extremely confident that the car will not sell well. He tried convincing the authorities to only limit the car to 5,000 units at best for the 1964 launch year.
However, when the GTO launched, people went so crazy over the car, that in the first year itself, it sold over 30,000 units. Customers flocked to the Pontiac GTO in droves, and the brand sold over 7,000 coupes, 18,000 hardtops, and over 6,500 convertibles.
3 The Pontiac GTO Separated Itself From The Tempest In 1966
While it was initially a trim for the Pontiac Tempest to work out a loophole for its big engine, the GTO eventually separated itself from the Tempest line in 1966. Now, it was an all-new car that sold like hotcakes.
When it became its own nameplate in 1966, the Pontiac GTO sold the highest it had ever sold, with a whopping 74,000 units sold. The year after that, the Pontiac GTO came with a 6.6-liter V8 instead of a 6.3-liter unit. Subsequently, the 1968 model year saw a complete redesign, and it is when the Pontiac GTO inarguably looked the best it ever did.
2 GM Turned The Pontiac GTO Into A Trim In Its Final Year
The oil embargo of the 1970s hit the muscle car market hard, and despite great redesigns and engine upgrades, the oil crisis took down the iconic GTO for good. Customers no longer preferred the gas-guzzling Goat or its counterparts. Despite that, Pontiac did try to give customers what they wanted in the GTO.
For its final year, the Pontiac GTO became a trim option again. This time, it was the Pontiac Ventura GTO instead of the Tempest. The car came with a 5.7-liter V8 engine, which was the only option, but it was still too big and too much, and as a result, the GTO nameplate was finally shelved.
1 The Pontiac GTO Made A Failed Comeback Attempt In The 21st Century
Yes, the iconic muscle car tried making a comeback in 2004, only this time it was nothing more than a re-badged Holden Monaro. The 2004-2006 Pontiac GTO was by no means a bad car, but it was ugly as hell, and also a blight on the GTO nameplate.
Despite being pretty quick to the 60 mph mark in just 5.3 seconds, the Pontiac GTO failed to impress customers and critics alike. Hopefully, the GTO just might have a third life on the cars, but with the V8 muscle car era coming to a definite close now, only time will tell what happens to the iconic nameplate.