In the early 1960s, most of Pontiac‘s advertising hinged on its involvement in competitive motorsports. The only problem was that it wasn’t supposed to be involved in motorsports at all. In 1957, General Motors had signed an agreement, along with the rest of the other car builders that were members of the Automobile Manufacturers of America, to abstain from auto racing or providing support to privateers. The ink wasn’t dry on the agreement before the AMA members were providing clandestine assistance to racers that eventually became not so clandestine. In early 1963, GM brass came down hard on all the motorsports involvement, leaving Pontiac advertising in dire need of a way to attract the valuable youth market. The Pontiac GTO was born.
The man with the plan was Pontiac’s own John Z. DeLorean. A hot rodder at heart, John Z. got together with a cadre of Pontiac engineers and stuffed a 389 cube V8 under the hood of a mid-size Tempest. The economical Tempest was transformed into a tire-eating burnout machine. At the Milford Proving Ground, the Tempest would burn rubber at will and put an instant smile on the engineers’ faces. There were questions about the new creation. What would they call it? How would they get around the rule limiting displacement in mid-size GM passenger cars? DeLorean already had an answer to the first question; the new car would be the Pontiac GTO.
Before they could build the Pontiac GTO, DeLorean had to get the imprimatur of Pontiac head Pete Estes. Pete was game, so long as John Z. could assure Pontiac would sell 5,000 GTOs per year. On the matter of the 330 cubic-inch displacement limit, DeLorean said they would make it part of the GTO option package, and claim it was exempt. Estes went along with the idea, and the 1964 Pontiac GTO was born.
DeLorean lifted the Pontiac GTO moniker from the Ferrari 250 GTO (much to Enzo Ferrari’s chagrin), but claimed it stood for “Grand Tempest Option.” The GTO was never intended to be a touring car as the 250 Gran Turismo Omologato, Italian for an officially homologated grand tourer, but giving the brutish Tempest the moniker did create a bit of buzz. Within the halls of Pontiac, it was joked that it stood for gas, tires, and oil.
The 1964 Pontiac GTO came with the 389 cubic-inch V8 pumping out 325 horsepower, a single four-barrel Carter carburetor, either a four-speed manual or two-speed automatic (manual transmission GTOs got chrome Hurst shifters), a limited-slip rear differential, heavy-duty cooling system, a tach mounted to the dash, and performance handling goodies. An optional Tri Power triple two-barrel carb set-up could be had, bumping power up to 348 ponies. Pete Estes needn’t have worried about meeting the 5,000-unit sales mark, as the 1964 Pontiac GTO sold more than 32,000 copies.
For the 1965 model year, the Pontiac GTO received a front fascia restyling with dual headlights arranged vertically as opposed to the previous year’s horizontal layout, a three-inch increase in length, bigger brakes, and beefier suspension bits. The dash was redesigned, and a rally gauge cluster was available.
Our feature 1965 Pontiac GTO has been given the restomod treatment. The Goat is now finished in Tattoo Ink Blue Metallic over a custom black vinyl interior. Before the seats and carpet went in, Dynamat sound deadening material was applied throughout the interior. The original dash has been replaced by a full set of Auto Meter Phantom gauges. The original 389 has been extracted to make way for a Rhyne Racing Pontiac 455 that has been bored to 498 cubes, and wears Edelbrock Performer RPM heads. Spent gasses are exhaled through Pypes three-inch exhaust with electric cut-outs. Backing the 498 is a Tremec T56 six-speed manual gearbox and a B&M rear differential. Handling is courtesy of a QA1 coilover suspension, and Hotchkis anti-roll bars, while stopping duties are handled by SSBC disc brakes. The whole affair rolls on American Racing eighteen-inch wheels.
This handsome 1965 Pontiac GTO restomod will cross the Mecum Auctions block at its Florida Summer Special Friday, July 11th.
Comments
Beautiful car! Never heard of a “Pontiac Big Block” though. Sigh.
My Dad was a Poncho nut. He put a Foyt built 389 in his ’56 Starchief and drag raced it at Houston Int. Drageway in the 60s.
I have always loved vehicles with stacked headlights, like these Pontiacs, mid 60’s Ford Fairlanes and Galaxies, and my current Silverado.
Could you please loan me a couple hundred grand?
I have a soft spot for Pontiac and its no different for this GTO. Had some ideas for a ’65 GTO that differ just slightly from this car but I would still take it. If I only had the money.
GTO…Gas, Tires, and Oil…correct, it burned all three. I had a handful of them from ’65 to ’70. I still love my Ponchos, though. BMW was jealous of Pontiac’s split grilles, they were always more sexy and inviting.
“The dash was redesigned, and a rally gauge cluster was available.”
I had a 1964 and there were only minor changes from the ’64 to the ’65 models on the instrument panel. The bucket seats and console design were also basically carryover between the two model years.