With nicknames like the Goat, the Tiger and the Great One, the 1964 Pontiac GTO quickly earned a reputation as a true American muscle car (especially when equipped with the 348 hp Tri-Power engine).

The GTO began as nothing more than a $296 extra-equipment package available on the $2,480 Pontiac Tempest LeMans. The GTO package included a floor shifter, dual exhaust, stiffer shocks, super premium or white wall tires, and of course, a 389 cubic-inch V-8 engine to replace the the LeMans’ standard 326 cubic inch power plant.

What’s in a name?

In the early 1960s, Pontiac’s chief engineer was none other than John DeLorean. Some say that DeLorean was Inspired by the Ferrari 250 GTO when he suggested adding “GTO” to the model name of the high powered Tempest. In Italian, GTO stands for Gran Turismo Omologato, and it applies to the grand touring class in racing. Knowing this, some critics say that the GTO moniker was inappropriately applied to Pontiac’s muscle car.

Of course, there are others that say that’s not where the GTO name came from anyway. Instead, they argue that GTO stood for “Grand Tempest Option,” in relation to the Pontiac, that is. Either way, Ferrari hadn’t patented the GTO name in North America so DeLorean snatched it up for Pontiac.

Ironically, thanks to a little subterfuge, an early Pontiac GTO actually produced Ferrari-like numbers when a Car and Driver magazine test car turned in a 0 to 60 time of 4.6 seconds. The GTO had the so-called “Tri-Power” engine. To create this engine, Pontiac engineers had merely replaced the single 4 barrel carburetor in the GTO’s 325 hp, 389 cu-in engine with three 2 barrel carburetors, resulting in a 348 hp behemoth. (The 1965 GTO Tri-Power was rated to 360 hp.)

The Bobcat Upgrade

The use of the stock Tri-Power engine for the Car and Driver test was certainly legitimate, but the test cars also enjoyed the benefits of a unique “Bobcat” tune-up kit that Ace Wilson’s Royal Pontiac of Royal Oak, Mich. had devised. The Bobcat name came from the two full-size cars that the GTO’s engine came from, the Bonneville and the Catalina. The upgrade was believed to have yielded the GTO another 30-50 horsepower. Given the results of other tests at the time, the true 0 to 60 time for a GTO Tri-Power was probably more in the 6.6 seconds range. Still impressive, but not exactly competition for a Ferrari!

The sales and marketing experts at Pontiac estimated that the 1964 GTO would generate perhaps 5,000 sales. Instead, this new muscle car with the controversial GTO moniker generated over 30,000 sales in its very first year.