ALT-1 Pontiac Gto
The Pontiac GTO was a car that could never have existed if the executives at Pontiac had listened to their parent company, General Motors. It was designed by Pontiac engineers Russel Gee and John deLorean. At the time the advertising and marketing of the Pontiac range was largely based on performance. In 1963 the parent company, General Motors, issued a ban on the involvement of their cars in racing, wanting a more family oriented market. This nearly derailed the entire GTO project.
It was decided to get around this ban by focusing on street speed and performance, and appeal to the youth market. Instead of designing a completely new model the engineers upgraded the engine in the upcoming Tempest Lemans model to a 6.5L V8 from the 5.3L, strictly speaking this was against company policy which stated that such large engines could not go in the type of frame. By devising the car as an "upgrade" instead of a new model Pontiac could and did bypass General Motors approval.
The Pontiac general manager Pete Estes approved the changes, but production was initially limited to 5,000 cars by the sales manager Frank Bridge. The name GTO was a direct "theft" from the Ferrari GTO, standing for Gran Turismo Omomlogato. This caused some discomfort amongst the purists in the American car buying market, and still does today, but the car spoke for itself. It also gave rise to a nickname for the car, Goat.
The GTO was introduced as an option package on the Pontiac Tempest Lemans in 1963. The automotive press published the figures for top speed, acceleration and standing quarter mile and the car sold quickly to its target market. The reservations expressed over the steering and brakes were ignored and Frank Bridge's fears proved groundless. There was a minor scandal when it was suspected that the test cars used by the press had in fact had bigger non-standard engines, but by then the car was selling. More than 10,000 cars sold in the fist year, and over 32,000 to the end of 1964.
The Bobcat kit, which was responsible for the improved performance of the GTO, was sold by mail order throughout America. In 1965 a new improved model was introduced, still based on the Tempest. This car was slightly larger, with an increased brake size and an improved engine. The car press again tested it and got even faster times out of it. There were still reservations about the brakes and handling, particularly at speed, but that didn't slow sales in the least; sales reached 72,000 in 1965.
In 1966 the GTO was released under its own banner, rather than as a Tempest upgrade. It featured a reshaped body and distinctive rear light covers. Sales increased to 96,000, the highest year ever for the GTO. This was the last year the original engine was available. There were other engine options available with even more power, but this was underplayed in the marketing as the previous General Motors mandate on engine power to frame size was still in place.
In 1967 the original engine was replaced due to General Motors company policy. The car press this year were not as impressed with the car, criticizing its handling, performance and tendency to overheat, and sales began to fall.
Every year between 1968 and 1971 saw minor cosmetic revisions in the model, but no changes in the basic engine design and then in 1972 the GTO reverted to an option package for the Lemans. 1975 saw it moved to an option package for the compact Ventura model. This was the death of the GTO, the car no longer delivered what the car buying market expected it to be .
The car was discontinued in 1976 when the engine in the Ventura model was changed. There were several attempts to revive it but it was over for the model. The GTO name was briefly revived in Australia from 2003 to 2006 with a limited number of new GTO's being produced, but this was a cash in on the original name and the purist could not consider the cars GTO's in the sense of the original muscle car.
