LA Times reporter wants your opinion

[SuPeRcAr_MaN]

Originally Posted by Meyaht

quickly
63 tempest was plain as hell in the 60's.. oit looked like every other car on the road... they made it a GTO

todays grand prix looks like every other car on the road.. frighteningly similar to the GTO

the GTO is the ultimate sleeper. thats the idea. its not out to be cool looking, or outrageous. its there to look like everything else on the road, only 2x as fast. the GTO will look cool in 2 years just like it did in the 1st gen. besides, as soon as they get the caddilac CTS frame under it (2-3 yrs.) and have it completely built in USA, the price will come down.

First of all they made the GTO a Tempest option in 1964, and it did not look like every other car on the road. GM didn't make the Holden Monaro a GTO because it looks like a Grand Am, which looks like every other car on the road. I don't think they had a 'sleeper' in mind either, even though most are glad it came out that way. And who said they are going to build it on a Cadillac CTS frame? GM only wants to make the GTO for 3 YEARS. That isn't a lot of time to put it on a new frame and start production of it here. If they did that, they would make it for more than 3 years, at least to make some profit. And the price won't come down much as long as there is a hefty V-8 and a GTO badge. What you see is what you get... It may evolve slightly, but the new GTO will be gone before you know it, assuming GM sticks to their word. Then some people will be wishing it was still here and some will be wishing they never made it.

[Michael_S]

Originally Posted by jfiliss

While I understand what you're trying to say, I have to chime in that most classic muscle cars had less than 400 horsepower...and even fewer of them would if they measured horsepower at the rear wheel as opposed to the flywheel like they did back then.

My family collects Oldsmobiles, and even my father's 70 W-30 makes less than 400 horsepower. Granted, it does have 500 lbs-ft of torque and an incredible power curve with its long stroke 455.

Sorry, didn't want to seem pedantic. Glad to see there are some old-school types posting here.

Plus, the old cars were heavy because of the heavy medal and the big engines. If I recall correctly, most only offered 3 or 4 speed transmissions, too. So while a 400 horsepower monster from the 60s looks awesome and sounds awesome, most 350 horsepower cars from today will do just as well on the track - if not better.

[jfiliss]

Paradoxically, part of the appeal of the older muscle cars was how unbalanced they were...at least by modern standards, and the standards of contemporary European sports cars. A car would have an engine that was much too powerful for the rest of the vehicle. If you floored the accelerator without the car being pointed in a straight line, you were likely to break loose and go sideways. They take some skill to drive, and unless you are running straight drags, part of the challenge is to stay on top of all that power.

And most muscle cars today wear radials, so their roadholding was even worse with bias ply.

This is similar to debate on old vs. new 911. The old 911s could be a challenge to push at their limits, whereas the newer 996/911s are less eventful, and to some people, less interesting. But they are safer and generally faster.

[1967gto400]

You can never bring back the true GTO, it was American Muscle and there isnt anything better than American Muscle.

[FCCOOL]

I am from Australia were they drive Monaros.
The Monaro was Australias first V8 coupe and quite a legend here in the late sixties and seventies. The release of the new monaro was given a warm welcome but unfurtunately it was just before the ricer/import thing came big here.
heaps of guys bag it out saying its to slow and plain and imports are the way to go.
Although many have this view the Monaro is hard to beat on the race track and strip but many try to ignore it, A recent 24 hour race finished with a Monaro coming first and second. Other cars racing included Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche but the Holdens maintaned lead throughout the entire 24 hours with ease.
The Monaro is a two door version of the Holden commodore wich is our popular choice of family car and taxi cabs. The Commodore has also been a succesful race car taking more wins at bathurst than any other car.
When Holdens were released back in 1948 they filled the gap in Australia between English and American cars. The American cars were spacious, smooth and powerful but used alot of fuel, handled bad on our roads and were unreliable in tough country conditions as well as a expensive price tag. On the other hand the english cars were handled good on rough dirt roads, were lite on fuel and cheap to buy but were squashy for an Aussie family, and to underpowered to cart them around. The styling of Holdens is like a cross between a vauxhal and a chevrolet. Styling has usually been a bit behind the US but seems to hold its style for longer probably due do being a little bit more basic in style. Holden quickly built a good name after its release due to its suitabillity to the average Australian family, it had more power and space than the English cars as well as better fuel economy and durability than its bigger Amercan sisters.
I dont know what it is like in the rest of the world but here a family sedan has pretty much always been a lot quicker than sports coupes available in the same price range in Australia.
Up until recently The holden has been the most popular choice for illegal street racing.
There are more performance parts for Holdens than any other make here and it has been like this since the 1950's.
I would imagine that once used monaros become more affordable to younger drivers that the V8 coupe will make its mark against the currently popular import car scene.
If you were to take a monaro out for a day, followed by a day of driving a Supra or Honda integra type R I doubt that you would choose any other than the monaro unless you are a die hard fuel economy enthusiest (Geek), no mater how much you love Japan.
Even though I have very little interest on post 1960 cars I see the Monaro as extremely under rated compared to imports.
I guess people who take their imports to track days would know what I mean.

