Who really owns the GTO name?

Looks like GM filed in 2002, after Ferrari's 288 GTO came out.

I guess Ferrari won't be selling a GTO 'mark 3' over here.

 

Was the GTO abbreviation ever an official designation for the original 250 GT Ferrari? I believe it's like the Daytona, it was never an official model designation just some the automotive press tagged the model with. I don't know about the 288 GTO.

 

I did a trademark search and as of 7-15-2004 the Pontiac GTO trademark was listed as abandoned. The initial filing was 2002. I don't have a clue as to what this means.

 

If GM continues to lose big money, Ferrari will buy them for the GTO name and sell everything else to the Chinese

 

I thought that both sides came to an agreement some years ago.. GM picked it up when Ferrari wasn't using it, and vice versa.

 

Doesn't GTO stand for Gran Turismo Omologation (homologation)?

Seems like it would be tough to trademark a name like that, when it's a common phrase and is in another language...

What does GTO have to do with GM anyways? I know about the GTO, but other than a fancy-sounding name, was there anything else behind the naming of the "goat"?

 

Gran Tourismo Omologato, I think.

 

Correct. One is a GTO and one is a "modified Pon-Pon" as Ronnie and The Daytona's sang.

 

I was so close! I knew I should've added the "(sp?)"...

 

Yeah and:

Ferrari F550 Maranello
Ford F550 Super Duty
MBZ S550
BMW 550i

oops!

 

Hahaha... "modified Pon-Pon"

So, there really isn't anything behind the name GTO used in the case of the Pontiac, other than a marketing pitch?

 

Well it was a GTO and it won more races than Ferrari's 250 GTO.

The whole concept of GTO was something Enzo had a bit of a problem with.
At one point he tried to claim that the 250LM was simply another version of the 250 GTO a series 3 250 GTO if you like.

The FIA responded with the French equivalent of:
ROTFLMAO

 

It's pretty clear that the 250GTO or the 288GTO will never be confused with the American version or the more recent Australian American version...

Watch out, it's coming back again as the 2008(9??) Pontiac GTO on the shared new Camaro platform....

And I thought I might get another Trans Am with a screaming chicken hood decal.......

Not to be.........*sigh*

 

Sorry if my muscle car history is fuzzy, but...

Was the Pontiac GTO simply an upper trim level of a lesser model, or was the car actually built for homologation purposes, so it could be raced?

 

That was pretty clever of Enzo I thought...

"It's still the same car.....we just put the motore back here, for better balance....."

I don't think it would have made much difference, the 250LM was TWICE as hard to handle, in the hands of amatuers...I watched some guys track tuning one once......sway bars littered the ground around them.......

 

It's a LeMans coupe (another Euro reference!) with the larger 400CI engine package, even with triple carb set up and redline sidewall tires....

4 speed Muncie and you were set to go.....straight ahead for 1/4 mile........

That's the real difference, IMO........one turns really well and the other one launches in a straight line, front tires in the air.....

 

It was built to be raced but the places it raced didn't require FIA papers so far as I know.

I remember coming up against one in my 54 Stude. Luckily I had crammed in a Tri Power 421 but off the line his Red Lines had a bit more bite so he had me for a while but in the end my Hot Rod Stude came through.

 

Shame, shame! 421 CI with triple carbs,,,,

 

Thank you for the clarification on the Goat!

 

Did that come originally? I got my 421 out of a wrecked Catalina. Maybe my Stude was lighter or maybe it was that Scheifer Clutch.


1964
The first Pontiac GTO was an option package for the Pontiac LeMans, available with the two-door sedan, hardtop coupe, and convertible body styles. For US$ 296, it included the 389 in³ V8 (rated at 325 hp (242 kW) at 4800 rpm) with a single Carter AFB four-barrel carburetor and dual exhaust, chromed valve covers and air cleaner, 7 blade clutch fan, a floor-shifted three-speed manual transmission with Hurst shifter, stiffer springs, larger diameter front sway bar, wider wheels with 7.50 x 14 redline tires, hood scoops, and GTO badges. Optional equipment included a four-speed manual transmission, two-speed automatic transmission, a more powerful "Tri-Power" carburation rated at 348 hp (260 kW), metallic drum brake linings, limited slip differential, heavy-duty cooling, ride and handling package, and the usual array of power and convenience accessories. With every available option, the GTO cost about US$ 4,500 and weighed around 3,500 pounds (1,600 kg).

Most contemporary road tests used the more powerful Tri-Power engine and four-speed. Car Life clocked a GTO so equipped at 0-60 miles per hour (0-97 km/h) in 6.6 seconds, through the standing quarter mile in 14.8 seconds with a top speed of 99 miles per hour (158 km/h). Like most testers, they criticized the slow steering, particularly without power steering, and inadequate drum brakes, which were identical to those of the normal Tempest. Car and Driver incited controversy when it printed that a GTO that had supposedly been tuned with the "Bobcat" kit offered by Royal Pontiac of Royal Oak, Michigan, was clocked at a quarter mile time of 12.8 seconds and a top speed of 112 mph (179 km/h) on racing slicks. Later reports strongly suggest that the Car and Driver GTOs were equipped with a 421 in³ (6.9 L) engine that was optional in full-sized Pontiacs. Since the two engines were difficult to distinguish externally, the subterfuge was not immediately obvious. Frank Bridge's sales forecast proved inaccurate: the GTO package had sold 10,000 units before the beginning of the 1964 calendar year, and total sales were 32,450.

 

That's true though, the FIA had little oversight out on Old Landfill Road, by the levee....

On the plus side, our safety workers had better t*ts..........

 

Napolis your vast database has out run me....but thanks!


You DID have to find a wrecked Catalina for the large valve heads, I stripped a few sets of those....

And the darn rear rope main seal would definately deflower your driveway, even when new.....