The second year of the second generation of Pontiac's GTO, the 1969 Goat featured the 400 V-8 as the standard motor. With a 10.75:1 compression ratio, four-barrel carb, and dual exhausts, it was rated at 350 SAE gross horsepower.
For buyers who wanted to run on cheaper regular gas, a two-barrel 400 with a 9.2:1 compression ratio was available, although output dropped to 265 horsepower in that configuration.
The real go-fast options were the two Ram Air engine packages. The basic Ram Air 400, which mated the scoops on the hood to a functional cold-air intake setup and came with a hotter cam, gave the buyer 366 ponies to play with.
The Ram Air IV had different cylinder heads, high-flow exhaust manifolds, a high-rise aluminum intake manifold, bigger carb, and even lumpier cam, yet was hilariously underrated at a claimed 370 SAE gross horsepower. The Ram Air IV package came with 3.90:1 final drive standard and could be had with an optional 4.30:1 rear end, and air conditioning was not available.
Car Life tested a '69 GTO with the Ram Air IV package and recorded a 6.2 second zero-to-sixty time and a 14.4 second quarter mile at 98mph with a top speed of 124 miles per hour.
The Palladium Silver 1969 GTO convertible in the photos has the regular Ram Air option and was photographed with a Nikon Coolpix S6500 in December of 2014.
I'm guessing the photos were taken at a local cruise, as I can make out the word "Burger" on the sign and the GTO's flanked by a '69 Charger and a '69-70 Blazer. Plus what looks to possibly be a circa-1970 Torino.
ReplyDeleteThat, or you've perfected time travel.
It was a brutally cold December day and five or six dudes with cool rides had met up at Boogie Burger (now sadly defunct) on a day when Bobbi and I happened to go there for lunch.
DeleteThe Goat, the Torino GT, a Charger, that Blazer, an S197 Roush Mustang, and a Lime Light Superbird.