This year marks 60 years since some rebels at Pontiac stuffed a big block motor in a mid-sized car to jump start the Muscle Car era – three deuces, 4-speed, and 389.  At the Goodguys Nationals in 2024, 80 of these legendary GTOs gathered to celebrate the model’s wide appeal in the classic car hobby.  Cars on display included the 1964-1974 years, as well as later models when the GTO were revived from 2004-2006.   Here is a sampling of the GTOs that attended the event.

1970 Jim Wangers’ Woodward Racer

Although Jim Wanger was never employed by Pontiac, he was instrumental in promoting GTOs and other performance cars of the GM division. In addition to helping get GTOs in magazines of the day, he worked with Pontiac engineers to fine tune speed equipment by testing prototype engine mods. He did this on Detroit’s famous street racing scene, Woodward Ave. Here he would challenge Hemis and other big block cars with his specially prepared GTOs. He would then let the Pontiac engineers know what worked and what didn’t. His 1970 racing Goat was painted in the Hurst color scheme, even though it was not associated with the shifter company. Although Jim’s original car has been lost to history, its significance to the era was captured in a die cast model. When a current day GTO enthusiast, Randy Moore, saw this model, he decided to recreate Wangers’ street racer. Hear his story in the below video.

For more about the 2024 GoodGuys Nationals Flagship Event in Columbus, OH, click here.