DETROIT IRON MOTORHEAD SHOP
MUSCLE CARS: PONTIAC
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Blueprint Series No. 22:
1962 Super Duty Catalina
Print #ENG-9
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Even though muscle cars “officially” were born in ‘64 with the GTO, the 421 Super Duty Catalina is still a member of the club. Here’s why.
In the olden days at GM, there were many attempts to build and offer to the public high performance cars. But unless they were carefully disguised, they were shot down. Performance options were often called “ towing option,” or “police option,” or “off road,” or “marine option.” The ‘62 Super Duty Catalina was one such car. This would have made for one heck of a police car or tow vehicle!
Here’s what was packed into the Super Duty 421 Catalina. Under the hood was an under-rated 405 hp 421 cid engine with 2-4bbl carbs, 13:1 compression, aluminum intake and exhaust manifolds. There was no heater unit or radio, and the car had a Hurst Shifter for the 4-speed. Aluminum body parts included the hood, inner and outer fenders, nose piece, valance, and various brackets. The suspension was everything heavy-duty. Some cars even had holes drilled in the frame rails and puffed out rear fenders for extra-wide tires needed for “towing.”
It all added up to a large, 3,700 pound Pontiac that could run low 12s in the quarter-mile at over 116 mph! And it was available at your local Pontiac dealer. It was heavy hitters like this that set the stage for the birth of the muscle car.
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Blueprint Series No. 5:
1964 GTO
Print #BPS-5
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John Z. DeLorean was one of the first car marketing guys to accurately take the temperature of the emerging street scene. DeLorean simply spent some evenings on Woodward Avenue and took notes. He noticed that the street racer-types were using mag wheels, loud mufflers, extra carburetors, a tachometer, and a Hurst shifter.
DeLorean’s proposed to Pontiac management too some hot parts from the racing efforts of the Pontiac NASCAR racers to their popular and light weight Tempest sedan. They picked up the GTO names from Ferrari and POOF!!!! Instant classic and a “Muscle Car Era” was born.
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Blueprint Series No. 16:
1966 GTO
Print #-BPS-16
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Print #BPS-16 John DeLorean’s ‘64 GTO is credited as the first “official” muscle car. By ‘66, the GTO had not only become a cultural happening, but had grown into a very well balanced street performance car. The GTO had the right combination of great looks, terrific interior trim, a cool name, a reasonable price, and solid street performance.
By ‘66 the GTO had also developed a loyal following on the drag strip. The Royal Pontiac GTO were tearing up tracks all over the country in Stock and Super Stock Eliminator racing. This provided GREAT press for Pontiac’s “Great One” the GTO.
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1965 GTO
Print #PO-1
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Although great things were to come for the GTO, as early as ‘65, the car looked like it was “done.” The GTO had all the right parts for go and show. IThad a cool attitude and was quickly nick-named, “the Goat.” The relatively light-weight GTO responded well to simple go-fast tricks such as headers, glass-pack mufflers, and a 4.11 rear gear-set. After that, all you needed was a reverb for your AM radio and your best babe.
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1965 GTO Profile
Print #PO-2
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1966 GTO Profile
Print #PO-3
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It must be very difficuly for car designers NOT to add weight to a car. All of the GM mid-size cars got a make-over for ‘66 and they all got just a little larger. Detroit was realizing that there was a market for mid-size cars. What a better way to sell a mid-size car than to say it’s now a little bigger? Must have worked because Pontiac had its best year with the ‘66 GTO selling 96,946 cars. It seemed that there were GTOs everywhere!
The slightly underrated 389-cid 360 hp engine had more than enough torque to handle the weight gain and still be a good street machine. The 400 engine wouldn’t become available in the GTO until ‘67.
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