5 Movies That Featured The Pontiac GTO

Pontiac has made a lot of great classic cars, from the Trans Am to the Bonneville, but when a filmmaker wants a muscle car in their movie, it's the GTO they often turn to. The Pontiac GTO is a legendary part of muscle car history. By the late 1960s and early '70s, the car got some style upgrades, putting it more in line with what people think of today as American muscle. John DeLorean knew what he was doing when he threw a 389 V8 under the hood of a Pontiac Tempest. The GTO has also made quite a name for itself in Hollywood over the years.

Sometimes a movie calls for fast and flashy cars like in the "Fast and Furious" franchise. Other times, a film focuses on classics or calls for a mixture of all types of cars. Even when cars aren't the focus of a film, they can leave an impression, telling the audience a little bit about a character.

To see a well-kept Pontiac GTO, especially one from the '60s or '70s, in real-life is always special, but it's not too uncommon to see one in the background of a film. When one plays a starring role, though, that's a real treat. Here are a few movies where you'll get more than just a glimpse of a classic GTO.

1977's "Slap Shot" follows a rag-tag minor league hockey team in Charlestown, Pennsylvania that's at risk of being sold off. Thanks to player-coach Reggie (Paul Newman), the team ends up skating the border between cheating and playing rough in order to garner popularity with their fans in the hopes that the team's owner won't disband them.

When Newman isn't on the ice, he's either riding around on the team bus or driving around town in his Baja Gold 1970 GTO. It has a black vinyl top and American Racing Torque Thrust wheels. There's one scene in particular where Newman gets to really show off the car, burning out and driving down a couple of backroads. Granted, he's likely not driving as fast as it appears, but it's a good look at the car.

As of 2017, the exact GTO Newman drove around in "Slap Shot" had been fully restored to its original factory condition by the owner and even made an appearance at a 40th anniversary celebration for the movie in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

"The Faculty" is a sci-fi horror movie from 1998 that's essentially a contemporary reimagining of 1978's "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," but if it took place in a high school. It was also one of Josh Hartnett's first movie credits that put his name on the map. It's Hartnett's character Zeke, the rugged, rebellious, genius slacker, who drives around in a black 1970 Pontiac GTO hardtop with red racing stripes.

Gearheads may be pained to know, if they haven't seen the movie, that the car doesn't meet a happy ending. While an aggressive Famke Janssen attacks Hartnett's character, he burns out the Rally II wheels and crashes his beloved muscle car into the side of a school bus. It's unclear whether this was the real GTO or a stunt car, but thankfully, the latter seems more likely.

American muscle cars have a habit of finding themselves in Tom Cruise movies, and "Knight and Day" from 2010 is no exception. The only difference here is that it's not Cruise behind the wheel, but co-star Cameron Diaz. This action comedy shows Diaz's June Havens navigating a high-speed chase scene in a Martinique Bronze 1966 Pontiac GTO with a 348-hp V8 and a Tri-Power carburetor setup. 

There has been some confusion over the exact model year and color of the car in the film, due to the factory-authentic version being supplemented with a custom-built stand-in. It might surprise some to learn that Diaz was behind the wheel for a few of the close-ups, doing at least some of her own stunt driving for the movie.

Richard Linklater's "Dazed and Confused" is a classic, featuring an ensemble cast including Milla Jovovich, Ben Affleck, Matthew McConaughey. The GTO in this beloved film shows up with the opening credits and is featured throughout with Kevin Pickford (Shawn Andrews) behind the wheel.

This 1970 Pontiac GTO Judge is bright Orbit Orange with a black vinyl top and a hood tach. While Pickford only drives one GTO in the movie, three were used for the production. Two had an identical paint job to match exterior shots, while the third was an all black '68 model. The black GTO was used as an extra, but it was also featured in a close-up of its Hurst Dual Gate Shifter, a Judge staple. This close-up happens when four of the characters speed away from a convenience store after a man pulls a gun on Pickford.

An older movie that car enthusiasts should see if they haven't is 1971's "Two-Lane Blacktop." It's a lesser-known flick about two friends traversing the famous Route 66 in their 1955 Chevy 150, drag racing along the way to fund their trip. On their adventures, they encounter another driver referred to as GTO who, as you might be able to guess, drives a brand-new (for the time) 1970 Pontiac GTO hardtop. It's painted in the classic Orbit Orange and has eyebrow stripes and a black vinyl interior. A few interior shots reveal the car has an automatic transmission. The car is mostly stock, with the only custom parts being the Keystone Klassic wheels is drives on.

There's been some debate over the validity of the GTO in the film being a Judge despite it having most of the makings of one. According to Street Muscle Magazine, Pontiac delivered two GTOs for filming and nothing was modified, but nobody from the production could confirm if either of them were Judges. The driver of the car in the movie states that it has a 455 engine under the hood, but very few Judges came with that option in 1970. Regardless, the GTO is heavily featured throughout the movie and gets just as much attention as the hero car.