vLane Blog

PDW: 1964 Tempest GTO

From Derek Kreindler, Featured Contributor
Posted on April 29, 2009

Filed under GM, General Motors, Classic, Feature, Coupe, Pontiac, Pontiac

Before the Mustang, the Camaro, the Charger and even the Judge, there was one common ancestor. Without it, there would be no muscle car era to speak of. The Pontiac Tempest GTO broke all the rules and created an entirely new class of car, and immortalizing the classic American formula: small car, big engine.

Never one to abide by the rules, De Lorean and his team created the GTO option package, allowing them to sidestep the rule, since the GTO was an option package rather than a separate model line. The GTO package cost $296 in 1964 and included a 389 cubic inch V8 making 348 horsepower and 428 lb-ft of torque. Other options included a manual transmission with a Hurst shifter, upgraded suspension, bigger wheels and tires and the all important dual-exhaust. A "Tri-Power" package further upped the ante, with a hotter carburetor, posi-traction, a different suspension package and more luxury features.

The first GTO lacked the visual drama of the later cars, but it represents the muscle car in its purest form. Without the hood scoops, psychadelic paint and mag wheels of the late 1960's cars, it serves as a zeitgeist for the buttoned-down, Camelot era of the United States, where overwhelming might was tempered with a patrician sense of modesty.

Derek Kreindler is a featured contributor for vLane.