[music playing]
NARRATOR: 1964 was a seminal year for change in America.
A new generation was questioning authority
and shaking up the status quo.
1964 was also a pivotal year in the auto industry,
especially as the spirit of non-conformity
inspired a brash engineer at Pontiac.
TAMARA WARREN: John DeLorean is one of those iconic names
in the auto industry.
He'll always be known for the DeLorean DMC,
but his legacy goes farther back.
ANNOUNCER: General Manager Mr. John Z. DeLorean.
[applause]
NARRATOR: In 1964, John DeLorean,
along with fellow Pontiac speed junkie Jim Wangers,
embraced the rebellious spirit of the day.
They hatched a plan to make a powerful car
out of their mid-sized Tempest.
John DeLorean had this great idea.
Because he couldn't put the big engine in a small car,
he made the big engine an option, like a box you could
check, a trim package; like AC or a radio,
or something like that.
Oh, no big deal.
It just has this rules-flouting big V8 in it.
NARRATOR: DeLorean and Wangers even gave this new option
package a bold name.
Let me introduce you to another brand
new series, the GTO.
STEVE LINDEN: GTO is a great name.
It means Gran Turismo Omologato, which
means it's a grand touring car, but they had homologation
rules, which was really just a fancy way of saying you had
to produce a certain number and sell it to the public
if you wanted to race it.
Ferrari had a beautiful car called a GTO,
and I think they probably just piggybacked
off that name a little bit. [music playing]
(SINGING) Pontiac, it's a breakaway car--
breakaway car.
[inaudible]
GREG WALLACE: It's one of those cars, when you get it out
on the floor and you walk around it,
it's a home run from every angle.
From the simulated hood scoops, and then that great engine
with the chrome valve covers and the three carburetors on it.
Interior bucket seats were a big deal at the time,
and a four-speed shifter.
I mean, there's-- nothing says muscle car like that.
NARRATOR: In addition, marketing genius Jim Wangers came up
with a brilliant ad campaign.
NARRATOR 2: A guy goes out and gets a genuine tiger--
a Pontiac GTO, that is--
and guess who suddenly loves cats?
The advertising campaigns of the day with the tiger--
the hood would open up, and a tiger would jump out of the--
I mean, this was all marketing things that were eye-catching,
you know?
And once people really see that as a premium
performance vehicle, it sold itself after that.
NARRATOR 2: The tiger scores again.
NARRATOR: Priced at only $2,800, about $22,00 today,
the GTO was a smash hit.
It sold more than 32,000 units in its first year, the highest
for any first-year Pontiac.
Thanks DeLorean and his trouble-makers,
Detroit finally saw the demand for smaller, stylish cars
with big, powerful engines.
The automakers were now poised to revolutionize
the car industry by taking the hot rod culture mainstream.
These mass-produced rides would soon
become known as muscle cars.
DENNIS MCCARTHY: Within General Motors,
everybody was trying to then jump on that bandwagon,
because the car was just a huge hit.
The car was everywhere.
It was like rock and roll.
You got to remember, all these divisional managers
were competing internally with Pontiac.
And that internal competition is what created
that muscle car revolution.
NARRATOR: GM's individual brands were off to the races
to make their own muscle cars and cash in.
Buick had the Skylark.
Chevy debuted the Chevelle SS and the Nova.
The success of these new muscle cars
was undeniable, thanks to the DeLorean and Wangers
sidestepping the rules.
They had revolutionized the auto industry.
The muscle car had its roots in these outlaw hot rods
and all this back channel stuff, but now you
can go to your dealer, and you could get the car.
They commercialized a rebellion.
NARRATOR: With an idea so popular,
GM wouldn't be the only muscle purveyor in town for long.
The auto industry is great at imitating success.
And so once GM did it, then everybody else said, oh, maybe
we need to do that as well.
JEFF THISTED: If they're doing it, then it's safe for us.
We're not the guys hanging out there alone.
At least they're doing it first, and it's
all about making money.
So you put the big engine into the little car,
it's a winning combination.
[tiger growl]