Originally, the division's skeptical sales department committed to just 5,000 GTO option packages for 1964. But as the word got out, dealer demand gobbled them all up within days of the official announcement. That not only guaranteed the GTO's success, but it was now too late for the GM brass to change its mind, even if they wanted to. The '64 GTO became a certified hit before it had even arrived at any Pontiac showroom.
So sensitive were the GTO's creators to breaking the engine size rule that initially no mention was made of the car in any of Pontiac's sales literature. News of its existence was communicated in a few automobile enthusiast publications only.
Every GTO-optioned Tempest (base-price of about $3,200) began with a 325-horsepower 389 V8, dual exhausts, floor-mounted Hurst three-speed manual transmission, heavy-duty suspension and front bucket seats. Buyers could also add a more powerful 348-horsepower version featuring three two-barrel carbs, as well as options such as a Hurst four-speed manual transmission or GM-built two-speed automatic, limited-slip differential, better suspension and a faster steering ratio.
By year-end, total sales of Tempest LeMans hardtops, coupes and convertibles equipped with the GTO option totalled a whopping 32,450, nearly seven times that of the original GM-approved plan.
Part of the car's sales strength was attributed to a period article in Car and Driver magazine, the editors of which created a mythical head-to-head comparison between the Pontiac GTO and Ferrari's equivalent. The fact that this shoot-out existed only in the minds of the magazine's editors (they couldn't get a Ferrari version to test) was of little consequence since the resulting story heaped nothing but praise upon the Pontiac.
That could be partly due to the fact that the GTO used for testing had been secretly fitted with Pontiac's larger 421 cubic-inch engine specially prepared for the occasion.
As a result of the article -- which put the Pontiac head and shoulders ahead of the Ferrari -- sports-car purists were livid, but subscriptions to both Car and Driver as well as GTO sales soared.
For 1965, the GTO (or Goat, as it was beginning to be called) remained an option, but featured attractive new front- and rear-end styling, improvements to the engine and suspension and new rally-style wheels. That year, total GTO sales exceeded 75,000.
It wouldn't be until 1966 and the arrival of the second-generation Tempest that the GTO would be marketed as a separate model. By then, other manufacturers were scrambling to create their own versions of the GTO in an attempt to cash in on Pontiac's success. But, there was simply no substitute for the original. With a little planning, underhanded inventiveness and a lot of luck, the GTO created the madness for Musclecars that captured the imagination of a generation of drivers.
So sensitive were the GTO's creators to breaking the engine size rule that initially no mention was made of the car in any of Pontiac's sales literature. News of its existence was communicated in a few automobile enthusiast publications only.
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| 1965 Pontiac GTO (Photo: Wheelbase Communications) |
By year-end, total sales of Tempest LeMans hardtops, coupes and convertibles equipped with the GTO option totalled a whopping 32,450, nearly seven times that of the original GM-approved plan.
Part of the car's sales strength was attributed to a period article in Car and Driver magazine, the editors of which created a mythical head-to-head comparison between the Pontiac GTO and Ferrari's equivalent. The fact that this shoot-out existed only in the minds of the magazine's editors (they couldn't get a Ferrari version to test) was of little consequence since the resulting story heaped nothing but praise upon the Pontiac.
That could be partly due to the fact that the GTO used for testing had been secretly fitted with Pontiac's larger 421 cubic-inch engine specially prepared for the occasion.
As a result of the article -- which put the Pontiac head and shoulders ahead of the Ferrari -- sports-car purists were livid, but subscriptions to both Car and Driver as well as GTO sales soared.
 |
| 1965 Pontiac GTO (Photo: Wheelbase Communications) |
It wouldn't be until 1966 and the arrival of the second-generation Tempest that the GTO would be marketed as a separate model. By then, other manufacturers were scrambling to create their own versions of the GTO in an attempt to cash in on Pontiac's success. But, there was simply no substitute for the original. With a little planning, underhanded inventiveness and a lot of luck, the GTO created the madness for Musclecars that captured the imagination of a generation of drivers.
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