Arrival

Mechanical

Finish

Vehicle information

The Pontiac GTO is an American automobile built by Pontiac Division of General Motors from 1964 to 1974, and by GM subsidiary Holden in Australia from 2004 to 2006.

It was a muscle car classic of the 1960′s and 1970′s era. Although there were earlier muscle cars, the Pontiac GTO is considered by some to have started the trend with all four domestic automakers offering a variety of competing models.

The GTO underwent a few styling changes in 1967. The louver-covered tail lights were replaced with eight tail lights, four on each side. Rally II wheels with colored lug nuts were also available in 1967. The GTO emblems located on the rear part of the fenders were moved to the chrome rocker panels. Also the grill was changed from a purely split grill, to one that shared some chrome.

The 1967 GTO came in three body styles:

• Hardtop – 65,176 produced
• Convertible – 9,517 produced
• Sports Coupe – 7,029 produced

The GTO also saw several mechanical changes in 1967. The Tri-Power carburetion system was replaced with a Rochester Quadrajet four-barrel carburetor thanks to Ed Cole, meaning only Chevrolet would have a Tri-Power option for Cole’s beloved Corvette. The 389 engine received a larger cylinder bore (4.12 inches, 104.7 mm) for a total displacement of 400 CID (6.5 L)V8. The 400 cubic inch engine was available in three models: economy, standard, and high output. Also for 1967 would be a new cylinder head design changing the valve angle for accommodation of a straighter shot to the combustion chamber and to allow for larger valve sizes to be used. This was done mainly along with the displacement increase to make up for the loss of horsepower by eliminating Tri-Power carburetion, which was Pontiac’s iconic performance option since 1957. The economy engine used a two-barrel carburetor rather than the Rochester Quadrajet and produced 255 bhp (190 kW) at 4400 rpm, and 397 lb·ft (538 N·m) at 4400 rpm. The standard engine produced 335 bhp (250 kW) at 5000 rpm, and the highest torque of the three engines at 441 lb·ft (598 N·m) at 3400 rpm. The high output engine produced the most power for that year at 360 bhp (270 kW) at 5100 rpm, and produced 438 lb·ft (594 N·m) at 3600 rpm. Emission controls were fitted in GTOs sold in California.

1967 also saw the installation of significant safety equipment as required by federal law. A new energy-absorbing steering column was accompanied by an energy-absorbing steering wheel, padded instrument panel, non-protruding control knobs, and four-way emergency flashers. A shoulder belt option was also featured which can be used in 1966 models as well as the 66 models have the provision in the roof section for the harness belt (it’s covered by the headliner).

The two-speed automatic transmission ( the variable pitch Super turbine 300 was also replaced with a three-speed Turbo-Hydramatic TH-400, but was retained for lesser Tempest and Firebird models. The TH-400 was equipped with a Hurst Performance Dual-Gate shifter, called a “his/hers” shifter, that permitted either automatic shifting in “Drive” or manual selection through the gears. Front disc brakes were also an option in 1967.

GTO sales for 1967 remained high at 81,722.