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[Mark Yacavone]

From Wiki :
The first generation of the GTO is credited as popularizing the muscle car market segment in the 1960s.[2][3] The Pontiac GTO is considered by some to have started the trend with all four domestic automakers offering a variety of competing models.


Origins (of the GTO)

In early 1963, General Motors' management banned divisions from involvement in auto racing. This followed the 1957 voluntary ban on automobile racing that was instituted by the Automobile Manufacturers Association.[6] By the early 1960s, Pontiac's advertising and marketing approach was heavily based on performance. With GM's ban on factory-sponsored racing, Pontiac's managers began to emphasize 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 second-generation Pontiac Tempest (which reverted to a conventional front-engine with front transmission configuration) into a sporty car, with a larger 389 cu in (6.4 L) Pontiac V8 engine from the full-sized Pontiac Grand Prix hardtop coupe in place of the standard 326 cu in (5.3 L) V8. By promoting the big-engine option as a special high-performance model, they could appeal to the youth market (which had also been recognized by Ford Motor Company's Lee Iacocca, who was at that time preparing the Ford Mustang variant of the second generation Ford Falcon compact).

The GTO disregarded GM's policy limiting the A-body intermediate line to a maximum engine displacement of 330 cu in (5.4 L). The development team discovered a loophole in the policy which does not restrict large engines to be offered as an option.[1] Pontiac general manager Elliot "Pete" Estes approved the new model with sales manager Frank Bridge limiting initial production to 5,000 cars.


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