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1973 Pontiac GTO Article from 198? Thunder Am magazine

The below illustration of a turned-on '73 GTO was on the cover of "CARS" magazine April 1972. Car won the "TOP PERFORMANCE CAR OF THE YEAR AWARD", partially based on the info that the car would be available with the SD-455 engine. Pre-production cars tested with the Super Duty engine were hands-down hottest performance cars coming out of Motown.

1973 WAS THE TAIL END OF A 9-YEAR RUN OF "REAL" GTO'S. IT WAS THE LAST GOAT IN A SANFORIZED FORMAT, AS IT WAS SHRUNK CONSIDERABLY FOR '74, AND THE "SD-455" OPTION PREVIEWED BY THE PRESS WOULD HAVE MADE IT A HEAVY DUTY PERFORMER IN THE ESTABLISHED GTO TRADITION.

By Tony Lyons

As far as the hard-core GTO enthusiast was concerned, the '73 GTO was a sorry excuse for a supercar. Pontiac had literally invented the supercar concept in 1964 and, less than a decade later, it appeared as though Pontiac had taken a giant step backwards. The GTO had lost its taut packaging and extensive option lists and Pontiac was giving the impression that it was truly floundering in the area of high performance cars. Little did most of us realize that by 1974 it would all be over.

For 1973 Pontiac made use of its new 112-inch "all-purpose" (coupe and sedan) chassis which it wrapped with a new, controversial style body designed to accommodate the new obtrusive (no, ugly) 5-mph bumpers. While the styling was well received by common garden variety LeMans purchasers, the number of W-62 GTO option models sold told a much bleaker story. For the 1973 model year, Pontiac ended up selling just 4806 GTO-optioned LeMans models, a far cry from Pontiac's numbers during the glory days of the supercar.

But, was the '73 GTO a real supercar or had Pontiac sold enthusiasts down the river? Sure it was a supercar - a 1973-style supercar. The deck was stacked against Pontiac from the start because of emissions laws, new noise level standards, safety specifications for crash testing and a very real malaise in the once virile high performance marketplace. Working with the new body style in the area of supercar packaging wasn't easy and Pontiac was trying to tailor a suitable car to a very specific market. The net result was a car that was more than highly competitive in 1973 and actually had few peers in its segment of the marketplace. It was just a simple matter of a marketplace that had been shrinking at an alarming rate.

When the 1973 GTO was shown to the press in June, 1972 it was debuted as being available with an impressive array of powerplants including the one engine that could have established the GTO as a landmark performance car. That engine was the Super Duty 455 rated at 310 net horsepower. Unfortunately, it never officially happened. Between the early press introduction and the public introduction along with the complete Pontiac line for 1973, Pontiac built a number of SD-455 GTOs and Grand Ams. However; it is doubtful that many of those cars ever worked their way into the hands of the general public. The option was killed in these cars under the guise of it not meeting the new federal noise levels. For some reason, noise was not a problem with the Firebird.

Interestingly enough, the product planning and marketing concept behind the '73 GTO was very little different than that of the original GTO. Product planners checked the buyer demographics of previous model GTOs and found that there were two groups of buyers: young adults who were interested in performance, and the affluent professional who wanted the performance image, but with the amenities as weH. To satisfy both groups, Pontiac introduced the '73 Grand Am with a high level of standard luxury features and the '73 GTO with a high level of standard high performance trim. The philosophy behind the GTO was to make it as low priced as possible to attract the young buyer, and to keep the overall weight as light as possible for improved acceleration. They felt it should have a solid base engine-400 inch 4-barrel-and a dynamite suspension package. It was treated to 15-inch wheels with 60-series tires for better traction and superior cornering and handling.

The concept was sound and basically so was the execution. While there was little to be gained in real world perforance, Pontiac also added an optional barrel 455 as well as the "now you see it, now you don't" SD-455. With the SD-455 engine option, the product planners knew they had the makings of the highest performance intermediate car in America. Unfortunately, the SD-455 GTO never materialized as far as the public was concerned.

Pontiac did an excellent job in the suspension department, however. The '73 GTO offered an extra firm, flat cornering ride that almost bordered on the objectionable in areas such as New York City. In place of the usual 1-inch front sway bar they moved up to a 1 1/4 inch diameter piece with a 1-inch bar spanning the rear in place of the usual 7/8 inch job. The philosophy here was to maintain the standard spring rates and control roll stiffness with the use of front and rear stabilizer bars. This would ensure a reasonable ride. They did not use radial tires (although they were used on certain models in 1973) because they were too expensive for the GTO package and they didn't have the cornering ability of the 60-series shoes. Also, the product planners felt that fat, white lettered tires were better suited for the GTO marketplace.

The GTO option on the LeMans consisted of a black-out grille, space age hood scoops, cheap contrasting colour GTO decals on the fenders and deck 1id. dual exhausts with long chrome extensions and old style Moon-type hubcaps on 7-inch steel wheels. You could get luxo options including bucket seats, and there was a Ram Air option with functional scoops announced at the early press intro. We've never seen a factory Ram Air package on a production car. The louvered quarter windows were stock on the new style body.

In the area of engines, the 4-barrel 400-incher was the overall winner as 455-inch installations were limited to 519 sport coupes and 25 coupes. The extra 20 horsepower (230 hp at 4400 rpm vs 250 hp at 4000 rpm) was not a big selling point. Automatic transmissions overshadowed 4-speeds as just 1125 4-speed 400-inch GTOs were produced.

How successful was the GTO for 1973? Was it a real supercar or just another Motown copout? As far as unit sales were concerned, the '73 GTO was a failure of Titanic proportions. With less than 5000 units sold it holds the record for the Worst Selling GTO. However, the other side of the coin is that the car rates as a desirable collectible because of its low production numbers. The '73 GTO was not a copout. It was a true supercar and just about the best in its class in 1973. It had the image goodies, the reasonable price tag and big engines with lots of potential under the hood. It just didn't come together like it should have. Whether it would have done better if the SD-455 was available is anyone's guess. We think it could have made a monumental difference. Styling is a very subjective field and we feel that is the area that Pontiac blew it in. However, we don't think they had much of a choice in 1973 with Big Daddy riding herd over the automotive industry.

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