1969 Pontiac GTO/LeMans/Custom S

Now GTOAA members have exclusive access to helpful factory documentation and other literature.

Official GTOAA 1969 Tech Advisor - Scott Tiemann (517) 526-0517 Email

Contact PHS online to order your original Billing Sheet & confirm how your car was originally ordered & built!

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Pontiac presents: The Great Breakaway

The original complete, unedited film of Pontiac Presents: Great Breakaway Pontiac dealer promo film that is nearly a half hour in length and covers the entire Pontiac lineup. A great look inside of the engineering and production at the Pontiac, Michigan home plant.

The Great Breakaway that was produced in August of 1968 to introduce the ’69 Wide Track Pontiac’s. It was produced by GM Photographic Division. It was produced by James Bostwick who later retired as head of GM Photographic Division. He and his writers, including his good friend, Eddie O’Brien won an award for The Great Breakaway that year. They can be seen making a cameo appearance as joggers on the beach in the Firebird clip.

Steve Karmen Big Band- PONTIAC Breakaway Theme-part 1 & part 2

A. Steve Karmen Big Band featuring Jimmy Radcliffe - Breakaway (Part 1)
AA. Steve Karmen Big Band - Breakaway (Part 2)

  • A MECCA ORIGINAL AND A WIGAN ANTHEM

  • FIRST OFFICIAL U.K. RELEASE SINCE 1975

  • REMASTERED FROM ORIGINAL TAPES

  • Issued under licence from Universal Music Group Limited

“BREAKAWAY” by Steve Karmen was originally released on United Artists in 1968 following a successful advertising campaign for the Pontiac car, for which the ‘jingle’ had been written, featuring the slogan “Breakaway In A Wide-Trackin’ Pontiac”. Karmen extended the 30 second track with fills and breaks building the energy and excitement and creating the perfect dance track for the highly charge Casino Ballroom where it exploded in 1974. Jimmy Radcliffe ad-libbed a new and impassioned vocal for the singles plug-side, but – to this day – it is the thrilling instrumental that rules the dance floor.

Information courtesy of Outtasight

Filmed at the GM Proving Grounds in Milford, MI, the 1969 GTO promo segment features a Limelight Green GTO that is well equipped with a Ram Air IV engine, Muncie M-21 4-speed transmission, Safe-T-Track Rear Axle with 4.33 or 3.90 gear ratio.

You will find this car was used in many promotional photos for advertising as well.

1969 Post-Card that read: Why not be king of the road? Don’t settle for any kind of “also ran.” Get the original - the only - The GreaT One.

In it’s ‘69 editions, the Pontiac GTO is greater than ever. More features. More options. More performance. More desirable. But no more desirable than the deals we’re cooking up these days. Try us and see.

Pontiac History - How John DeLorean Named "The Judge"

Contrary to popular belief, the now famous name "The Judge" never actually had a name during its development cycle. It was known internally in memos and correspondence as "What's Its Name". The original proposal, consisting of a 350 H.O. powered Tempest, was presented at the Magazine Writers' Show on July 11th, 1968. It was announced under Option Code WS9, a tongue-in-cheek reference that sounds a little like "What's Its Name". Though the press was enthusiastic, John DeLorean was not sold on the idea. He stated that a "cheap" version of a GTO would hurt regular GTO sales and the whole purpose of this car was to help GTO sales.

The proposal was revamped and eventually would become an option on the 1969 GTO, featuring a 400 cid Ram Air engine, bright Carousel Red paint, and a unique rear spoiler. This appealed to DeLorean because the car would draw people into showrooms, and whether a buyer chose this car or a regular GTO, it still meant a GTO sale. But the car was still unnamed.

DeLorean held a weekly lunch meeting with members of his design team. In September 1968, Bill Porter, one of the Chief Designers, said that during one of those meetings the conversation turned to "What's Its Name" that they were working on. Now this was at a time when the popular TV show "Laugh-In" and the phrase "Here Come The Judge" (heard often in the TV show) had become the hottest catch phrase of the summer. DeLorean and his design team were walking to the cafeteria discussing "What's Its Name" when DeLorean paused and said something to the effect, "They keep saying 'Here Come The Judge', well….we'll give them The Judge!"

And that was the end of that. DeLorean had spoken.

Now for a logo. Bill Porter (Chief Designer) was looking through one of the many art magazines that were inside the design studio, and one in particular had an ad for Carter's Ink. Porter liked the heavy-bottom style "psychedelic look" of the font. He sketched out what would become the now famous Judge logo.

The Judge logo you see was sketched by Bill Porter back in 2016. It literally took him about 5 minutes to do this. Bill is a true artist, not just a great automotive designer, and his contributions to the Pontiac Motor Division cannot be overemphasized.

Written by Mike Noun

Factory Pontiac Tempest/LeMans/GTO/Grand Prix Parts Catalog covering many years but mostly 1969 through 1974.

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Now GTOAA members have exclusive access to helpful factory documentation and other literature.

Official GTOAA Technical Advisor - Scott Tiemann (517) 647-2433 Email