William T. Collins Jr, father of the GTO, dies at age 90
William T. Collins, Jr., an automotive engineer known best as the father of the Pontiac GTO, and who was instrumental in the development of the De Lorean automobile, died March 5 at age 90.
In a two-part interview published in the October and November 2014 issues of Hemmings Classic Car, Collins said that working at General Motors — specifically, Pontiac — during the 1960s and 1970s was fun: “A single person could make things happen,” he said.
Collins did make things happen, not just at Pontiac, but also at De Lorean and in bringing his own Vixen motorhome design to market.
The creation of the GTO wasn’t Collins’ only notable accomplishment at Pontiac, either. As the advanced design transmission development engineer for the 1961 Tempest, he was responsible for implementing the Tempest’s so-called rope-drive system, which connected the car’s engine in the
