1966 Pontiac GTO

In 1959, Pontiac had turned its attention to the youthful sports car buying market with its low-slung Wide-Track full-size performance machine. In the fall of 1960, Pontiac expanded the bottom of their line with a compact model called the Tempest which would ultimately become the platform for the GTO. 'Bunkie' Knudsen moved to Chevrolet in 1961 and Pete Estes took the reins at Pontiac. Sales growth continued and with the help of the Tempest, they moved into third place in the U.S. market. Factory-backed Pontiac drag racing reached a peak in 1963, only to have their efforts curtailed shortly thereafter due to a corporate ban. In efforts to keep the enthusiasm of the younger car-buying market, Pontiac skirted the corporate ban by adding a 389 into a Tempest and thus created the Pontiac GTO. The following year, its creator, John Z. Delorean, was named manager.

The Pontiac GTO is one of the most significant performance machines of the muscle car era. It began as an option on the Tempest and body styles included a coupe, hardtop, and convertible. By 1966, the GTO became its own separate model within the Pontiac Brand. Also this year, the entire GM 'A' body lineup was restyled with tunneled backlight and hiked-up rear fender lines. There was a standalone louvered taillight cover, a one-year-only feature. The GTO grew slightly in length, offering even more visual differences over its Tempest option predecessor. It gained sleeker curves, bucket seats, and a redesigned instrument panel. The split grille housed vertical headlights, circular Guide T-3's, as before but the grille opening tapered at the bottom and top. For the first on the grille, plastic was used. The hood had a simulated scoop that was identical to the 1965 model year except for the Pontiac crest located on the front. Its side appearance had a more distinctive 'Coke bottle' appearance. There was a thin side pinstripe, rocker panel moldings that traversed along the bottom of the rear fenders, and wheel well moldings. Options included a 389 cubic-inch V8 engine, premium tires, dual exhaust, a three- or four-speed transmission, special hydraulic lifters, a heavy-duty clutch, a 3.23:1 rear axle ratio, GTO badging, and an improved suspension. Offered in several configurations, the 389 cubic-inch V8 delivered 325 to 365 horsepower and an impressive 428 foot-pounds of torque. Placing this potent power plant in a mid-size vehicle offered unmatched performance and birthed the muscle car era that would consume the late 1960s.

During its first year of production, Pontiac sold nearly 32,500 GTOs. Along with impressive performance and styling, marketing aided sales. Jim Wangers had Royal Pontiac build up to two 1966 GTOs for the 'Beat the Tiger' campaign, which involved a member of the audience drag racing against Royal Pontiac's driver, who was disguised in a tiger suit. Both of the cars were identical, except one was Tiger Gold with black sides. The other was finished in Tiger Gold with white sides. At the end of the season, the driver was eventually unmasked, and it turned out to be a legendary shifter manufacturer George Hurst. This marketing campaign was immensely successful, helping to promote the car and improve sales.

In May of 1966, Car Life magazine tested a loaded sport coupe that had a 389 CID four-barrel engine offering 355 horsepower. The 3,950-pound GTO traveled from zero-to-sixty mph in 6.8 seconds and accomplished the quarter-mile in 15.4 seconds with a top speed of 95 mph.

The Pontiac GTO
Production of the Pontiac GTO began on September 3, 1963, and initially was an option package for the Pontiac Le Mans with body styles that included a convertible, coupe, and hardtop. It shed its 'option package' status in 1966 and became its own separate Pontiac model (model number 242). General Motors restyled its A-body line for 1968, with the GTO gaining a shortened wheelbase (down to 112 inches) with more curvaceous styling with semi-fastback styling. The familiar vertically stacked headlights were replaced by a horizontal layout, with hidden headlights now part of the options list. There were now two scoops on the hood on either side of a hood bulge, and the front body-color Endura bumper was designed to absorb impact at low speeds with little (no) damage. Buyers had the option of 'Endura delete' which replaced the Endura bumper by a chrome unit and grille sourced from the Pontiac LeMans.

This second generation of styling would continue through 1972, by which time sales had plummeted dramatically, partially due to the demise of the so-called 'muscle car era.' The 1973 Pontiac GTO was an option package for the A-body LeMans with 'Colonnade' 2-door hardtop coupe body style. For 1974, the GTO option was moved to the compact Pontiac Ventura (Ventura and the Ventura Custom). As interest in performance cars continued to decline due to increasing emission requirements and safety requirements led Pontiac management discontinued the GTO after 1974. The name was revived in 1999 on a concept car, with a production model (rebadged Holden Monaro) arriving in 2004. Production officially ended on June 14, 2006.

by Daniel Vaughan | Jun 2019