1970 Pontiac GTO Ram Air III Headed To Arizona Auction

A horrific crash at the 1955 Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race killed driver Pierre Levegh, more than 80 spectators, and injured 120 more. In 1957, General Motors entered into an agreement with other American automakers to stay out of motorsports. The ink wasn’t dry on the agreement before every manufacturer was finding ways to support privateers covertly. GM was so dominant the auto market in the 1960s, management was afraid the government would decide the company was a monopoly and seek to have it broken up. To avoid attracting any undue attention, word came down from on high there would be no more involvement in competitive motorsports. However, that didn’t stop the Pontiac GTO from seeing the light of day.

In an effort to attract the youth market in the early 1960s, Pontiac management was trying to come up with new ideas. Their traditional hook was to be active in motorsports competition, an activity that was frowned upon by GM brass. John DeLorean and his engineers at Pontiac thought a factory hot rod might be just the thing. At GM’s Milford Proving Ground, the Pontiac guys tested a mid-size Tempest they had crammed a Pontiac 389 into. The result was smoky burnouts at will. Thus the idea for the Pontiac GTO was born.

There were some sizable hurdles getting the Pontiac GTO from drawing board to production line. GM had an internal rule limiting displacement in mid-size passenger cars to 330 cubic inches. The 389 had been sourced from one of the full-size cars. DeLorean skirted the rule by saying it didn’t apply to specialty option packages, and the GTO was a Tempest option package. Then there was the question of how many Pontiac would sell. DeLorean told then-Pontiac GM Pete Estes he thought they could move 5,000 units per year. DeLorean was right about the hot new car attracting the youth market, but he woefully underestimated how many would sell, as more than 32,000 left the factory in 1964.

For the 1966 model year, the Pontiac GTO became its own model. In 1968, a complete redesign would include a body-color Endura soft front bumper, a return to horizontally arranged headlights, a shortened wheelbase, and shorter overall length and height. 1970 would bring peak horsepower to the GTO, with the 400 cubic-inch Ram Air IV engine producing 370 horsepower. The 1970 GTO would also feature an improved suspension with stiffer front sway bar, a new rear sway bar, and variable-ratio power steering.

Our feature 1970 Pontiac GTO Ram Air III was the subject of a professional restoration that was completed in 2009. It has been refinished in its factory Baja Gold hue over a brown vinyl bucket seat interior. The GTO is one of 1,302 automatic transmission-equipped Ram Air III hardtops built that year. It retains its numbers-matching 400 cubic-inch V8 producing 366 horsepower fed by a four-barrel carb. The Goat moves power rearward through a Turbo-Hydramatic 400 three-speed automatic transmission. The GTO is equipped with a center console, factory air conditioning, Soft Ray glass, power steering, power brakes with front discs, Ride and Handling Suspension Package, Formula three-spoke steering wheel, Rally gauge cluster, custom carpets, remote left side mirror, dual horns, custom front and rear seat belts, and Rally II wheels. Included in the sale is the ownership history from new, Protect-O-Plate, original sales documents, Pontiac Historic Society documents, and maintenance documents.

This slick 1970 Pontiac GTO Ram Air III will cross the Mecum Auctions block at their Glendale, Arizona event on Friday, March 21^st.