1967 Pontiac GTO Drive ?
#1
04-16-2012, 05:10 AM
1967 Pontiac GTO Drive ?
1967 Pontiac GTO Drive
If the shoe fits...
April 13, 2012
By Steve Magnante
| Photos David Freers
Editor's Note: This article on the 1967 Pontiac GTO originally appeared in the Summer 2011 issue of Motor Trend Classic.
At the outset of 1966, the GTO brand management team at Pontiac Motor Division (PMD) had a big problem on its hands. After a standout sales performance in 1965 (75,352 Great Ones sold, a 112-percent increase over the 32,450 GTOs sold in 1964), the pressure was on to maintain the lead sales position in the rapidly growing musclecar market. The big hassle was an internal edict from GM higher-ups banning all print, radio, and television advertising that portrayed any type of aggressive or irresponsible vehicle operation. All Detroit was under growing criticism from government safety groups like the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and GM -- having recently survived scrutiny from trust-busting politicians -- wanted no further attention from Capitol Hill.
Here's where it got sticky. A good chunk of those 1964 and 1965 GTO sales were spurred by a highly aggressive print and radio marketing campaign that emphasized the GTO's performance capability with the sights and sounds generated by its 389-cube V-8. Pontiac even reinforced the macho GeeTO Tiger theme with imagery depicting live (trained) tigers leaping and snarling. After all, the target buyer was the single, all-American male in the 18-25 age group. What better way to grab his attention than with a bombardment of print, radio, and television advertisements depicting the GTO in its tire-smoking, fish-tailing glory?
The work of a fruitful collaboration between PMD and its ad agency MacManus, John and Adams, the GTO ad blitz was unprecedented in its use of media stunts and relentless portrayals of the new GTO as an exciting, fun-to-own car. Who can forget the infamously fabricated magazine comparison between a Ferrari GTO and a Pontiac GTO? There were the expected print ads in the popular buff books showing burnouts and close-cropped images of the sexy Tri-Power induction setup, chrome-tipped exhaust splitters, and gloved hands rowing the Hurst four-speed stick. Television ads portrayed the GTO drifting around dusty corners, flat as a board, a fistful of opposite lock cranked into the red line front tires. And those AM radio ads. Only Pontiac took the time to rig a Tri-Power GTO with recording equipment to capture the aural thrill of the Rochester end carbs snapping open at full throttle on GM's Milford Proving Grounds. In fact, PMD produced a 45-rpm record of the Milford test titled "Big Sounds of the GeeTO Tiger" and sold 50,000 copies through a mail-in campaign. The mailing address was listed as P.O. Box 406A, 196 Wide Track Blvd., Pontiac, MI. You've got to love the attention to detail.
And let's not forget perhaps the greatest GTO marketing coup of all, the 1964 hit single by Ronny and the Datonas (sic) titled "GTO," but more popularly referred to as "Little GTO" (and recently aped by Volkswagen to hype the Golf GTi). Ronnie and the boys, it turns out, were actually a fabricated pop outfit consisting of Nashville-based session musicians, and "GTO" was essentially a 2-minute, 29-second commercial for Pontiac's -- nay, the world's -- first proper musclescar. Billboard magazine estimated the song was played more than 7 million times during its 17 consecutive weeks on the Top 40. The 45-rpm single also sold more than a million copies and reached number four on the charts in September 1964.
The sudden zero-aggression GTO advertising mandate of 1966 looked like a surefire sales chill. There would be no more television and radio ads with screeching tires and the exhilarating sound of full-throttle upshifts. The tiger had been declawed. What to do? Granted, the '66 GTO benefitted from refined sheetmetal. The squared-off '65 soldier gained some curves and sure was a looker. Maybe it would sell itself. Under hood, even more power was added to the 389 via an improved, over-the-counter Ram Air kit that now included a radical 301/313 duration hydraulic cam for dealer installation (a small number of Ram Air engines also may have been installed on the assembly line). But would these things be enough to counter the new world of ad restrictions, and increased competition from newcomers like the Mopar Street Hemi, Ford Fairlane GT 390, Chevy Chevelle SS396, and others?
