Ronny and the Daytona's Song Little GTO Explained
Below is a line by line analysis of the song 'Little GTO' (self-explanatory lines ignored) and what they mean. After absorbing their meaning, it's easy to see what inspired song writer John Wilkin to pen them in the first place. Vrooom!
Little GTO, you're really lookin' fine
One of the all time classic Great American Muscle cars of the 60's and 70's. In 1964 the early stages of the muscle car era were dominated by full size cars. At GM, corporate policy prohibited any intermediate size car from having engines greater than 330 cubic inch displacement. The engineers at Pontiac had a different idea. They boldly made their 389 CID engine an option on the mid size Tempest and called the option package GTO, which copied Ferrari's GTO (Gran Turismo Omologato) model. The car that was marketed under a Tiger motif, but soon became known as the "Goat".
Three deuces and a four-speed and a 389
'Three deuces' refers to the 3 carburetor "hot setup". In 1964, the base GTO engine was a 389 cubic inch topped with a Carter four bbl. carburetor. As potent as it was, the hot set-up consisted of a set of three vacuum controlled Rochester two bbl carburetors, known as the tri-power option. Three carburetors increase engine power significantly at high RPM's.
'4-speed' refers to the manual transmission. The GTO came stock with a 3 speed manual transmission, with the 4 speed as an upgrade option. The first 1964 GTO, equipped with Motor Trends four-speed, 325-hp engine, rocketed from zero to 60 mph in 7.7 seconds and blasted through the quarter-mile in 15.8 seconds at 93 mph.
'389' refers to the Pontiac CID 389 cubic inch engine. Available mills got bigger in 1970 with a 455 cubic inch, although maximum horsepower (370) was produced by the 400 cubic inch engine. Pollution control regulations became aggressive in 1974, and subsequent engine displacement and horsepower predictably dipped, the last year of the GTO.
Listen to her tachin' up now, listen to her why-ee-eye-ine
'Tachin' up' refers to the tachometer, an instrument that indicates the speed, usually in revolutions per minute, at which an engine shaft is rotating. Revving an engine hard is referred as 'tachin' up'.
C'mon and turn it on, wind it up, blow it out GTO
Wa-wa, (mixed with "Yeah, yeah, little GTO") wa, wa, wa, wa, wa, wa (mixed with "Yeah, yeah, little GTO")
You oughta see her on a road course or a quarter mile
This little modified Pon-Pon has got plenty of style
'Pon-Pon' was a pet name for Pontiac. Road course and quarter mile are 2 types of race track format. A road course is an oval, while the quarter mile is linear.
She beats the gassers and the rail jobs, really drives 'em why-ee-eye-ild C'mon and turn it on, wind it up, blow it out GTO
A Gasser is a super charged gas coupe, popular in the 40's, 50's and 60's. In the late 1950s, thousands of street legal hot rods participated in organized drag races across the country-they ran in three major classes: Gas, Modified Production, and Modified Sport. Racers soon discovered that small, lightweight cars were the fastest, and the classic Gasser was born. Competing with a cherried out gasser was no small challenge for the GTO.
A rail job is another name for a dragster, and refers to the classic elongated needle like dragster chassis. Gassers and rail jobs were 2 of the popular racing chassis schemes during the Great American drag race era. In context of the song, it's no small boast for a factory GTO to compete with these specialized, high performance racers.
Gonna save all my money (turnin' it on, blowin' it out) and buy a GTO (turnin' it on, blowin' it out), Get a helmet and a roll bar (turnin' it on, blowin' it out) and I'll be ready to go (turnin' it on, blowin' it out)
With an original base list price of $3081 at a time when the average income in the U.S. was $4396, the GTO was not cheap. Better wrap those pennies, if you want the helmet and roll bar extras, daddy!
Take it out to Pomona
Pomona refers to the famous Pomona Raceway, built in 1961 in Pomona California. Originally opened as a way to encourage street racers to compete safely, Auto Club Raceway at Pomona was built with the combined efforts of the Pomona Valley Timing Association, Pomona Police Chief Ralph Parker, and the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds. In 2001, Auto Club Raceway at Pomona's entire 1,320-foot racing surface was repaved to extend the concrete launch pad from 330 to 660 feet, and is still in use, and undergoing improvement even today.
