America's first muscle car, the Pontiac GTO, debuted in 1964. The name, inspired by the Ferrari 250 GTO, and the engineering derived from the infamous John DeLorean, who at that time served as Pontiac's chief engineer. The GTO is essentially a high performance Pontiac Tempest and was originally offered as an options package on the LeMans.
The car proved an instant hit largely due to the top 10 hit song, Little GTO by Ronnie and the Daytonas.
Featured here is a 1970 model, the second generation styling of the popular muscle car. The car features a 400 cubic inch motor with Ram Air III, and an automatic transmission. This particular car offers and impressive "knock you back in your seat" acceleration. The variable-ratio power steering allowed better handling than earlier models.
The 70's unfortunately ushered in the decline of the muscle car phenomena due to higher gas prices and the punitive charges assigned by insurance companies to high performance automobiles. By 1974, the craze had all but faded.
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