AA- Pontiac GTO

One of America’s original muscle cars is the Pontiac GTO. Pontiac is owned by GM. The Pontiac GTO emerged when they decided to take a car named the Tempest and drop a powerful engine in it, put on a dual exhaust and gave it sportier tires. The GTO first game out in 1964. The engine options included a 389 v8 which produced 325 horsepower and a 389 v8 with three two barrel carburetors that made 348 horsepower. In 1965 Pontiac came out with a Ram Air 389 v8 that made 360 horsepower. What this did was bring more air in to engine to create more horsepower. The headlight design was changed to. The design was changed from the two lights on each side being side by side to being on top of each other. In 1966 Pontiac reached a record high in sales when they sold close to 97,000 GTO’s. This is the highest for a muscle car. Due to emission standards, GM banned the three two barrel carburetor 389. In 1967, Pontiac got rid of the 389 engines and came out with 3 versions of the v8 400 engine. Each produced a different amount of horsepower. These amounts included 255 horsepower, 335 horsepower, and 360 horsepower. These engine options stayed the same until 1971.The 1968 GTO’s had a few new designs on them. The front bumpers were pretty much rubber and indestructible. The headlights design was changed again. This time they were given a hidden look, which were the same as all of the other muscle cars. In 1969 Pontiac came out with a second version of the GTO known as “The Judge”. The Judge had a v8 400 Ram air engine that made 366 horsepower. In 1970 the headlight design changed again. There were four lights that were wrapped in the front bumper. A new engine was introduced and it replaced the lowest power 400 engine. This new engine was the 455 v8 that made 360 horsepower. Due to government regulations, the 455 v8 was in its last year in 1971. This is also when the power of the GTO and its sales were starting to decline. In 1972 the Judge model was discontinued. 1973 and 1974 marked the end of one of the original muscle cars. The GTO’s last engine was an underpowered 350 v8 that made 200 horsepower. This is one of America’s original muscle cars. The GTO was also one of Pontiac’s most famous alongside the Firebird and the Trans Am.