Pontiac GTO: How Track Racing Met the Street

Pontiac GTO is not just another classic collectible- it's a piece of history. Pontiac GTO combined race track performance in everyday street cars and started a whole new era in American automobile industry and subsequently changed the dynamics of automotive industry worldwide. Click here to read more.

Classic cars are often sought for their racing properties. However, manufacturers started shying away from auto racing in the early 1960s. General Motors was the first to lead this movement away from racing as its management team banned various divisions from being involved in the development or support or auto racing, which was in response to the Automobile Manufacturer Association’s ban on racing support in 1957. During this time, Pontiac's advertising was largely skewed towards performance properties of their cars and how well their cars actually do on the street. The GTO led the way for this.

The minds behind Pontiac's creation of the GTO were John DeLorean, Bill Collins and Russ Gee. The trio were assigned with the duty of transforming and existing prototype for the Pontiac Tempest into a more street-friendly vehicle by doing away with racing performance and going back to a conventional front-engine with front transmission configuration. This, combined with Pontiac's now legendary V8 engine taken from the Catalina, made for something that was still quite peppy and worthy of racing, but didn't carry the marketing stigma associated with racing and effectively worked around the ban and the bounds it imposed on manufacturers.

The initial production run was limited to 5,000 vehicles as Pontiac's sales manager, Frank Bridge, didn't believe it was an idea that would take off. After all, they were working in very uncharted waters and weren't really sure what to expect from the experience as a whole. Fortunately, the vehicle took off in large numbers and it has become the high-demand classic that so many collectors try to get their hands on to this very day.

Unfortunately, it is an ageing vehicle that needs special consideration when it comes to protecting it against the harsh elements. With a vehicle that is decades old, the sun's harmful rays can damage its finish and even a downpour could cause issues for its electrical circuitry. There is an answer though. Premium car covers that are specially manufactured for the GTO are available from www.carcover.com. These not only protect the car itself, but also protect a collector's investment to ensure excellent resale value in the future. There's simply no better option when it comes to protecting a GTO and making sure it will go the distance for years to come.