Not if Jim Wangers had anything to do with it. Wangers, one of Detroit's more legendary marketing guys, was part of the original Pontiac GTO launch team in 1964. At the time, GM policy banned the installation of engines displacing more than 330 cubic inches in midsize models. Pontiac's 326-inch V-8 wasn't potent enough for GTO duty, so Wangers and the boys plucked the more robust 389 V-8 from the full-size line to achieve the desired power-to-weight ratio. To help keep this outlaw combination on the down low, they made the GTO an option group atop the LeMans, rather than a stand-alone model.
Yes, there were some initial ruffled feathers. In fact, had the GTO flopped, heads surely would have rolled. But when GTO sales exceeded all expectations, GM reversed course. Not only were the proper acknowledgements made to its chefs, but GM recognized the sales potential of the GTO's small-car-with-big-engine recipe for its other divisions. For the 1965 model year, the maximum midsize engine-displacement limit jumped from 330 to 400 cubic inches. This move opened the door to the Buick Skylark GS400, Chevy Chevelle SS396, and 400-cube variants of the Oldsmobile 4-4-2. The musclecar era was born.
To abide by the performance advertising clamp down of 1966, Wangers engaged in another wickedly devious maneuver. It started with a request by his boss, PMD president John DeLorean, to work a deal with the Thom McAn shoe company that would fix things in a jiffy. At the time, Thom McAn was a powerhouse with strong popularity among America's youth and 1500 retail stores nationwide, about 200 of which were large freestanding outlets with plenty of wide-open display space. It also didn't hurt that Wangers' research uncovered the fact that Thom McAn was the number-one buyer of advertising air time on America's Top 40 radio stations. The stars were aligned.
What resulted was the Thom McAn GTO, a hip but affordable $10.99 casual dress shoe intended to appeal to the same guys who might want to own a Pontiac GTO. For Pontiac, the main point was that Thom McAn was a division of the Melville Shoe Corporation of Providence, Rhode Island. It was as far removed from any type of connection to GM as NASA. As such, what Melville/McAn decided to put into its radio ads was free from any and all GM oversight. Of course, its GTO shoe radio spots featured plenty of explosive GTO sound effects. Revving Pontiac 389 engines and the sound of spinning Redline tires once again permeated the AM airwaves. But this time when Wangers' phone rang -- as it did frequently -- and the irritated management media watchdog on the other end slammed him for breaking the ban on aggressive radio spots, all he had to say was, "I can't control what Thom McAn is doing," smile, and calmly hang up the phone. Mission accomplished.
We weren't able to dig up a pair of actual Thom McAn GTO shoes for this story, but there appear to have been at least two styles for men: a pointed-toe affair with heavily textured leather uppers and an ankle-high, square-toe design. Both shared a sole design with these attributes: "The first shoe for dragging that looks and feels great off the strip...The heel and sole on the GTO were made to grip the accelerator (or the brake or the clutch)...The back of the heel is beveled to fit the angle between accelerator and floorboard, giving your foot free and easy action...When you're dragging, your feet won't." And, yes, stitched inside every GTO shoe was a miniature Pontiac GTO crest to complete the association.
In addition to these (and possibly other) men's styles, Thom McAn offered a version of the GTO shoe for women. A more delicate open-top design with pancake heels, they were available with suede or patent-leather uppers. Let's not confuse any of these offerings with actual racing gear. There simply is no comparison with, say, a pair of modern Simpson flame-retardant Nomex race boots, nor was there supposed to be. The Thom McAn GTO-branded shoes were mere fashion statements.
To bring home the cross promotion -- and sell some cars -- Pontiac's involve-ment included making sure each Thom McAn magazine ad featured a stunning GTO muscle machine somewhere on the page. Potential shoe buyers were instructed to visit their local Thom McAn outlet so they could fill out an entry blank to win a brand-new GTO. Once inside the retailer, they'd be greeted by (at the least) a window display featuring a pair of 1/25-scale GTO models on a miniaturized dragstrip diorama (complete with blinking Chrondek timer "Christmas Tree" starting lights that cycled from yellow to green 24 hours a day).
