Pontiac's Imitation Ferrari

In the 1940s, car enthusiasts in California starting dropping high power V8 engines into smaller cars. It took twenty years for the concept to work itself halfway across the country to Michigan and get into the automakers' executive suites. When it did arrive, it was as loud as the exhaust of those souped up hot rods, and nowhere was it as loud as at the Pontiac division of GM.

By the mid-50s, the thirty year old Pontiac label, having been formed to bridge the economical Chevrolet and the middle of the road Oldsmobile, had settled into a boring rut. It was the car of choice for the middle aged, middle income auto consumer. With the appointment of a new division head, Bunkie Knudsen, things started to change. Among other things, Pontiac started selling racing parts and winning more than a few checkered flags along the way. Having acquired lead engineers from Olds and Packard, everything started to change in Deerborne. To soup up their V8 engine, Pontiac started using a system of three two barrel carbs, known as Tri-Power, which later became a mainstay for the GTO. It was perched on the 347 c.i. big block engine.

In 1961, the top management at Pontiac again changed, the legendary John DeLorean moved closer to the helm, and they were solidly on the road to the GTO and automotive history. Because the GM management forbade using big block engines in existing mid-size models, they began offering it as part of an optional package and were able to circumvent GM's ban on larger engines in the smaller cars. It was DeLorean who named the new option package after the 1962 Ferrari Grand Turismo Omologato or GTO. The Pontiac GTO was like getting a hot rod or performance car straight from the showroom, combining high performance and high style.