I was 11 years old when the song “LITTLE G.T.O.” by Ronnie & The Daytonas came out in 1964. Pontiac built some of the fastest street car engines of that era. I never owned a Pontiac because I liked the Ford and Chevy engines better. The GTO was one of the top 10 bad cars to own in the ’60s, but they were not as fast as the big Chevy and Ford engines, and Chrysler engines too, like the original 426 cubic inch “Hemi”. Not even mentioning all the smaller super fast engines produced too.
For a lot of folks the words in the song bring back a lot of memories. Chances are if you are about my age (56) and loved cars back then, the first verse would have a lot of meaning. The car with “Three deuces and a four-speed and a 389″ was one of the top 10 ” baddest” factory cars you could buy back then. There was a bunch of competition between car makers to have the fastest production street cars back then.
I’m sure my last statement will be debated amongst the ‘loyal to their brand’ of car guys from the ’60s who believe what I say about Chevy and Ford engines to be true about Pontiac engines. And I respect that. Because disrespecting another mans brand of car was fighting words back then. If you wanted to really get a GTO guy mad, call his car a Garbage Truck with Overdrive or Gas Tires and Oil or Get The Tools Out and you better know the oldest form of self defense, running!
You are not going to find to many good used 389″ Pontiac engines out there anymore. The good 389″ Pontiac engines with three deuces that are in existence are in the hands of the “Pontiac” guys mostly. The rest of them probably need to be rebuilt to be any good as an engine for sale. There are plenty of the 389″ engines anyway.
Enjoy the lyrics, it’s a fun song.
Little GTO, you’re really lookin’ fine
Three deuces and a four-speed and a 389
Listen to her tachin’ up now, listen to her why-ee-eye-ine
C’mon and turn it on, wind it up, blow it out GTOWa-wa, (Yeah, yeah, little GTO)
Wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa (Yeah, yeah, little GTO)
Wa-wa, (Yeah, yeah, little GTO)
Wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa (Yeah, yeah, little GTO)
Wa-wa (Ahhh, little GTO)
Wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, waYou oughta see her on a road course or a quarter mile
This little modified Pon-Pon has got plenty of style
She beats the gassers and the rail jobs,
really drives ’em why-ee-eye-ild
C’mon and turn it on, wind it up, blow it out GTOWa-wa, (Yeah, yeah, little GT”)
wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa (Yeah, yeah, little GTO)
Wa-wa, (Yeah, yeah, little GTO)
Wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa (Yeah, yeah, little GTO)
Wa-wa (Ahhh, little GTO)
Wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, waGonna save all my money (turnin’ it on, blowin’ it out)
and buy a GTO (turnin’ it on, blowin’ it out)
Get a helmet and a roll bar (turnin’ it on, blowin’ it out)
and I’ll be ready to go (turnin’ it on, blowin’ it out)
Take it out to Pomona (turnin’ it on, blowin’ it out)
and let ’em know (turnin’ it on, blowin’ it out), yeah, yeah
That I’m the coolest thing around
Little buddy, gonna shut you down
When I turn it on, wind it up, blow it out GTOWa-wa, (Yeah, yeah, little GTO)
Wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa (Yeah, yeah, little GTO)
Wa-wa, (Yeah, yeah, little GT)
Wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa (Yeah, yeah, little GT)
Wa-wa (Ahhh, little GT)
Wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa
That was a great era, being in your teens and loving cars. It is different now, people still like to go fast and the new breed of go fast cars use super modern engine technology and are seamless, smooth and quiet as they accelerate from 0 to 100 in about 12 seconds. What is missing is the pure raw feeling and sound of a huge engine hooked to a 4 speed transmission pinning you into the seat as it goes from 0 to how much nerve you have, back to a stop. After an exiting and scary blast like that, I would have weak or jelly legs for a few minutes.
I learned to slow down eventually, but I still love cars. I don’t have the need for speed anymore, but I still love the cars and engines produced in the ’60s that defined what a muscle car is. Enjoy.