Visitors to the approximately 200 free-standing Thom McAn outlets nation-wide were in for an even greater treat. There was more floor space, so Pontiac went through the trouble of building 200 nearly identical '66 GTO hardtops. These so-called "uniform cars" each featured regular production Gold paint, a black vinyl top, Tri-Power 389, four-speed red line tires, and Rally I wheels. None of these cars was the actual giveaway prize; they merely served as bait to attract more attention to the sweepstakes. At the end of the promotion, the cars were likely returned to the sales bank and sold as demonstrator models with a small discount.Next Page >>
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If the shoe fits...
April 13, 2012
By Steve Magnante
| Photos David Freers
Editor's Note: This article on the 1967 Pontiac GTO originally appeared in the Summer 2011 issue of Motor Trend Classic.
At the outset of 1966, the GTO brand management team at Pontiac Motor Division (PMD) had a big problem on its hands. After a standout sales performance in 1965 (75,352 Great Ones sold, a 112-percent increase over the 32,450 GTOs sold in 1964), the pressure was on to maintain the lead sales position in the rapidly growing musclecar market. The big hassle was an internal edict from GM higher-ups banning all print, radio, and television advertising that portrayed any type of aggressive or irresponsible vehicle operation. All Detroit was under growing criticism from government safety groups like the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and GM -- having recently survived scrutiny from trust-busting politicians -- wanted no further attention from Capitol Hill.
Here's where it got sticky. A good chunk of those 1964 and 1965 GTO sales were spurred by a highly aggressive print and radio marketing campaign that emphasized the GTO's performance capability with the sights and sounds generated by its 389-cube V-8. Pontiac even reinforced the macho GeeTO Tiger theme with imagery depicting live (trained) tigers leaping and snarling. After all, the target buyer was the single, all-American male in the 18-25 age group. What better way to grab his attention than with a bombardment of print, radio, and television advertisements depicting the GTO in its tire-smoking, fish-tailing glory?
The work of a fruitful collaboration between PMD and its ad agency MacManus, John and Adams, the GTO ad blitz was unprecedented in its use of media stunts and relentless portrayals of the new GTO as an exciting, fun-to-own car. Who can forget the infamously fabricated magazine comparison between a Ferrari GTO and a Pontiac GTO? There were the expected print ads in the popular buff books showing burnouts and close-cropped images of the sexy Tri-Power induction setup, chrome-tipped exhaust splitters, and gloved hands rowing the Hurst four-speed stick. Television ads portrayed the GTO drifting around dusty corners, flat as a board, a fistful of opposite lock cranked into the red line front tires. And those AM radio ads. Only Pontiac took the time to rig a Tri-Power GTO with recording equipment to capture the aural thrill of the Rochester end carbs snapping open at full throttle on GM's Milford Proving Grounds. In fact, PMD produced a 45-rpm record of the Milford test titled "Big Sounds of the GeeTO Tiger" and sold 50,000 copies through a mail-in campaign. The mailing address was listed as P.O. Box 406A, 196 Wide Track Blvd., Pontiac, MI. You've got to love the attention to detail.
And let's not forget perhaps the greatest GTO marketing coup of all, the 1964 hit single by Ronny and the Datonas (sic) titled "GTO," but more popularly referred to as "Little GTO" (and recently aped by Volkswagen to hype the Golf GTi). Ronnie and the boys, it turns out, were actually a fabricated pop outfit consisting of Nashville-based session musicians, and "GTO" was essentially a 2-minute, 29-second commercial for Pontiac's -- nay, the world's -- first proper musclescar. Billboard magazine estimated the song was played more than 7 million times during its 17 consecutive weeks on the Top 40. The 45-rpm single also sold more than a million copies and reached number four on the charts in September 1964.
