The
1965 GTO
In 1965, Pontiac
increased the rating of the standard 4-barrel engine to 335
hp but brought out a real goodie of an engine option. It was
still 389 cubes, but a new cam that had 292° intake duration,
302° exhaust duration and more streamlined cast-iron exhaust
headers added up to 360 big ones. And they meant it. Those weren't
just paper ponies. In the May 1965 issue of Car Life
magazine, Roger Huntington took some of his famed accelerometer
readings in a 360-hp GTO and found that the car was being propelled
by 345 actual horsepower at the clutch. And the true
torque reading was 420 ft.-lb. compared to the factory rating
of 424 ft.-lb. By the way, that issue was the first time the
word "supercar" was used to describe the new breed of big-engine
intermediates.
In
addition to the straight engine stuff, there was also a ram
air fresh-air package offered late in the model year. To cure
the braking problem--GTOs still used the pitifully small 9.5-in.
Tempest drum brakes--Pontiac offered finned aluminum drums with
harder organic linings. For still more abusive driving, it also
carried over the metallic lining option.
One
of the best parts of the whole scene in 1965 was pricing. We
thought they were high then, remember? In '65, the list price
of a base GTO was $2556. That's right, $2556! A loaded GTO with
the optional 360-hp engine, 4-speed transmission, power steering,
power brakes, metallic brake linings, rally wheels, Safe-T-Track
limited-slip differential, heavy-duty suspension, seat belts,
custom steering wheel
,
rally gauges including tachometer, tinted glass, padded dash
and AM radio listed at $3579, which means you could have probably
bought the car for around $2800! Now that was a bargain.Those
were the good old days.
They
say that the '65 GTO was the fastest GTO ever. They may be right.
The '65 body was still like the lean, taut original '64 body
style. Fully loaded, the car weighed just over 3400 pounds.
One thing was certain. The street guys were really into the
car now, buying
75,352
of them in '65.
DIMENSIONS
Length
(in) 206.1
Width (in) 73.1
Height (in) 54.0
Performance
for 1965 GTO