1966 Pontiac GTO ($22,000 To $184,000)By 1966, the early stages of the muscle wars had warmed up. Ford had made a splash with the Mustang, Dodge charged into the fray with the Charger, and Chevrolet's debut of the Camaro was just around the bend in 1967. Pontiac decided to make the most of the GTO's panache by spinning the car off into its own vehicle. Available purely as a two-door, the 1966 GTO offered hardtop, convertible, and vinyl top roofs along with a myriad of options. Built under the supervision of GM vice-president and Pontiac general manager John Delorean, the 1966 GTO came with a single engine option: Buyers got a 389 whether they liked it or not. The V8 made between 335 and 360 horsepower depending on the setup and came attached to a manual or Turbo Hydra-Matic automatic transmission. Pontiac built about 97,000 1966 GTOs, which went on to be the best-selling year the GTO ever had. Today, the 1966 Pontiac GTO is a popular collector's item for lovers of the inaugural sports car. Low prices hover around the $22,000 range while the highest recorded sale of a normal '66 GTO is well into the six figures at nearly $184,000. Average examples are not yet into the astronomical level, with an average price of $59,896. Anyone who wants a true one-of-a-kind 1966 GTO will have to shell out nearly $400,000 for the "Monkeemobile" — a one-off Goat used for the "Monkees" television show.1969 GTO Judge ($83,000 To $240,000)The Firebird wasn't the only Pontiac muscle car to get a performance model. The GTO approached the zenith of the muscle car era with sagging sales, and Pontiac wanted an attention-grabbing designation to remind a buyer base dazzled by a market flooded with Roadrunners, Mustangs, Camaros, Chargers, Challengers, and many other goodies. The GTO Judge started life on the drawing board with a 350 cubic-inch budget model for the drag strip, but engineers, at the behest of John Delorean, soon scrapped the budget talk. The Judge rolled out the door with a 400 cubic-inch V8. Pontiac built a total of 6,833 GTO Judges, including 108 convertibles, for 1969. The base price for a GTO was $3,156 for the hardtop and $3,382 for the convertible. Buyers could shell out $332 for the Judge option and its Ram Air IV with 370 horsepower. The GTO Judge was one of the best outfitted muscle cars for a very reasonable price during the 1969 model year. However, while Pontiac sold about 72,000 GTOs in 1969, the interest in the Judge wasn't enough to prevent their slipping sales. The GTO would hang on until 1974 before going out of production as the muscle era came to an end. Though the Judge failed to meet the hopes and expectations of Pontiac in terms of sales, models are highly sought-after collector's items today. The average cost of a '69 Judge will set potential buyers back to the tune of about $83,000 with a top price of $440,000. Most recently, a Judge went off the auction block for a cool $240,000.1974 Trans Am SD 455 ($20,000 To $260,000)It's impossible to talk about iconic Pontiac muscle without including a second-generation Trans Am. Something about that phoenix spreading its wings around a shaker hood calls up visions of jean jackets, wispy mustaches, Led Zeppelin blaring from the speakers, and rubber-burning power. The 1974 Trans Am SD 455 brings it all to the table. The Clean Air Act of 1970 and growing concerns about the price of gasoline were slowly but surely putting nails in the coffin of the muscle era, but Pontiac held on as long as it could. The SD stands for Super Duty, former GM general manager Semom Knudsen's brainchild aimed at making Pontiac appealing to the youth by winning on the race track. The 1974 Trans Am SD 455 came with a whopping big-block 455 cubic-inch engine (the largest of the muscle car era), supplying 310 horsepower and 395 lb-ft of torque. That particular engine was only offered in 1973 and 1974, the last years of the over-the-top, gas-guzzling beasts before the gradual shift to the underpowered '80s. Aficionados consider the '74 model one of the last true muscle cars. The late arrival of the SD 455 meant very few cars ever got one. They were hard to find even when new — only 1,000 came out of the factory in 1974. Today, a second-generation SD 455 (1973 and 1974) is valued at nearly six figures, with an average price of $90,722 and a top sale of $260,000. Projects might be found for as little as $20,000, but the work required to restore one of these classics is considerable.2002 Pontiac Trans Am WS6 ($5,500 To $112,000)Pontiac emerged from the tragic '80s with rebounding power numbers and attractive styling, and by the line's last year in 2002, the WS6 was a powerful-handling Trans Am. The WS6 package dates back to 1978 when $324 bought a handling package including anti-sway bars, wider wheels, and an upgraded steering box. The original option took a hiatus between 1993 and 1995, returning for the '96 model year and sticking it out until the Firebird went out of production. The last go-around of the Trans Am put a 320 horsepower, 345 lb-ft of torque5.7 L LS1 lifted from the C5 Corvette under a hood that looks like the face of a fire-breathing dragon. Paired with a Tremec six-speed manual or automatic option, there's no question that the final iteration of Pontiac's most beloved nameplate was made for performance. Though plastic quality and cheap interiors are common complaints, the 2002 WS6 is a sneaky way into Trans Am ownership. The fourth-generation Trans Am is by far the most accessible Pontiac on this list. An average price of $25,734 and a top sale of $112,000 with a low of $5,500 indicates that these cars are around, just waiting for you to pick one up. It's nearly impossible to predict if a vehicle will be a future classic, but these fourth-generation Trans Ams may be the best way to get behind the wheel of a powerful piece of Pontiac history.