The sudden zero-aggression GTO advertising mandate of 1966 looked like a surefire sales chill. There would be no more television and radio ads with screeching tires and the exhilarating sound of full-throttle upshifts. The tiger had been declawed. What to do? Granted, the '66 GTO benefitted from refined sheetmetal. The squared-off '65 soldier gained some curves and sure was a looker. Maybe it would sell itself. Under hood, even more power was added to the 389 via an improved, over-the-counter Ram Air kit that now included a radical 301/313 duration hydraulic cam for dealer installation (a small number of Ram Air engines also may have been installed on the assembly line). But would these things be enough to counter the new world of ad restrictions, and increased competition from newcomers like the Mopar Street Hemi, Ford Fairlane GT 390, Chevy Chevelle SS396, and others?
Not if Jim Wangers had anything to do with it. Wangers, one of Detroit's more legendary marketing guys, was part of the original Pontiac GTO launch team in 1964. At the time, GM policy banned the installation of engines displacing more than 330 cubic inches in midsize models. Pontiac's 326-inch V-8 wasn't potent enough for GTO duty, so Wangers and the boys plucked the more robust 389 V-8 from the full-size line to achieve the desired power-to-weight ratio. To help keep this outlaw combination on the down low, they made the GTO an option group atop the LeMans, rather than a stand-alone model.
Yes, there were some initial ruffled feathers. In fact, had the GTO flopped, heads surely would have rolled. But when GTO sales exceeded all expectations, GM reversed course. Not only were the proper acknowledgements made to its chefs, but GM recognized the sales potential of the GTO's small-car-with-big-engine recipe for its other divisions. For the 1965 model year, the maximum midsize engine-displacement limit jumped from 330 to 400 cubic inches. This move opened the door to the Buick Skylark GS400, Chevy Chevelle SS396, and 400-cube variants of the Oldsmobile 4-4-2. The musclecar era was born.
To abide by the performance advertising clamp down of 1966, Wangers engaged in another wickedly devious maneuver. It started with a request by his boss, PMD president John DeLorean, to work a deal with the Thom McAn shoe company that would fix things in a jiffy. At the time, Thom McAn was a powerhouse with strong popularity among America's youth and 1500 retail stores nationwide, about 200 of which were large freestanding outlets with plenty of wide-open display space. It also didn't hurt that Wangers' research uncovered the fact that Thom McAn was the number-one buyer of advertising air time on America's Top 40 radio stations. The stars were aligned.
What resulted was the Thom McAn GTO, a hip but affordable $10.99 casual dress shoe intended to appeal to the same guys who might want to own a Pontiac GTO. For Pontiac, the main point was that Thom McAn was a division of the Melville Shoe Corporation of Providence, Rhode Island. It was as far removed from any type of connection to GM as NASA. As such, what Melville/McAn decided to put into its radio ads was free from any and all GM oversight. Of course, its GTO shoe radio spots featured plenty of explosive GTO sound effects. Revving Pontiac 389 engines and the sound of spinning Redline tires once again permeated the AM airwaves. But this time when Wangers' phone rang -- as it did frequently -- and the irritated management media watchdog on the other end slammed him for breaking the ban on aggressive radio spots, all he had to say was, "I can't control what Thom McAn is doing," smile, and calmly hang up the phone. Mission accomplished.
We weren't able to dig up a pair of actual Thom McAn GTO shoes for this story, but there appear to have been at least two styles for men: a pointed-toe affair with heavily textured leather uppers and an ankle-high, square-toe design. Both shared a sole design with these attributes: "The first shoe for dragging that looks and feels great off the strip...The heel and sole on the GTO were made to grip the accelerator (or the brake or the clutch)...The back of the heel is beveled to fit the angle between accelerator and floorboard, giving your foot free and easy action...When you're dragging, your feet won't." And, yes, stitched inside every GTO shoe was a miniature Pontiac GTO crest to complete the association.
