1st Impression - GTO

[humara]

Originally Posted by Grizzly

My point exactly...You don't take some already in production car, regardless of how good it may be, slap a new grille in it and call it a GTO. For those who don't know, the original GTO was the first true musclecar.

Umm, isn't that exactly what the original GTO was? they took some already in production car (the tempest) and slapped a new grille and engine in it and called it a gto. the name gto isn't even original. the name was "inspired by" ferrari. and when they say "inspired by" they mean ripped off. that coke head john delorean probably didn't even know what gto stood for.

[Grizzly]

Originally Posted by humara

Umm, isn't that exactly what the original GTO was? they took some already in production car (the tempest) and slapped a new grille and engine in it and called it a gto. the name gto isn't even original. the name was "inspired by" ferrari. and when they say "inspired by" they mean ripped off. that coke head john delorean probably didn't even know what gto stood for.

The difference is that when Gee, Delorean, Estes, Knudsen, Wangers and the others got together and built the first muscle-car, they were doing something totally new. They took a cheap, midsized car, stuffed it full of motor and went hunting a previously unfulfilled market.

The fact that they named the car GTO was no accident. They pilfered the name on purpose, as a tongue in cheek shot at Ferrari. The purists went nuts, which was exactly what marketing genius Jim Wangers was hoping. It caused a stir within the automotive community and attracted a lot of attention that the car may not have otherwise garnered. One of the car magazines at the time actually pitted the Ferrari GTO against the Pontiac GTO. Much to Ferrari's chagrin, the Pontiac handily outran the Ferrari in straight-line acceleration (the only thing Pontiac really cared about), further solidifying the Goat's street cred.

Those guys built an entire automotive movement by doing something that hadn't been seen before, and targeting a specific and under-served market segment. As a result, the Pontiac GTO name became automotive legend. Pontiac made a bad choice when they chose to revive the nameplate and stick it on a completely uninspiring vehicle, which doesn't give even the slightest nod to GTO's history.

Had Pontiac taken the performance of their current car and wrapped it in an attractive body, which was reminiscent of the GTO's storied past, the car could have been great, and Pontiac's sales numbers might have reflected their success. Instead, they dropped the ball, and the final chapter in GTO's history is one of dismal sales numbers for a fast Sunbird look-alike.

[yellowboxster01]

Grizzly are you speaking of the 288GTO?

Grizzly, good history lesson. Thanks!

[Grizzly]

Originally Posted by yellowboxster01

Grizzly are you speaking of the 288GTO?

It was the 250 GTO, produced from '62 - '64. The 250 GTO was an interesting story in itself. Ferrari was able to convince the racing regulators that the GTO was a 250 GT, which had been converted for racing, when in fact, it was a largely different, purpose built race car. Only 30 or so Ferrari GTOs were ever built. I don't know how many survived, but when they're offered for sale, they go in the ten-million dollar range.

Originally Posted by bmussatti

Grizzly, good history lesson. Thanks!

Yeah Bill, I'm a wealth of completely useless muscle car information, but ask me if I remembered to take the trash out. I have no idea.

[yellowboxster01]

So they ran a modern day GTO against a early 60's model Ferrari. Big deal, run that GTO against any modern day Ferrari and they'll get their ass handed to them. The GTO250 was top dog in the 60's and 70's but, really is nothing compared with any of the F series.

I remember a few years back an American car company ran one of their new cars and said "beats a Ferrari in the quarter mile". No where in there did it say which model, it turned to be a Mondial.

[Grizzly]

Originally Posted by yellowboxster01

So they ran a modern day GTO against a early 60's model Ferrari. Big deal, run that GTO against any modern day Ferrari and they'll get their ass handed to them. The GTO250 was top dog in the 60's and 70's but, really is nothing compared with any of the F series.

I remember a few years back an American car company ran one of their new cars and said "beats a Ferrari in the quarter mile". No where in there did it say which model, it turned to be a Mondial.

No, no, no. They ran the '64 Pontiac GTO against the '64 Ferrari GTO back in 1964. If I remember clearly, it was Car and Driver Magazine, but I could be wrong.

[yellowboxster01]

oh ok, my bad. Well that's a relief. I misread that.haha

That's something I wouldn't put past an American car company but, now that I fully understand, that makes alot more sense.