The '66 GeeTO Tiger Tears Up Tulsa

[NewsBot]

Jim Wangers didn’t create the GTO, but the brand identity and mystique that defined Pontiac was his. The man who helped launch one of the world's first muscle cars was in Tulsa recently to spend time with fellow Pontiac enthusiasts, at the Tulsa Pontiac Nationals at Tulsa Raceway Park.


Images: GeeTO Tiger

The event was hosted by the Indian Nations chapter of the Pontiac-Oakland Club International, an organization dedicated to restoring and preserving Pontiac, Oakland and GMC vehicles.



Wangers was the chief marketing manager for Pontiac in the 1960s, when three men came up with the idea of putting a big engine in a smaller car. It was his job to publicize the resulting vehicle, called the GTO, which became an international sensation.

With the GTO in its second model year, Wangers wanted to showcase the car's performance, so he organized races of two identically prepared GTOs at drag strips across the country.



As before, Wangers tours the country with the new GeeTO Tiger to meet with fellow Pontiac performance enthusiasts and let them race against the Tiger. Upcoming stops include, the Indian Uprising in Geneva, IL, on 07/31 to 08/01/2010 and the Pontiac Nationals at Summit Raceway in Norwalk, OH, on 08/06 to 08/08/2010. The tour moves west from there to Chiefs Along the Channel in Ventura, CA, on 08/28/2010 and the Route 66 Rendezvous in San Bernardino, CA, from 09/16 to 09/19/2010.

In case you're still wondering who the three idea men behind the GTO were, their names are John DeLorean, Russ Gee and Bill Collins.




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