Tag Archive for auto detailing

What Does “GT” Mean?

844-DENT 411  / 844-336-8411

Lots of cars have the letters “GT” proudly displayed on them, and in sports car racing   many cars (and classes) are called GT – but why?

GT is short for Grand Touring – the Italians will likely, and perhaps correctly, take credit for inventing the term (explanation shortly).  A GT car is larger and more comfortable than a Sports Car.  A sports car would be an Austin Healy Sprite, or Porsche Speedster – A traditional GT car would be like a Ferrari 275 GTB, or any Austin Martin you know about.

The purpose of a GT car is to cover long distances comfortably – very quickly, if necessary.  And, you can take a bunch of stuff with you.  My view is that a GT car is better than a sports car in almost every way – you can use them to get to work, the supermarket, take the kids to baseball practice, or enjoy driving them around on a race track.  They’re fun, most have big motors, and they look cooler than Sports Sedans, which the Brits call Saloon Cars, for some reason – a reason that makes them cooler than they would be, otherwise.

My case for suspecting Italians want credit for the term GT, is that they never seem to run out of letters to put after it – like they’ve got something to prove, and that’s suspicious, to me…  For example GTS (Spider), GTB (Berlinetta), GTV (Veloce), GTi (Injected) and best of all, GTO (Omologato).  Yes, the Italians get credit for GTO.

1964 Ferrari GTO

1964 Ferrari GTO

The “O” in GTO means homologated, or approved, in English.  In auto racing, sanctioning bodies place requirements upon manufacturers in order for their cars to be eligible to complete.  In this case the Ferrari 250 GTO was a “homologation” car, of which a certain number needed to be built, so that it could compete as a mass produced vehicle, in international sports car racing.  Ferrari’s GTO was such a bad-ass that some dudes in Detroit thought if they named a Pontiac Tempest after it, that masses of motorheads (mostly the car-guy kind) would fall for the trick – and they were right…

1964 Pontiac GTO

1964 Pontiac GTO

So, as cool as a good ole American Pontiac GTO is.., GM stole the name from the Italians – in a way almost completely unlike the way the Italians got their hands on Chrysler…

This seems like a good time to start on the story of how Ford nearly grabbed Ferrari.

Car Tips – Keeping the Car Clean in Winter…

844-DENT 411  / 844-336-8411

Winter is going to be over in a month, which means that we’re going to start having nice days in Portland and throughout The Gorge.  Before we get too worried about dents and dings, there are other things to attend to.

What do you do now that most of the snow from the last storm has melted, and your car looks like it’s been rolling around in the mud and sand?  Some of you are going to risk being blamed for the next week of rainfall and wash the car!!!

If you are the type of person that has people to handle such things – I applaud you.  If not, and you’re going it alone, read on…

Having somebody else wash the car for you...

Having somebody else wash the car for you…

Here’s the tipif the car has sand, rock and grit clinging to it, you must give it a good rinse before you touch it with a wash rag and soap.

I’m lazy, so I take it to the local pressure wash style car wash place, and blow the grit and grime off with a pressure wash wand, before I take it home for a bath.  This does an excellent job of reducing the amount of scratching that a hand wash can cause.

Other Tips:

  • Use automobile specific wash soap (Auto Parts Store, Wal-Mart)
  • Use different wash rags / mitts for the car and wheels
  • A waxed car sheds dirt more easily (Spring Project, or Auto Detail Company)

Here are some more tips for keeping your car clean.  Clean Car Tips