The Pontiac GTO
When the GTO was first available in 1964, the executive leadership of Pontiac was faced with a great dilemma for any organization. Orders the first year were approximately 600% more than management expected. The GTO was an evolution to the Pontiac LeMans and it sold almost 32,500 vehicles right out of the gate.
The demand was surprising considering how the firmness of the suspension. A driver could feel every pebble in the road. It was designed to be more of an open road vehicle, not one you would drive gently down a bumpy country road or city street full of potholes. The dual exhausts were not quiet by any stretch of the imagination. In addition to all of that, the fuel economy of the vehicle left a lot to be desired. Far from saying the GTO was garbage, the adage “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” is highly applicable. Consumers were clamoring to get the latest hot rod.
Versions of the GTO
The GTO of 1964 had four versions. One was a model that was sporty, which was to be expected at the time. The second was a convertible. The third, a two-door hardtop. The fourth, the Sports Coupe, came with a fixed B-pillar.
If one were to boil down the concept of the Sports Coupe to its most basic elements, they would stuff the biggest engine obtainable into the lightest body possible. Weighing 3,000 pounds, it was 150 pounds lighter than the convertible and 20 pounds lighter than the coupe. The icing on the cake is that it was the least expensive of the group with a starting price of approximately $3,200.
That left a few dollars remaining for the buyer to equip the GTO with whatever he wanted.
How the Pontiac GTO was Born
In 1961, Pontiac had a car called the Tempest. At the time, it was considered to be technologically advanced. However, the overwhelming majority of buyers wanted a car that would provide simplicity and smooth performance. To meet the need of a wealthy customer in particular, Pontiac was happy to oblige. A wealthy adman named Jim Wangers wanted to commission a customized vehicle. His personalized Tempest had grown from a compact to a midsize car in 1964.
His updated version of the Tempest had geometric lines on an A-body platform that it shared with Oldsmobile’s F-85 Cutlass, Chevy’s new Chevelle, and Buick’s Special Skylark. The Tempest’s wheel frame was increased by three inches to 115. The rear swing axle was replaced with a solid axle with a full-coil suspension. A bigger new body provided additional space under the hood to house a larger engine.
Wangers finally had his muscle car, but GM did not want the public specializing every vehicle. As a result, Wangers’ customizations were offered as options for the 1964 Tempest LeMans coupe, two-door hardtop, and convertible.
Because Wangers liked to race cars, he specified a three-speed manual transmission with quick steering and floor shift. Dual exhausts and heavy duty suspension were also built-in. Wangers borrowed the letters “GTO” from the Italian Gran Turismo Omologato, which translates to racing-approved production grand touring car.
With its powerful performance, the 1964 and 1965 Pontiac GTO had the soul of a true hot rod.
