and the past GTO's did? Take off the hood scoops and what do you have? A Tempest, that could be mistaken for a Grand Prix or a small Bonnie...
Put scoops on it and BAM! Thats a GTO.
At least this GTO looks nothing like anything in Pontiacs line up.
No body cladding
Not FWD
Quality leather
a real sound system
6spd
RWD
350hp V8
Hmm...very distinctive if you ask me.

 

and what car in pontiacs lineup looked simalar to the firebird??

 

It will be in 2007. Eveyone here seems to think the 04 GTO will look like it does now forever.

 

It never looked like anything, but thats not what I was saying. What Im saying is that the GTO was never distinctive outside of hood scoops and badges. I LOVE the GTO, mostly 64-67 and 04, but take off the hood and badges, and you can call it a tempest.
The Firebird never looked like anything Pontiac had, but you can say that about the Camaro when it first came out.
When the 4th gens came out, both Sunfire and Cavi looked similar to there larger V8 powerd sister cars. Exactly the same...no, but they are pretty close.
I like the Bird, but something about the GTO is just so much more appealing to me.

 

I say keep the GTO, the car and name mean more to Pontiac and it has real differences from the Camaro. It just makes more sense that Chevrolet have the Camaro all to itself, no other car just the same with a few appearance differences.

 

You're saying that the GTO has more in common w/ the Camaro than the Firebird did?

What I meant was, other than body and interior, the Firebird and Camaro were clones. The GTO offers a bigger back seat, a trunk instead of a hatch, and a different driving feel than the Camaro. All of which I prefer over my dearly departed '01 Formula.

 

Personally, I like the Camaro's better than the Firebirds overall.


I like the latest GTO too, if I wanted something more refined and comfortable, at the slight expense of weight and raw performance figures.


So I pick GTO.

 

Voted for the GTO (no surprize there, huh?).

I also am a huge fan of late 70s Trans Ams. I was considerably older than 5 when they were out, but not quite old enough to drive (at least without a permit). Trans Ams ruled.

But that was over 25 years ago. Since then, it seems Trans Am (as well as the Firebird line) has drifted towards anonymity. WS6s looked like Corvettes on steroids, lesser Firebirds looked like big Ford Probes, interiors were no more flashy than Camaro (which is in yawn territory), and worse still, a $23,000 Z28 was just as quick.

Maybe if the Firebird had exposed headlights, a different GTO-like interior, or perhaps at the very least turned into this (http://www.acarshow.com/expta.html) I'd have a different opinion of it.

Truth is in the end, NOBODY bought non-V8 Firebirds, and V8 Firebirds were outsold by Corvettes.

 

Sure the features are nice but so what,it's bland.I also know about the Tempest/Lemans thing but 2 wrongs don't make a right.GM could make the Firebird and make it different but why change the Fbody history just to please a few.Most people probably don't care about the similarities anyway,I don't.I hate to bring up the tired old complaint/observation but like others had said in other posts it looks too much like a Grand Prix,Grand am, and Cavalier-like with a big engine.At least the Firebird/Trans Am didn't look like any other car or mistaken for any other outside of non car enthusiasts doing so.Hows that distinctive from other cars?That is what I meant.

 

Well, are we talking about just the names only, or as in the Firebird would be a clone of the Camaro except for different sheetmetal etc.? If the Firebird comes back simply as a clone,as much as a Firebird fan that I am I'd vote for keeping the GTO . But as I proposed in an earlier thread, if it was possible for Firebird to come back completely different from Camaro, I'd rather have the Firebird ( though if it's possible to keep both GTO and Firebird that would be sweet).

 

HAHAHA! A seperate chassis! Thats NEVER gunna happen. Even the GTO will be based off the same chassis as the Camaro.

It wont be so "bland" next year. I dont see 350hp, 6spd, and exhaust that sounds like that "bland". OOO it doesnt have hood scoops, so its bland.
GM isnt changing Fbody history. The Fbody is gone. Fbody history book has been writen.
How was the GTO much different from a Tempest? Grand Prix? or any Pontiac of that age? Hood scoops. Thats what I mean. I dont see an once of Cavi, Grand Am nor Grand Prix. I see more Sunbird in the TA then GP, GA, or Cavi in the GTO.

 

Bland as in styling and not what it has as far as power and interior.I know a lot of people who had said the same.Did I not say that I know of the GTO/Tempest/Lemans thing?Again 2 wrongs don't make a right.You see more of a Sunbird(?) in the T/A?Do you even know what a Sunbird is? Not seeing the GTO & the Grand Prix similarities?Check out the late 90's GP/GTP and then you'll see.

 

Sunfire, not bird.

 

Yeah,I knew that's what you meant.Just messin' with ya.Even with the sunfire the only similarities that I see,very slight/vague ones at that ,are the tail lights and maybe the rear's shape.
Another thing..They may call the Fbodies cousins but they were very different in body styles and interior,sharing the rooflines/mirrors and maybe the doors were the only similarities.As with the new/old gto it was damn near the whole car body-wise where you can call them clones with other pontiac cars.

 

I think you guys can make a pretty good case for not bringing the Firebird back as a Camaro clone, but you cannot say that because the Firebird shared drivetrains with the Camaro since the 3rd gen that there is no reason to introduce a different model now. Even if the Firebird shared a platform with the GTO and Camaro, I think the more wildly futuristic-styled Firebird with a turbo six and available AWD, that a lot of people in here have been proposing would sell. You have the more "old school" muscle type car in the Camaro, the sophisticated sleeper in the GTO, and then they new "high tech" Firebird.