No doubt the EPA, government safety standards and the energy crisis had a hand in killing off the muscle car. However, what really did them in were insurance premium surcharges on anything remotely construed as a performance car. While domestic manufacturers had their hands full scrambling to comply with governmental standards, monthly insurance payments that many times surpassed car payments relegated our beloved behemoths to the back burner in buyer's minds. One such "victim of circumstance" was this 1973 Pontiac GTO; what we refer to as the last of the real "GTO's".
We say "real GTO" because while the Chevrolet Nova based, Ventura GTO for 1974 and 1975 may have seemed innocuous enough at the time, in hindsight it's as off putting in the same way as seeing Tom Brady in a Tampa Bay Buccaneers uniform is going to be. GM had the good sense to not festoon "GTO" to anything else save for that Holden based thing of 2004-2006 infamy.
Seeing how great the rubber nosed '73 Grand Am's were we wonder why Pontiac even bothered with a GTO for '73 in the first place. Our somewhat educated guess is that the '73 Grand Am was supposed to be the next GTO but Pontiac, much in the same way Chevrolet had their "Laguna S3", tagged the car "Grand Am" to help it fly under insurance company radars. Curiously, Chevrolet also had a Chevelle SS for '73. Why? Who the hell knows. Knowing that muscle cars did in fact have their fans inside GM at the time perhaps it was a nostalgia play.
What forty-eight hundred and six buyers got with a GTO for '73 over a LeMans or LeMans Sport was a "heavy-duty" three speed automatic or four-speed manual with floor shifter, either a two-hundred and thirty horsepower, four-barrel, four hundred cubic inch V-8 or, backed by an automatic transmission only, a two-hundred and fifty horsepower, four-hundred and fifty-five cubic inch V-8; the legendary, three-hundred and ten net horsepower and new for '73 "SD-455" was not offered on the GTO. They also got firm shocks, heavy duty sway bars, GTO badges and a special hood with non-functioning NACA ducts (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics). The ducts were allegedly designed to be functional but the functioning parts never made it to production. Supposedly buyers could get the plumbing to make it all work as a dealer installed option although legend has it there were like ten takers. By the way, of forty-eight hundred some odd GTO's that left the factory in 1973, only five-hundred and forty-four were powered by the larger engine.
Speaking of the SD-455, again and interestingly, Pontiac didn't offer it on either the GTO, the Grand Am or the Grand Prix. Cubic inch for cubic inch, it was the most powerful engine ever offered in a Pontiac up to that time and was available only on the Trans Am. What had been their performance halo car, the GTO, all but becoming an afterthought. The Grand Am and Grand Prix were marketed more as "grand touring cars" as opposed to "performance cars".
Compared to today's new car showrooms that are jam packed with vehicles that are utility based, seeing a Pontiac lineup that consisted of vehicles that were nothing if not first and foremost appearance conscious, first and foremost, is a bit of head scratcher. And between the LeMans coupe, Grand Am, Grand Prix and GTO, not to mention the Firebirds and two door versions of everything else they offered, Pontiac had a lineup for 1973 that coupe lovers like us can only dream about today.
Y'know, depending on the way you look at things, sometimes the good old days were in fact great.
What forty-eight hundred and six buyers got with a GTO for '73 over a LeMans or LeMans Sport was a "heavy-duty" three speed automatic or four-speed manual with floor shifter, either a two-hundred and thirty horsepower, four-barrel, four hundred cubic inch V-8 or, backed by an automatic transmission only, a two-hundred and fifty horsepower, four-hundred and fifty-five cubic inch V-8; the legendary, three-hundred and ten net horsepower and new for '73 "SD-455" was not offered on the GTO. They also got firm shocks, heavy duty sway bars, GTO badges and a special hood with non-functioning NACA ducts (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics). The ducts were allegedly designed to be functional but the functioning parts never made it to production. Supposedly buyers could get the plumbing to make it all work as a dealer installed option although legend has it there were like ten takers. By the way, of forty-eight hundred some odd GTO's that left the factory in 1973, only five-hundred and forty-four were powered by the larger engine.
Speaking of the SD-455, again and interestingly, Pontiac didn't offer it on either the GTO, the Grand Am or the Grand Prix. Cubic inch for cubic inch, it was the most powerful engine ever offered in a Pontiac up to that time and was available only on the Trans Am. What had been their performance halo car, the GTO, all but becoming an afterthought. The Grand Am and Grand Prix were marketed more as "grand touring cars" as opposed to "performance cars".
Compared to today's new car showrooms that are jam packed with vehicles that are utility based, seeing a Pontiac lineup that consisted of vehicles that were nothing if not first and foremost appearance conscious, first and foremost, is a bit of head scratcher. And between the LeMans coupe, Grand Am, Grand Prix and GTO, not to mention the Firebirds and two door versions of everything else they offered, Pontiac had a lineup for 1973 that coupe lovers like us can only dream about today.
Y'know, depending on the way you look at things, sometimes the good old days were in fact great.
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