When I was a kid my uncle had a 63 Pontiac Tempest with a 326 engine 3 speed manual in the floor. When he got it he would occaissionally refer to it as a GTO, at the time I just thought it was a Tempest, one day he was out working on it with the hood up and right there made into the grill were the letters GTO. This was back in the late 60's and the car is long gone, but was wondering if anyone is familiar with Pontiac badging a few old Tempest with GTO nameplates in the grill? GTO did not officially come ot until 64.
1963 Tempest GTO
Dec 27, 2003
7 Replies
This exact story was posted 3 years ago - use Google's "groups" search and you should be able to find the original thread. The answer has not changed in the last three years - there were no '63 Tempests that had GTO badges put on them by Pontiac. An appropriately equipped '63 did get "326" badges, but none of them got "GTO". If your uncle's '63 had "GTO" badges, someone else put them there (most likely your uncle).
That said, a lot of people like to call the '63 Tempest their "baby GTO", and you frequently see '63s advertised as "GTO" in newspapers and on eBay. But technically it isn't correct, and it still won't be correct three years from now.
Erik
No such thing as a REAL '63 GTO let alone one with a 326. GTO's got the 389. Someone put the GTO badges on.
I have owned 3 of these in my 53 years and none had any type of GTO badge..As others have said someone other than factory put them there. The 63 is a foot shorter than the 64 GTO hence the term Baby GTO. I am building a 1963 Lemans now with a 455 and have replaced the transaxle wit a Mopar rear end and a turbo 350 bolted up to the engine giving the "lil" goat more of a standard look.
'64 goat? dont know 'bout tat. think goat come out in '66. do dat 326 have tri-power (3 dueces) or a vacume gae on de console?
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Are you serious? The first year for the GTO was 1964.
DS
Goats date back to the 13th Century
BAHHHHHHHHHH
lol !!!
========= Harryface =========
1991 Pontiac Bonneville LE, 3800 V6 _~_~_~_~275,068 miles_~_~_ ~_~_GTO came out in 1964 he may have had possession of one in late 63 , no 326 engine.
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