mongooz
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The 1964 Pontiac GTO often gets billed as the “first muscle car”, but there are probably a handful of other cars that could lay claim to the title, depending on how far back into history you want to go. One of those — and perhaps the most overlooked of the pioneering pavement pounders — was the Grand Prix, which launched in 1962 and helped set the stage for decade’s worth of hairy machines to follow.
The Grand Prix arrived as Bunkie Knudsen was on his way out the door at Pontiac, on his way to a promotion up the GM ladder to general manager of Chevrolet. But before he left the Pontiac wing, Knudsen successfully pushed for the brand to build the new sporty, refined and powerful Grand Prix. The sweet new hardtop coupe was an answer to Ford’s popular Thunderbird and actually replaced the Ventura — which became an offering in the Catalina lineup.
The Grand Prix was basically a fancier version of the Catalina, with better looks and an inspired menu of 389-cid engine choices. The “Grand Prix” name that was chosen for the model was pretty cool, too; referring to Formula 1 racing and translating to “Great Prize” in French.
read more: https://www.oldcarsweekly.com/features/car-of-the-week-1962-pontiac-grand-prix
