Pontiac’s V8 engines have always been renowned for their abundance of torque and the ease with which they could accelerate a heavy automobile. Then, when Pontiac decided to drop their large 389ci engine into the intermediate-size Tempest to create the GTO, they lit the fuse for what became the first ‘Golden Age’ of muscle cars. GM maintained a 400ci limit on engine capacity for their intermediates until 1970, the year many consider to be the zenith for American muscle cars. This gorgeous, rare, and powerful 1970 GTO convertible was an immediate beneficiary of that policy.

This heavily optioned Cardinal Red (75) beauty is powered by a numbers matching 455 HO V8 (derivative 20P225632, BCN 9799140) that churns out a pavement-shredding 500 lb-ft. of torque in factory tune. This show-quality collector car is loaded with factory features and options including variable ratio power steering (N41), power front disc brakes (JL2), air conditioning (C60), TH400 automatic transmission (M40), Safe-T-Track differential (G80), tilt steering wheel (N33), console (D55), push button radio (U63) with stereo tape player (U57; currently boxed in trunk), electric clock (U35), decor group (324), and Rally II wheels (N98). The classic WT7 ‘Judge’ rear wing was added by a previous owner.