The Uncommon GTO Even Hardcore Pontiac Followers May Not Know About

There is no forgetting the Pontiac GTO from the Sixties. It was one of many first vehicles ever to achieve the moniker of “muscle automobile” and it, together with different high-powered vehicles from the period, helped change the automobile scene eternally. It is simply one of the crucial iconic Pontiac’s ever made and one of the crucial recognizable American vehicles interval. Whereas everybody could keep in mind the 1969 Pontiac GTO “Decide” their dad and mom bragged about, the 1973 mannequin yr GTO is noticeably much less well-known.

The early Seventies marked the waning years of muscle vehicles. Because the gasoline disaster loomed and emissions controls took over, the large V8s that powered plenty of American vehicles began to provide much less and fewer energy. 1973, particularly, would mark one of many final years for the venerable GTO. So what did the GTO seem like because it was leaving the muscle automobile period? The reply is that it seemed fairly totally different than its tire-burning forbearers, and it is a lot rarer, too.

[Featured image by Elise240SX via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 4.0]

For those who walked right into a Pontiac dealership in 1973, you seemingly would not see a GTO. That is as a result of it wasn’t even its personal mannequin, however a trim degree for the Pontiac LeMans. The GTO as a devoted mannequin resulted in 1972. These LeMans-based GTOs are known as “Colonnade” model vehicles, because it makes use of the GM A-body that was prevalent among the many Common Motors lineups within the mid-Seventies. 

One have a look at the 1973 GTO and you may instantly inform it is from the early Seventies. Inventory examples have goofy little rubber bumpers on the entrance sheet steel, and it has two huge bug-eye headlights. But, regardless of all of the regulation-induced nonsense, it is not with out its attraction. Below the hood was both a weak model of the Pontiac 400 V8, or a barely extra highly effective (but nonetheless comparatively weak) Pontiac 455 V8.

It’s comparatively uncommon, and solely 4,806 1973 GTOs have been ever purchased. 50 years later, there are seemingly dramatically much less and unmodified examples are borderline not possible to seek out. For instance, the proprietor of the GTO within the lead picture fitted aftermarket wheels and eliminated the security bumpers. The GTO within the embedded video has aftermarket exhaust and wheels.

The 1973 Pontiac GTO is not a foul automobile by any means, even when it is a little bit odd trying in comparison with the extra muscular GTOs of the previous. It is an odd relic of the time when American automakers needed to adapt in a short time to altering tides. A inventory one seemingly will not win you any races, however it would possibly win you a number of factors at an automotive trivia evening.