1964 Pontiac GTO: Muscle Cars In Detail No. 8

Explore what makes the 1964 Pontiac GTO an automotive icon with this thorough look into the trend-setting vehicle’s origin, components, racing heritage, legacy, and more.As part of the Muscle Cars In Detail series, this book delivers a comprehensive review of this trend-setting and historic car. By the mid-1960s, the American automotive market was yearning for faster, more responsive, and sportier cars, and a crew of high-performance enthusiasts at Pontiac recognized this. Large V-8s were commonly installed in full-size cars, but performance was hampered by pure chassis weight. Under the guidance of Bunkie Knudsen, John DeLorean, Bill Collins, and others, Pontiac installed the high-performance 389 V-8 into the nimble and lightweight, intermediate-size LeMans chassis. It was a watershed moment for Pontiac; the 1964 GTO delivered astounding performance and created the muscle car blueprint that the Detroit manufacturers followed in the 1960s and 1970s.With a 389 V-8 engine, dual exhaust,