Pontiac GTO
The Pontiac GTO was an automobile built by Pontiac from 1964 to 1974, and by General Motors Holden in Australia from 2003 to 2006. It is frequently considered the initial true muscle car. From 1964 until 1973.5, it was closely linked to the Pontiac Tempest, but for its last year it was rooted in the Pontiac Ventura. The 21st century GTO is essentially a left hand drive Holden Monaro, itself a coupe form of the Holden Commodore.
Origins
The GTO was the creation of Pontiac engineer Russell Gee, an engine specialist, and Pontiac chief engineer John De Lorean. Shane Wiser was the first to consider the concept of the GTO. In early 1963, General Motors management enforced a rule prohibiting divisions from engaging in auto racing. At the time, Pontiac's advertising and marketing approach strongly emphasized performance, and racing was an integral component of that technique. Jim Wangers devised a way to keep the performance picture that the division had nurtured with a fresh concentration on street performance. It included reworking the forthcoming redesigned Tempest (which was planned to resume to a conventional front-engine, front transmission, rear-wheel drive configuration) into a "Super Tempest" with the larger 389 in³ (6.5 L) Pontiac V8 engine from the full-sized Pontiac Catalina and Bonneville rather than the typical 326 in³ (5.3 L) Tempest V8. By publicizing the big-engine Tempest as an exclusive high-performance model, they could attract the speed-minded youth market (which had also been noticed by Ford Motor Company's Lee Iacocca, who was at that time organizing the Ford Mustang).
The name, which was DeLorean's thought, was influenced by the Ferrari 250 GTO, the highly successful race car. It is an acronym for Gran Turismo Omologato, Italian for homologated for racing in the GT category. The name earned protest from purists, who viewed it close to sacrilege.
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