PONTIAC GTO HISTORY

Jim Maxwell looks back on the history of what many consider to be the original American muscle car, the Pontiac GTO…

- James Maxwell

It’s the car that launched the muscle car movement. In early spring of 1963, Pontiac were making their final plans for their new 1964 Tempest line, which was an intermediate-sized car. At the time, they had planned on the use of a 326cu in V8 as the largest-optioned engine. On a Saturday morning at the GM Proving Grounds, with a 326 cube prototype Tempest up on a lift, an engineer named Bill Collins casually mentioned to John DeLorean (then Pontiac’s chief engineer) that in about 20 minutes, the more powerful 389cu in from the Bonneville could be easily bolted in as it shared the same outside dimensions and motor mount points. That was the thought that sparked and got the GTO in motion.

The very next week, that car received the engine swap, and along with it a few things were added. John DeLorean spoke about this in his 1985 book DeLorean: “I had taken a Tempest, Pontiac’s compact car, dumped a 389 in it, and added heavy-duty shocks, roll bars and a Hurst shifter. The car was so fun to drive that when I loaned it out to friends I could never get it back. I priced it out and convinced Pete Estes, Pontiac’s general manager, we should put it on the market. Then I named the creation the GTO, the same as the initials that came from a Ferrari coupe known as the ‘Gran Turismo Omologato’.”