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Muscle1964 Pontiac GTO: The Car That Started the Muscle Car Era
The car that lit the muscle car fuse.
The 1964 Pontiac GTO did not invent fast cars, but it gave them a formula: take a mid-size body, add a big V8 and sell it to young buyers. That recipe defined the muscle car for the next decade.
How Pontiac built the GTO around a GM rule
General Motors had a rule capping engine size in mid-size cars at 330 cubic inches. Pontiac's team, which included John DeLorean, got around it by offering the GTO as an option package on the Tempest LeMans rather than as a separate model. The package brought a 389 cubic inch V8 rated at 325 horsepower, or 348 with the Tri-Power setup of three two-barrel carburetors.
The GTO name and its muscle car legacy
The letters borrowed from Ferrari's Gran Turismo Omologato, which annoyed some purists and delighted most buyers. Pontiac expected about 5,000 sales and sold more than 32,000, so rivals rushed out their own versions. The GTO's ripple effect is visible in nearly every muscle car that followed.
1964 Pontiac GTO key facts
- Engine
- 389 V8
- Based on
- Tempest LeMans
- First-year sales
- More than 32,000