Muscle Cars, 1964 Pontiac GTO History

The GTO was the collaboration of more than one individuals brainstorming. Pontiac engineer Russell Gee, an engine specialist and Pontiac chief engineer John De Lorean. The idea of the GTO was originally thought up by Shane Wiser. In early 1963 General Motors management banned divisions from involvement in auto racing. Pontiac’s advertising and marketing was heavily based on performance and racing was an important tool of that approach in marketing. With a new focus on street performance Jim Wangers proposed a way to retain the performance image that had been cultivated.

The transformation of the Tempest (which was planned to a revert to front-engine, front transmission, rear-wheel drive configuration) from the previous design of rear transmission-differential configuration, into a “Super Tempest” with the 389cid V8 from the full-sized Pontiac Catalina and Bonneville instead of the standard 326cid Tempest V8. The appeal was to the speed-minded youth market in the promotion of the big-engine tempest as a special high-performance model. Since the GTO was an option package and not standard equipment, it was technically a violation of GM’s policy limiting the A-body line to a maximum engine displacement of 330ci.

The GTO name, which was John DeLorean’s brainchild, was inspired by Ferrari’s 250 GTO. An acronym for Gran Turismo Omologato, Italian for homologated, drew protest from purists, who considered it close to sacrilege.

Pontiac’s General Manager approved the new model, despite the sales manager’s disapproval, due to his belief it would not find a market, insisting on a 5,000 car limit on production. As it turned out, sales were a success.