(turnin' it on, blowin' it out) and let 'em know (turnin' it on, blowin' it out), yeah, yeah
That I'm the coolest thing around
Little buddy, gonna shut you down
When I turn it on, wind it up, blow it out GTO
FADE
Published by Mark Motz
Have written, or am writing for many websites, including www.pcomelet.com, www.docreno.com, www.southernhumorists.com and many others. View profile
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11 Comments
Post a CommentMy creds: Bought a new 1965 GTO Montero Red manual progressive linkage tripower, four speed wide ratio synchromesh transmission, Safe-T-Trac 3:55 differential, 360 HP 389 cubic inch ( 6.5 Litre) V-8, Walnut dash with tachometer, three spoke walnut steering wheel, Console, Hurst shifter, Heavy duty brakes with aluminum drums, et. al.
The "Waa" "waaa" of the song definetly refers to the sound made by those three 2 barrel carbs when you kicked them in by stomping on the accellerator and lighting up the tiger paws. 0 to 60 time was 5.5 seconds. Top speed easily 135 mph on level highway in central illinois. Fastest I got it up to was 156 mph going downhill into the Illionois river valley on Interstate 74 from Morton down to East Peoria, a drop of 274 feet over 4.3 miles. Speed was calculated by RPM reading (7,200 RPM) as speedometer was all the way around to 35 mph. Loved that car.
"rocketed from zero to 60 mph in 7.7 seconds and blasted through the quarter-mile in 15.8 seconds at 93 mph. " Numbers that a new V6 Camaro could blow away. I had a '65 GTO years ago with a 4 bbl (though w/ ported RAII heads and around .500 lift cam) and that car moved. Or seemed to at the time. But compared to a new Camaro SS w/425 NET (not BS gross) HP? The old muscle cars are great to look at and wax nostalgic over, but for actual driving or racing gimmie the new rides hands down.
I actually got a nice email from Wilkin that said "you got it right"
FYI -author
You should always remember the prime rule "everything in life is related to sex" . . . Little G.T.O. is a metaphor about his "Little girl to ogle"! Think about that as you listen to, or read the lyrics!
Never thought about meaning of lyrics; I liked the song because it was fast and I like those wa wa, wa wa wa, wa was.
Hmmm Konrad BLofT. Interesting...
The post below got cut off. The rest of it said: And he'd pull up beside the Chevys and Pontiacs and Fords out on Highway 100 or 60 and challenge them, and get them up to 100 mph through four gears, and look over and smile...and shift into fifth...and then into sixth. Wahh Waaah Waaah Waaahh Waaah Waah Long live Little GTO.
I'd love to know how you got your info on the lyrics of Little GTO. Do you know John Wilkin (aka the "Ronnie" of the Daytonas?) If you know him, you'll know he wrote and recorded that song as a senior in high school in Nashville in 1964. With help from his mother, an executive at Columbia Records, who happened to have written the old classic She Wore a Long Black Veil. Little GTO was created in the days of the Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, the California surfing scene...out of the head of a kid in Nashville who probably had never seen an ocean,,,but knew about 389 cc engines and 4 in the floors, and three 2-barrel carburetors...and how to do a song that would go to number 4 on the pop charts. The kicker to this story is that John asked General Motors/Pontiac for something in return for his hit song. They dissed him. So he took his first royalty check from the record...and bought a 6-speed Italian Alpha Romeo 2-seater sports car. And he'd pull up beside the Chevys and Pontiacs and Fords out
A road course is NOT an oval. A road course is exactly what it sounds like, it is a race course with turns just like the streets. If it were not for that gross error, your entry would be believable.
I went to high school from 64 - 69 and rode in (thought not owned) many muscle cars of the time. This article was well written and told the story well. Not only brought back memories but I even learned a few new things. Thanks!