Featured in this article is a great looking 1968 Pontiac GTO Convertible. The Pontiac GTO, many would say the first true muscle car, was an automobile built by Pontiac from 1964 to 1974. As they say, this is one impressive GOAT.
The Birth of the Pontiac GTO
The GTO was the brainchild of Pontiac engineer Russell Gee, an engine specialist, and Pontiac chief engineer John DeLorean, later an automaker himself. It’s said that DeLorean came up with the GTO designation based on the Ferrari 250 GTO, a very successful race car, which didn’t sit too well at the time with GT Class followers.
Many would say that the Pontiac GTO was born when General Motors engineers at the GM Proving Grounds just outside of Detroit fitted a Pontiac LeMans with a more powerful engine. It simply was the art of placing a more powerful engine in a lighter car. This formula had actually been used by hot rod enthusiasts for some time and DeLorean was keen to see how this combination performed.
The 1968 Pontiac GTO
The A-body from General Motors was redesigned for 1968. The A-body had more curves with a fastback styling. The wheelbase was 112.0 inches, three inches shorter than the 67 models, for all two-door automobiles. Also, the car’s overall length for 1968 was reduced 5.9 inches and the height was shorter one-half inch. Even with the reduction in size the overall weight was up about 75 pounds. Another change were hidden headlights instead of the stacked 0-purc[grilas backith thGOATho usscoopength fs/imauallydormsscoopey s ei75 poounds juis o ussreduho usbul. A="we