Refreshed styling & more power turn the second iteration of the car that started the Supercar Revolution into the ’65 PONTIAC GTO: RAM-AIR TIGER!
Seemingly overnight, Pontiac, with its GTO, created and then dominated a new performance car category, Supercars. Targeting young enthusiasts in both age and mindset, Pontiac created a powerful, exciting intermediate-size car. It had all the right stuff, standard or optional: tri-power 389/348 engine, four-on-the-floor, HD suspension, metallic brakes, bucket seats, and Safe-T-Track rears. Fortunately, the Tempest line was due for refreshed styling, and the GTO – still an option and not a distinct car line – benefitted from a new front end with vertically stacked headlamps. And it retained what had become an iconic, almost endless option menu. Sales doubled to 75,352.
During the 1965 model year, there was a little-known, backdoor performance program that generated six lighter-than-stock GTOs specifically tagged for drag racing. The man rumored behind the project was Jim Wangers, who had Pontiac General Manager John DeLorean’s ear as well as a close relationship with Royal Pontiac and the high-performance Pontiac community. At the time, there was not a lot of information about the building of five white and one black “lightweight” ’65 tri-power GTOs, or when they were built. Unlike the killer Fords and Mopars in Super/Stock with fiberglass and aluminum body panels, the six lightweight GTOs were fitted with front body panels stamped from thinner-than-stock gauge steel. On the dealer side, Royal’s Dick Jesse was somehow involved in this project.
These rare GTOs had blue or red interiors, no radios or heaters, small radiators, and cheapie steel wheels. By reducing weight over the front wheels, racers were able to put the necessary weight back into the cars at ideal positions for maximum traction. The five white GTO lightweights went to Dick Jesse at Royal Pontiac, Howard Maseles at Packer Pontiac, Arlen Vanke at Knafel Pontiac, and West Coast racer Cecil Yother. A New York City area Pontiac dealership received one and repainted it red. The black one went to a local Detroit, very loyal Pontiac drag racer with a connection to John DeLorean.
Pontiac also upgraded GTO engines that were rated at 335 horsepower with a single four-barrel and 360 with tri-power. Increased power was attributable to intake manifold and head modifications. The ’65 GTO ushered in the first of what would be a mainstay of performance GTO models and options – “Ram Air.” On August 17, 1965, Pontiac dealers started selling a new Air Scoop Package, #984716, for converting tri-power GTOs to fresh air induction. Priced at $70 retail, the do-it-yourself or dealer-installed Ram Air Kit included a tub or fixture complete with gaskets, foam, and hardware that sealed stock air cleaners to the underside of the hood. Replacement trim was used when the decorative hood scoop was opened, allowing fresh air to flow to the carbs.
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