How fast is gto

In your mind's eye, you may draw a smug look on the young Huboi's face. The local Pontiac dealer who owned the car had optioned it out as closely as possible to its namesake Ferrari—no power steering or brakes, most powerful engine available, four-speed transmission—then sent it to school with his son to troll for potential customers.

Ferrari built only 39 GTOs, plus two prototypes, so the elimination process for the other half of the card was a breeze. For the Ferraristi in the audience—we know you're out there—that's serial number GT. Both GTOs were originally conceived for competition. In , Pontiac's third-place rank in U.

The muscle car—a huge engine in the smallest-possible body—was born. How wrong they were. No such machinations were necessary at Ferrari. Enzo could have christened his car "the ultimate," and we wouldn't quibble. Its Testa Rossa engine has been called one of the greatest powerplants of all time.

The coachwork makes the Mona Lisa look like a Cinderella who missed her appointment with the fairy godmother. GTOs are highly concentrated doses of the Ferrari essence, the most coveted road machines ever to wear the prancing horse.

Alongside the kill-for-me-red Ferrari, the pewter Pontiac looks like the box it came in. Its windshield is brusquely upright. Its fenders are sharply creased. But the greater glory today will go to the GTO with the more remarkable lap times and the better test results.

The green flag drops here. Gurney takes the Ferrari out first to dust the track. It's happy in that environment, particularly the engine.

It will rev to eight [ rpm] with ease. It feels smooth as the dickens most of the time, but occasionally the carburetors aren't really giving it what it wants.

Dan is notorious for his eagerness to fiddle with the machinery, and, true to form, he's ready to tune the Ferrari for quicker lap times. The gearbox is nice, but sort of slow. The shift lever and its throws are way too long. Aerodynamically, the Ferrari bodywork is wrong. When you're going fast and put on the brakes for a turn, you've got to get back on the gas to settle it down.

There isn't any understeer. A few minutes with some tin shears to make a bigger rear spoiler and I'd have that fixed! The steering is light, direct, and devoid of kickback.

The brakes require a heavy foot on the pedal, but they're quite effective. The rigidly mounted bucket seat ties you to the car with the efficiency of a trailer-hitch ball. The pedals are high enough and far enough to the left that one's knee gets jammed beneath the steering wheel during heel-and-toe downshifts, but get it right and it feels as if you were fending off the big guys at Le Mans where this little Ferrari came home fifth overall in Engine heat wafts up through gaps in the floor, and there's a bouquet of hot oil vapor from the tank behind the passenger's seat.

The sound is mechanical music. Whining gears, whirring chains, and crackling exhaust tips beg for more throttle. Twelve unfiltered carburetor throats roar for air at rpm; by , the "ripping canvas" shriek from the exhaust drowns out every other sound in the world. As soon as we touch back down to earth, Dan Gurney takes the Pontiac out for hot laps.

It does everything all right; it's just sort of pendulous and heavy. The progressive throttle linkage is something you have to dial into. Even so, the GTO proved to be a popular among those who wanted a fast, comfortable four-seat muscle coupe that flew under the radar.

It was also given top ranks for its ability to drift and a modified GTO driven by Rhys Millen represented one of the first ground-up professional drift car builds in the US back in the early days of D1GP and Formula Drift.

For the model year, Pontiac tried to address some of the criticism of the GTO's conservative styling by adding a scooped hood and dual exhaust outlets in the rear. Neither fundamentally changed the exterior of the car, but they did add a bit more visual excitement.

The bigger story came under the hood where the GTO was now powered by a 6. With the added displacement and power of the LS2, the GTO could now hit 60 miles per hour in under five seconds and rip off low 13 second quarter miles straight out of the box, all while delivering handling and balance far better then your typical muscle car.

The GTO continued for the '06 model year with the only real noticeable change being black-trimmed taillights. Now, some 13 years after the last GTO was sold and a decade after the Pontiac brand itself was shut down, the ''06 GTO remains a cult favorite and also a fantastic bang for the bang modern muscle car project.

Because of the slow demand it was common to find new or lightly used GTOs offered at heavy discounts, but in the years since the values for used GTOs seem to have stabilized—although they can still represent a tremendous bargain overall. Fortunately, aside from a few weak spots in the suspension that can be fixed with stronger replacements, the cars have proven to be quite reliable.

It is LS-powered after all Perhaps the biggest obstacle when it comes to buying a used GTO is keeping an eye out for cars that have been modified and abused. This goes for any used car, but thanks to its status as one of the cheapest, fastest V8s you can get there are plenty of trashed GTOs out there you'll want to be weary of. From there you can either leave it stock and enjoy it, or take advantage of the massive LS engine aftermarket and have some fun.

Car enthusiasts treat the Chevelle like a precious gem, a true racing vessel packed with a whole lot of power. Power: bhp kW rpm. Kerbweight: kgs lbs Top Speed: mph Data based on auction sales. Pontiac Models. Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel. Cover Letter. Ben Davis February 9, How fast is a Grand Am GT?