The Pontiac GTO Digital History Project

Introduction

Introduction Homepage Scope Site Map Rationale Site Review Technical Plan    Code 60-T:  Orbit Orange

The following is a proposal for a digital history website that will explore the advertising used to promote the sales of the Pontiac GTO. As it was the first of what were referred to as "muscle cars," a new and innovative type of automobile that first entered the marketplace in 1964 and remained in production for ten years, the GTO would be an appropriate model to explore the muscle car era in automotive history. The site’s main purpose will be to explore the meaning of the muscle car era through GTO advertising in both sales’ brochures, print ads and a few television spots.  An important underlying theme of the site will be to argue that the rise of these types of cars demonstrated that the U.S. auto industry was producing novel and technically advanced automobiles.  They were produced with so many options that the consumer could literally design a truly unique car, satisfying his or her desire for a one-of-a-kind expression of individuality.  The visitor to this website will be able to see the advertisements as they were originally published, read through a scholarly narrative of the GTO, its advertising and its impact on U.S. culture and how that culture impacted the car itself.  They may also take a trip on an interactive timeline that will explore many aspects of the muscle car era, see competitors’ advertisements as they attempted to jump on the muscle car bandwagon, see what options were available, how many muscle cars were sold each year, among other facts.  A number of questions will be explored as well, including what impact thoughts of gender and place had on the advertising campaigns and what such thoughts said about society in the counter-culture era. Ultimately I hope to produce a website that would interest scholars of the 1960s, advertising, culture, and the automobile. I also believe that aficionados, gear-heads, and other enthusiasts would find my site to be of interest. I would show that the GTO in particular and the muscle car in general were an important factor in American society and that impact is still with us. For example, the GTO has reappeared, as have other muscle cars, with more being designed as we speak.  The GTO still makes appearances in movies and television, most recently on episodes of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" and "Overhaulin’."  Vin Diesel's main co-star in the motion picture "XXX" was a GTO.  Interest in the GTO and other muscle cars is still strong, as evidenced by their escalating prices on the collector-car market. GTO Judges now routinely sell for six figures, while Hemi-engined Plymouths and Dodges now sell for seven figures, and these cars originally retailed for less that $6,000! Click here to begin. Click here for a printable text-only copy of this proposal.

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Proposal Introduction - Project Scope - Site Map - Rationale - Site Review - Technical Plan

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