Pontiac GTO 1. Generation 389/348 Tri Power Hardtop 1964
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Car producer : |
Pontiac |
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Model: |
GTO 1. Generation 389/348 Tri Power Hardtop 1964 |
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Year: |
1964-1967 |
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Type: |
Coupe |
The GTO was the brainchild of Pontiac engineer Russell Gee, an engine specialist; Bill Collins, a chassis engineer; and Pontiac chief engineer John DeLorean. In early 1963, General Motors' management issued an edict banning divisions from involvement in auto racing. This followed the 1957 voluntary ban on automobile racing that was instituted by the Automobile Manufacturers Association. By the early 1960s, Pontiac's advertising and marketing approach was heavily based on performance, and racing was an important component of that strategy. With GM's ban on factory-sponsored racing, Pontiac's young, visionary management turned its attention to emphasizing street performance.
In his autobiography Glory Days, Pontiac chief marketing manager Jim Wangers, who worked for the division’s contract advertising and public relations agency, states that John DeLorean, Bill Collins' and Russ Gee were responsible for the GTO's creation. It involved transforming the upcoming redesigned Tempest (which was set to revert to a conventional front-engine, front transmission, rear-wheel drive configuration) into a "Super Tempest" with the larger 389 cu in (6.4 L) Pontiac V8 engine from the full-sized Pontiac Catalina and Bonneville in place of the standard 326 cu in (5.3 L) Tempest V8. By promoting the big-engine Tempest as a special high-performance model, they could appeal to the speed-minded youth market (which had also been recognized by Ford Motor Company's Lee Iacocca, who was at that time preparing the sporty Ford Mustang variant of the second generation Ford Falcon compact).
The GTO was basically a violation of GM policy limiting the A-body intermediate line to a maximum engine displacement of 330 cu in (5.4 L). Since the GTO was an option package for the Pontiac Tempest and not standard equipment, it could be considered to fall into a loophole in the policy. Pontiac general manager Elliot "Pete" Estes approved the new model, although sales manager Frank Bridge, who did not believe it would find a market, insisted on limiting initial production to 5,000 cars.
The name, which was DeLorean's idea, was inspired by the Ferrari 250 GTO, the successful race car. It is an Italian abbreviation for Gran Turismo Omologato, (grand tourer homologated") which means officially certified for racing in the grand tourer class. Other information from GM employees at the time say this is not true. They say The Pontiac Tempest was due for a new name in 1964. It was to be called the "Grand Tempest", an optional car, based on the use of Pontiacs Grand Am and Grand Prix. Ferrari had not patented the GTO name in North America, so DeLorean grabbed that designation for the "Pontiac Grand Tempest Option".
The first Pontiac GTO was an option package for the Pontiac Tempest, available with the two-door coupe, hardtop, and convertible body styles. The US$295 package included a 389 cu in (6 l) V8 rated at 325bhp (242 kW) at 4800 rpm with a single Carter AFB four-barrel carburetor and dual exhaust, chromed valve covers and air cleaner, seven-blade clutch fan, a floor-shifted three-speed manual transmission with Hurst shifter, stiffer springs, larger diameter front sway bar, wider wheels with 7.50 × 14 redline tires, hood scoops, and GTO badges. Optional equipment included a four-speed manual, Super Turbine 300 two-speed automatic transmission, more powerful "Tri-Power" carburetion (three two-barrel Rochester 2G carburetors) rated at 348hp (260 kW), metallic drum brake linings, limited-slip differential, heavy-duty cooling, ride and handling package, and the usual array of power and convenience accessories. With every available option, the GTO cost about US$4,500 and weighed around 3,500 lb (1,600 kg). A tachometer was optional, and was placed in the far right dial on the dash.
Most contemporary road tests such as Car Life criticized the slow steering, particularly without power steering, and inadequate drum brakes, which were identical to those of the normal Tempest. Car and Driver incited controversy when it printed that a GTO that had supposedly been tuned with the "Bobcat" kit offered by Ace Wilson's Royal Pontiac of Royal Oak, Michigan, was clocked at a quarter mile time of 12.8 seconds and a trap speed of 112 mph (180 km/h) on racing slicks. Later reports strongly suggest that the Car and Driver GTOs were equipped with a 421 cu in (6.9 L) engine that was optional in full-sized Pontiacs. Since the two engines were difficult to distinguish externally, the subterfuge was not immediately obvious. In Jim Wanger's Glory Days he admitted after three decades of denial that the red drag strip GTO had its engine swapped with a 421 Bobcat unit. Since the car was damaged during the testing, and Wangers did not want anyone looking under the hood, he used the blue road course GTO to flat tow the red GTO 1,500 miles back to Detroit. Frank Bridge's sales forecast proved inaccurate: the GTO package had sold 10,000 units before the beginning of the 1964 calendar year, and total sales were 32,450.
Throughout the 1960s, Ace Wilson's Royal Pontiac, a Pontiac car dealer in Royal Oak, Michigan, offered a special tune-up package for Pontiac 389 engines. Many were fitted to GTOs, and the components and instructions could be purchased by mail, as well as installed by the dealer. The name "Bobcat" came from the improvised badges created for the modified cars, combining letters from the "Bonneville" and "Catalina" nameplates. Many of the Pontiacs made available for magazine testing were equipped with the Bobcat kit.
The precise components of the kit varied, but generally included pieces to modify the spark advance of the distributor, limiting spark advance to 34–36° at no more than 3,000 rpm (advancing the timing at high rpm for increased power), a thinner copper head gasket to raise compression to about 11.23:1, special intake manifold gaskets to block the heat riser to the carburetor (keeping it cooler), larger carburetor jets, and locking rocker nuts to hold the hydraulic valve lifters at their maximum point of adjustment, allowing the engine to rev higher without "floating" the valves. Properly installed, the kit could add between 30 and 50 horsepower (20–40 kW), although it required high-octane super premium gasoline of over 100 octane to avoid spark knock with the higher compression and advanced timing.
The performance manager at Royal Pontiac was Milt Schornack. Adhesive stickers were added to advise onlookers of the fact that these GTOs were "Royal Bobcats".
Optional with the Bobcat package was an extensive re-machining of the cylinder heads and block to "blueprint" the engine—that is, carefully machine the components so that their critical dimensions met the original GM factory blueprint specifications.
