Network
What would the muscle car era have been like without the Pontiac GTO? Well it definitely wouldn’t have been the same, that’s for sure. Even now, the iconic muscle car is making waves in the performance car market. But we’re not talking about a new model that’s turning heads. We’re actually talking about Don Stellhorn’s 1964 GTO Road Race Car. Check out this fantastic beast in a bit of in-car race footage from the American Street Car Series’ New Jersey Run to the Shore event that we found on Pro-Touring.com.
The GTO is powered by a custom-built carbureted 416cui LS3 engine, which features a 3 stage Aviaid dry sump system and a Manely/SLP rotating assembly. It makes use of a GM Performance Parts L92 heads, an Edelbrock Victor manifold and a custom 1,000cfm carburetor from Holley.
Strapped to the engine is a Muncie M22 transmission with custom road race gears and a Spec Stage 2 clutch. This powerful combination is capable of producing 652hp and 529 ft.-lbs. of torque, with 558hp hitting the rear wheels.
In order to be a fierce road racer, the GTO also sports a custom three-link rear suspension with 40-inch lower control arms that attach to a Grand National Ford 9-inch rear end from Speedway Engineering.
For the front suspension, Stellhorn completely boxed in the frame and fabricated his own mounting points before fitting the GTO with a homemade centerlink and tubular lower control arms.
The front suspension also features a Schroeder Racing sway bar with custom torsion arms, Sweet Steering spindles and AFCO upper control arms.This suspension setup is built for handling and for speed, allowing Stellhorn to really whip the car around a road course.
And that’s exactly what he did at the Run to the Shore event last weekend at the New Jersey Motorsports Park.
Obviously this GTO is a beast, but what makes it even more incredible is that the car is completely fabricated, built and driven by Stellhorn. We’ve seen some pretty stellar cars in our days, but we just can’t get enough of this one. So hop on the band wagon and enjoy four minutes of killer track thrashing above or an impressive dyno pull from the GTO below.
