Quickest GTO

Which GTO was the quickest right off the showroom floor; one with no mods, no Royal Bobcat treatment, strictly pure stock all the way? Well, Jim Wangers "the man" that marketed the GTO to legendary status has an opinion based on personal knowledge and driving experience. According to Jim, the quickest pure stock GTO's were:

#1: 1969 Ram Air IV; 400 CI, 370 hp, 041 cam, RA IV heads	13.90 et	101.50 mph
#2: 1971 455 HO; 455 CI, 335 hp, 068 cam	13.97 et	100.00 mph
#3: 1966 389 Trip-Power, 389 CI, 360 hp, 3-2 Rochesters, 10.75:1 comp, 068 cam	14.10 et	98.40 mph
#4: 1969 Ram Air III, 400 CI, 366 hp, 744 cam or 068 cam	14.10 et	98.20 mph
#5 1968 Ram Air II, 400 CI, 366 hp, 041 cam	14.19 et	98.00 mph

Interesting GTO engine facts: Did you know that of the 72,287 GTOs produced in 1969, only 759 had Ram Air IV engines and 8,491 were Ram Air IIIs. Of the 10,532 GTOs built in 1971, only 936 were 455 HOs. Tri-power 389s were numerous in contrast to these engines, with 19,045 powering 96,946 GTOs in 1966. The 19681/2 Ram Air II engines were fewest in number with merely 246 engines out of 87,684 powering GTOs for 1968. The Ram Air II engine was the precursor for the Ram Air IV in 1969.

Sources: Production numbers from the book entitled "GTO" by Bill Holder and Philip Kunz, 1977, MBI Publishing Co., and, GTO Red Book, Pontiac GTO 1964-1974 by Peter C. Sessler; Jim Wanger's picks, gleaned from Muscecar Review Magazine, article written by Paul Zazarine, June/July 1995 copy, pgs 64-67.