Big coupe with a few secrets under the paint
When it comes to big American performance coupes, Pontiac GTO may not have quite the fame of the Mustangs of this world, but for many that’s probably part of the attraction.
The designation was, to put it kindly, ‘borrowed’ from Ferrari’s successful 250 GTO at the behest of (among others) industry legend John DeLorean and emerged beside the Pontiac badge in 1963.
The history of the series involves a lot of ducking and weaving to get around a corporate dictate to get out of competition and tone down the whole performance angle. Of course the timing couldn’t be worse, with Ford’s Mustang sparking a pony/muscle car boom in the domestic market.
And this was GM’s response, driven by some performance hounds within the company who were happy to run with a theme of street rather than track performance.
Initially the series was an upgraded version of the Tempest Le Mans, however it gradually grew to become more than that and was a model in its own right for the 1966 sales year. This was when it picked up the body shape shown here, with the distinctive raised ‘hip’ on the rear quarters. Some styling tweaks were added for 1967.
This example is running the 400ci (6.5lt) V8 which has been taken out to 455ci (7.5lt) and is running a Turbo 400 transmission through to Ford nine-inch diff.
The Cragar wheels look right for the period, as does the choice of paint for the body.
Muscle Car Warehouse has this one and it’s on the market at $110,000.
See our 1966-67 GTO buyer guide – note the vslues will have changed dramatically since it was publsihed.
Unique Cars auction results listing