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Now In Our 35th Year
851 W. Wheat Road - Vineland, NJ 08360
856-692-0087 fax 856-692-1009
corvettes@contes.com

Now In Our 35th Year

 

THE FAMOUS CAR & DRIVER GTO
MARCH 1964 ISSUE



Muscle Car Review May 1996


The Car & Driver GTO is on display at Conte's Corvettes & Classics. I have owned the car since 1991 and the GTO was recently featured in Pontiac Enthusiast Magazine, January 1996 Issue where the GTO was "raced" at Limerock Raceway in Connecticut against a 1964 Ferrari GTO - for a photo shoot to recreate the original roadtest.

Most recently, the GTO has been featured in The History of the Muscle Car--1964 GTO on Speedvision. My car is the backdrop for Jim Wanger's interview, as well as all footage of the red '64 GTO.

Footage was taken in 1995 at Limerock Raceway when Pontiac Enthusiast did a photoshoot of the car. In addition it has appeared in Muscle Car Review Magazine - April/May 1996 Issue and was recently photographed by the same for another article.

The GTO was also the Cover Car for the March 1989 Issue of Muscle Car Review commemorating the 25th anniversary of the roadtest.


The Story Behind the Famous "Car & Driver" GTO


"Go Go GTO . . . . If You're Lookin' for speed you can get your kicks. Wind her up to 60 Now in 4.6"


Little did I know as a kid listening to these lyrics in Jan & Dean's hit record "My Mighty GTO" in 1964, that it would someday be My Mighty GTO! The story actually begins in late 1963 when Hot Rod Magazine tested a basic 4 barrel, powerglide automatic 1964 GTO and proclaimed the car a slug. Enraged, Pontiac's head of Public Relations, Jim Wangers, stormed into Chief Engineer John Delorean's office and demanded he pick the cars that would go to the press for road tests. One of the results is my Grenadier Red '64 GTO.

Wangers ordered the car with all the goodies, including tri-power carburetion, close ratio 4-speed, 3:90 Saf-T-Track rear gears, transistorized ignition and "insulation delete" options.

Here's where the story gets a little fuzzy. Jim Wangers claims the car was shipped directly to dealer # 679 - Royal Pontiac in Royal Oak, Michigan. Others involved with the car at that time claim a 421 Super-Duty motor was covertly installed by Pontiac Engineering prior to shipment to Royal.

At any rate, Royal performed their famous "Royal Bobcat" treatment on the GTO, the very first GTO so equipped. The car was, in Jim Wangers' own words, "well set up." The GTO was then loaned to David E. Davis, Car & Driver Magazine's Editor- in-Chief. Wangers and Davis came up with the idea of testing the Pontiac GTO agains t a real Ferrari GTO (from which Pontiac had stolen the GTO name). In the resultin g road test, which was published in Car & Driver's March 1964 issue, the Pontiac GTO turned the unbelievable times of 4.6 seconds 0 to 60 MPH and 13.1 seconds through the 1/4 mile. Jim Wangers was happy. John Delorean was happy. Pontiac sold tons of GTOs. The "Muscle Car" revolution was born and the rest is history!

UPDATE:

In his book "Glory Days," Jim Wangers finally admits on pages 106 & 107 that the "Car & Driver" GTO was a ringer! Wangers did have a 421 Super-duty installed prior to the roadtest!

How did I come to own this milestone GTO? In June 1991, my friend, Bob Androckitis, from The Checkered Flag Collection in Millville, NJ, called and alerted me that the car had just become available. A quick decision had to be made. All I had to go on was a set of faxed photos and a description. The original owner, Bill Sherman, had passed away the year before. His widow, who lived in Pennsylvania, could provide only sketchy documentation at the time and hadn't see the car in two years. The car was still in Royal Oak, Michigan. If the GTO turned out to be "The GTO," the "Car & Driver GTO," my roll of the dice would have turned up Lucky 7's.

When the GTO was delivered to me from Michigan, it was, with the exception of the powertrain, a very nice unrestored GTO with the original-paint and original interior. It currently has approximately 44,000 miles (some of those accumulated long ago on race tracks) and with the exception of maintenance items, it is the same as when I received it. And best of all, Bill Sherman was a pack rat. He saved everything, including the original bill of sale from Royal Pontiac which notes "Wangers' Demo," protecto-plate, owners manual, original certificate of title, bank finance agreement, etc.

So that's how a Corvette nut like me came to own the most controversial Pontiac GTO of all time.

As of April 2005, the Car & Driver GTO has a new home. Very cool story---the new owner---a car-guy from an early age. The new owner's father worked with Jim Wangers during the time when Jim drove the GTO as a demo. He remembers riding in the Goat at age 5. Must have made quite an impression. I was excited to find someone who values the history and the nostalgia of this legendary muscle car. So if you live in sunny California, and you see a Red '64 Goat cruising by, it just might be the "Car & Driver GTO"!!!!!




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