The Pontiac GTO was a sedan marketed by Pontiac in the sixties and seventies, and later revived in 2002. It has been billed as the "first muscle car" due to its use of an engine designed for a large car when in fact it was a smaller car. The term, however, is controversial, as plenty of other American performance cars had come before it, a notable example being the radically-designed 1962 Ford Thunderbird.
Name[]
GTO stands for Gran Turismo Omoligato, Italian for "Grand Touring Homologated" (grand touring qualified). The name is shared with the Ferrari GTO. Incidentally, the Pontiac GTO was seldom if ever used in GT racing in its original incarnations. When revived the GTO was used in the Rolex Sports Car Series GT class, albeit with minimal success.
First Generation[]
The original GTO was essentially a performance package of the Pontiac Tempest and Le Mans. Despite its description as a "small car with a big engine", the GTO was no smaller than the Tempest.
Second Generation[]
The second generation became sportier and more powerful. It sported a special edition known as the GTO Judge.
Third Generation[]
The GTO was redesigned again for the seventies, using elements also applied to the Firebird.
Revival[]
The GTO was revived based on the Holden Commodore. Due to its bland styling during the craze for all things retro, the new GTO did not sell well, and was quickly discontinued. The Commodore also forms the basis for a car/truck hybrid known as the Hodlen Ute, which is sold in Africa as Chevrolet. A Pontiac version for the US market was planned as a spiritual revival of the Chevrolet El Camino, but Pontiac's discontinuation canceled those plans. A Chevrolet version is still under consideration.
Motorsport[]
The GTO was primarily used in NASCAR, but the revived model was used in the Grand American Road Racing Association (Grand Am) Rolex Sports Car Series. It was later replaced with the Pontiac G6 and G8. Upon Pontiac's demise, those were replaced with the Chevrolet Camaro. The RSCS also used Pontiac engines in their Daytona Prototypes until Pontiac's demise, after which the prototypes were rebranded as Chevrolet. These engines were restricted to a maximum of five liters, however.
Music[]
The song Little GTO was written about the Pontiac GTO. The song mentions "You oughta see her on a road course.", which is odd considering that the GTO was predominantly used in oval racing (although NASCAR did use Riverside International Raceway and Watkins Glen International at that time). There was also a song called Mighty GTO.
Concept Car[]
A concept GTO was created in 1999 using the classic GTO's "Coke bottle" shape. It was never produced.
Video Gaming[]
The GTO is popular in racing video games. It appears in Forza Motorsport 4 in original, Judge, and revival models. Only the Judge was carried over into future games, however.