Danville Street Sighting - 1967 Pontiac GTO Convertible

I don't always have access to my DSLR when I find cool vehicles on the street. This was one of those moments when all I had available was a potato iPhone 4. I'm trying to use up some of the older shoots from my archives, so today we have some unfortunately subpar photos of a really cool 1967 Pontiac GTO.

Berkeley Street Sighting - 1965 Pontiac GTO

In my humble opinion, one of the most attractively styled American cars of the 1960s was the '65 Pontiac GTO. Simple, clean lines give the GTO a classic elegance while maintaining a brawny muscle car appearance. Pontiac had one of the coolest sporty cars on the market that year, stuffing a 389 cubic inch V8 and optional four-speed into the humble Tempest body. The GTO package replaced the base Tempest eggcrate grille with a simpler design from the Le Mans, dispensed with non-functional vents and body trim (except for a fake hood scoop, which could be modified into a cold-air intake by dealers) and received heavier duty suspension, brakes and a new dash with more instrumentation. GTOs also got special badging.

San Ramon Street Sighting - 1967 Pontiac Tempest Custom

I'm a big fan of the Pontiac brand, so this week I'm doing a Pontiac theme.

The Pontiac GTO has garnered almost universal respect in the muscle car community as a strong performer and a very collectible vehicle. But there is a double standard, as the GTO was really a higher trim level and performance package based on the mainstream Tempest. Despite these humble roots, the GTO is considered a collector's item and the Tempest is a used car. If either is less than pristine, the GTO is a restoration project and the Tempest is its parts donor.