[big_sam_2004]

The GTO Coming out this year.........Yes
The concept in the picture.............NO

[kilroypr]

Originally Posted by KoRnboy

I'll be blunt, GTO's were badass, and this one is just disgusting. For today’s technology I think for the money they could do much better performance wise and the styling is just horrid. This is one less buyer of this new "Muscle Car".

Respectively speaking, this is not for people like you. I would really appreciate you refraining of making such comments on a vehicle that gave the japs the idea of what to do in cars in the first place.
Back on the 60's no japs where there? Why was that so?
Because we showed everyone how to build big bad automobiles.
Your import taste does not stand behind Chrysler's Hemis, Yenkos, CObras and the like of the era out there. So if you do not have anything good to say. Do not say it. Thanks.

[kilroypr]

Originally Posted by arthur12187

it looks kinda funny and doesnt give it that muscle car feeling!

I am not sure is thaw you have in the picture is a GT500 but is gorgeous.
That is what a Muscle car should look like.

[kilroypr]

Originally Posted by hiphophomer

im scared guys i think they might use that f**king homosexual model on gto.com!NOOOOOOOO, are you guys sure that it will be that kick ass orange one or that pussy one on gto.com?help ccuz i was about to finally like pontiac, but if they use the gto.com one i wont like them anymore...the only ok part is the corvette engine and kind of on the interior but thats all

I just checked the gto.com site and the car is gorgeous even on import terms(that is for the Acura person the other day).
It looks bald, aggresive. And interios styling is a well balance mix from European functionality and american heritage. The car is gorgeous.
If the specs are for real this is a really hevy contenders for the European HO vehicles. THis one looks really bad ass.

[akaeric]

What pictures I've seen I have to agree it looks like there Sunbird or something .I saw were the power was suppost to be up there but is it I'm not going to drive something that I thinks is ugly or no cheap looking for pontiac ponys. Come on pontiac dosen't have any good looking car to me the only one they quit making and that was the trans am

[tonnerboy]

Ok, I too am from Australia, and I must say that the styling on the GTO is a little bland. The Monaro over here actually has a different front to the GTO that will be taken over there. Holden's performance side ('HSV') makes much badder looking (in a good way) versions of the Monaro.

Here's a pict of the standard Monaro (notice the front)

http://users.tpg.com.au/jnfazack/Mon...p/Cnxt0007.jpg

And here's the HSV GTS Coupe (again a different front, but different from the normal Holden front too)

http://autozine.kyul.net/gallery/holden/Coupe.htm

(NOTE: The Grey GTO down the bottom of that page is not your GTO. Thats just another model of HSV Coupe.)

So as you can see, if you don't like the standard GTO look, then maybe the Holden or HSV stuff might be the go. Maybe there's even a niche market for importing the different fronts?

Oh, and we did have a supercharged 6 version of the Monaro, but that was dropped with the new model of Monaro. It appearently only held about 5% of the market.

[Mk3Supra]

I like the concept GTO much better than the proposed Monaro import. The Monaro just looks like a big Cavalier , albeit a Cavalier with a 350 Hp 5.7 , but still just a Cavalier I won't be buying one anytime soon.

[akaeric]

The new GTO is suppost to be built in limited numbers the first year so who ever wants one needs to put there name on the list but one thing I don't do is buy the first production year of any car give them time to work out the bugs and recalls.

[Murph828]

I own a 1971 GTO Hardtop, with 400 small block, 3 speed atuomatic. Completely factory stock. My car just looks bad ass MEAN!!! Now, maybe this new GTO has some horsepower and is fast, but in my opinon it looks like every other little yuppie car out there!!!! I wouldn't take one if you gave to me. Actually, when we bought our 71, I offered my wife to by this new one if she wanted it. As soon as I showed her the picture, she started laughing and said "NO WAY!!!!, I want a real GTO, a 71, they just look mean!!!!" So I got on the web and found her a restored, Black w/ black int. 1971 Goat, and paid half the price for much more car!!!!! Anyway thats our opinion.

[Mk3Supra]

Originally Posted by akaeric

The new GTO is suppost to be built in limited numbers the first year so who ever wants one needs to put there name on the list but one thing I don't do is buy the first production year of any car give them time to work out the bugs and recalls.

The Monaro line is by no means new , and I beleive this particular chassis has already been in production in Australia for a while. So the bugs should already be worked out. This is a new car to us here in the U.S. only , and not really THAT new , since it's using the corvette drivetrain.