Depending on who you ask, the Pontiac GTO could be considered the first muscle car. We’re on record naming the Oldsmobile Rocket 88 for that honor, but wherever you want to draw the line, you can’t deny that the GTO helped popularize the segment in the golden age of the quarter mile. But, in 2025, you barely even hear about these cars anymore. The GTO was a legend in the 1960s, eventually becoming an overlooked sleeper in the 2000s, and a quietly-retired also-ran in the present day.
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