In addition to these (and possibly other) men's styles, Thom McAn offered a version of the GTO shoe for women. A more delicate open-top design with pancake heels, they were available with suede or patent-leather uppers. Let's not confuse any of these offerings with actual racing gear. There simply is no comparison with, say, a pair of modern Simpson flame-retardant Nomex race boots, nor was there supposed to be. The Thom McAn GTO-branded shoes were mere fashion statements.
To bring home the cross promotion -- and sell some cars -- Pontiac's involve-ment included making sure each Thom McAn magazine ad featured a stunning GTO muscle machine somewhere on the page. Potential shoe buyers were instructed to visit their local Thom McAn outlet so they could fill out an entry blank to win a brand-new GTO. Once inside the retailer, they'd be greeted by (at the least) a window display featuring a pair of 1/25-scale GTO models on a miniaturized dragstrip diorama (complete with blinking Chrondek timer "Christmas Tree" starting lights that cycled from yellow to green 24 hours a day).
Visitors to the approximately 200 free-standing Thom McAn outlets nation-wide were in for an even greater treat. There was more floor space, so Pontiac went through the trouble of building 200 nearly identical '66 GTO hardtops. These so-called "uniform cars" each featured regular production Gold paint, a black vinyl top, Tri-Power 389, four-speed red line tires, and Rally I wheels. None of these cars was the actual giveaway prize; they merely served as bait to attract more attention to the sweepstakes. At the end of the promotion, the cars were likely returned to the sales bank and sold as demonstrator models with a small discount.Next Page >>
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#2
04-16-2012, 05:17 AM
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Last edited by Space; 04-16-2012 at 05:21 AM.
#3
04-16-2012, 08:14 AM
Nissan GT-R Vs Bentley Continental Supersports Drag Race - Motor Trend Video
Great Drag Race between to two Super Rides above..
Click & EnJoy ~> Take a Break ~> Dream Race = = = = = = = = = = =
Rocket vs Refinement, Hooligan vs Gentleman, GT-R vs Bentley: Who will win in this allwheeldrive turbo charged duel? The 621-horsepower, $273,000 Bentley Continental Supersports or the 485-horsepower, $87,000 Nissan GT-R?
Read more: Nissan GT-R Vs Bentley Continental Supersports Drag Race - Motor Trend Video
Great Drag Race between to two Super Rides above..
Click & EnJoy ~> Take a Break ~> Dream Race = = = = = = = = = = =
Rocket vs Refinement, Hooligan vs Gentleman, GT-R vs Bentley: Who will win in this allwheeldrive turbo charged duel? The 621-horsepower, $273,000 Bentley Continental Supersports or the 485-horsepower, $87,000 Nissan GT-R?
Read more: Nissan GT-R Vs Bentley Continental Supersports Drag Race - Motor Trend Video
Last edited by Space; 04-16-2012 at 08:19 AM.
#4
04-16-2012, 03:57 PM
That was an interesting read. Pontiac had ways of getting around GM oversight. One of the reasons I don't care so muc hfor GM Muscle cars is that GM just hindered their development. Think of all that could have been had GM just lifted that ban earlier... but I know they had their reasons.
In 1968, Pontiac figured out another way. Woodward Avenue was known by many to be the street racing capital of Detroit. So they put this picture of their GTO as a magazine article up with the caption, "You know the rest of the story" implying that you know it wins the street races.
My uncle has a '67 convertible GTO Judge. Worth a lot of money, it was even in the movie "Carnival" or something like that... a horror movie. HE just won't do a damned thing with it.
In 1968, Pontiac figured out another way. Woodward Avenue was known by many to be the street racing capital of Detroit. So they put this picture of their GTO as a magazine article up with the caption, "You know the rest of the story" implying that you know it wins the street races.
My uncle has a '67 convertible GTO Judge. Worth a lot of money, it was even in the movie "Carnival" or something like that... a horror movie. HE just won't do a damned thing with it.
Last edited by Cowboy6622; 04-16-2012 at 04:00 PM.
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