The Reading Warehouse

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, and a standard 3-speed or optional 4-speed manual transmission, the GTO supplied extraordinary performance. To harness the power and provide superlative handling, the GTO was fitted with stiffer springs, a limited slip differential, large-diameter front sway bar, and wider wheels. And to give it panache, the GTO was adorned with distinctive badges and hood scoops. The 1964 GTO is a landmark car, and this book goes well beyond the glossy overview in other books.

All In Detail series books include an introduction and historical overview, an explanation of the design and concepts involved in creating the car, a look at marketing and promotion, and an in-depth study of all hardware and available options, as well as an examination of where the car is on the market today. Also included is an appendix of paint and option codes, VIN and build-tag decoders, as well as production numbers.