I'm sorry... its still a bad *** car imo. http://www.pontiac.com

 

I was kind of wondering that myself.

No my friend, GM has never imported any Holdens to the US for sale to the general public. The only cars to come from Down Under are the Mazda-based FWD Capri convertible and the current Mitsubishi Diamonte, which is called the Magna in Oz.

 

My .02 worth


I like hood scoops!!!!!
They do need to be made in America!!!!!
The name GTO screams retro not Monaro
Most initial price estimates from nearly all Auto makers are usually low.
I believe that I read somewhere either HOT ROD or CHEVY HI PERF that the SIGMA platform would be used on the new F-body so caddy only??????
And why not the GTO.

Even the GTO GURU from GM said in an interview with AUTO WEEK that the looks were not that great but drive train was.

Quality issues not withstanding the 1000 jobs are needed here with our economy in the tank.

 

I guess I'll be getting your portion of the new GTO then?

No one has posted that the next Camaro would be a Sigma car. Also, Mustang's supercharged Cobra came up under initial estimates of $35,000, so it does happen.

 

I called several pontiac dealerships here in the houston area and this is the response

Ernie Gussman Pontiac
price msrp + 5k

Beck and Maston Pontiac
39k and they dont care about msrp

Goodson Pontiac
msrp + 5500

Lawrence Marshall Pontiac
msrp + 4k

All American Pontiac (takes the Cake)
msrp + 7k

I hope you take your Bank with you you will need it. Or at least have a dealer that will be fair.

 

Just another reason why I'd love to see Corporate Owned Dealerships instead of privately owned dealerships... :blah:

Don't get me wrong, there are some quality dealerships out there... but I hate this kind of stuff.

 

Yeah that is ridiculous, price themselves right out of the business.

But I got a question. Why are those wierd looking rims now on that black GTO on Pontiac.com instead of the nicer 1's they used on the Show Car??

 

All issues withstanding

I do believe the car should be given a chance. I still dont think it should be called GTO.

I recently got a chance to drive a cv8 when we went to Sidney.

I thought the exterior fit and finish was great.

I thought the interior was decent I dont think it is CTS quality like some one said in an earlier post. But at least as good as my 2002 Yukon.

The suspension seem right on with the other irs type cars that I have driven.

The power was just soso but maybe the other 50 hp will make a big impact.

SAD FACT I believe the cv8 looks better than the pontiac version.
The pontiac version is just PLAIN and fugly and that is something the GTO never was.

Is it over priced I think most definately even at 33k I think its about 5k to high I have seen 2002 WS6's go for 28500 to 29000 even though their msrp was 31000. Is it better than a WS6 ????
Maybe due to IRS and the corvette rearend. But at the prices some of the dealers are asking it's more than the base corvette.

 

You came here, and can't spell the name??

 

maybe he went Sidney in Canada ?

 

I've never heard anyone say the Pontiac version is "ugly". Uninspiring? Boring? From people who pick on the car, yes. Not ugly.

 

That is why I am not buying in 04...

I am sorry but to pay $39K for a GTO and have Pontiac build a better one in 05 is just asking to loose your ***.

 

Ok guys

I spent 18 months in Japan when I was in the service. During that time I went to (SYDNEY) (AND LETs MAKE SURE I SPELL THIS RIGHT) twice on R&R. Due to my love of your people and the beauty of your country I have talked about it for years.

As such My daughter decided to attend Unity College Australia in Yarralumla. We go there twice a year to see her.

But I gave you my honest opinion of what I thought about the car. I only came here for this thread due to some of the posts ending up in our GTO forum the other day.

To bad Bob Lutz didn't take your hot rod version of the CV8 and and bring it here. It looks good as well as runs ok. Call it anything but GTO and it would have been well received.

Most people here in the US think the Chevy Cavalier is ugly and if you add a sunbird grill you get the looks of the new GTO. Most all former GTO owners and a lot of other people don't like the looks either. All of our polls that we have run support this. Why does this upset you guys so much? It's not your fault its Pontiacs. Bob Lutz in his haste to get the car here forgot one important aspect it has to look good too. It wasn't until all the negative email hitting pontiac that they realized they needed to do something about it. In a few years this car may evolve into a car worthy of the GTO namesake. In it's current form and with most dealers charging way above MSRP it is not!!!!!!!

P.S. Last I checked there is not a spell check utility in the forum tools so don't look down on everyone that spells a word wrong. And It sure doesn't give you the right to question the validity of someone post. I Thought this was supposed to be a flame free forum where honest discussions were welcome. Have a heart be kind.

2 67 GTO's
1 69 Firebird
1 70 GTO
1 96 Firebird
1 97 corvette
1 02 WS6

 

I was browsing through another forum with the same sort of topic, i was only lurking but noticed an aussie member there, who ive never spoken with, but what he said is pretty close to how feel -

 

I will post this at our GTO forum it is well spoken

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BuickStreet said:They build these cars (Monaro/GTO) in my City (Adelaide, South Australia) and believe me they are much bigger than a Honda Civic. It must be an optical illusion of the photography or something.

If I could add:
Australia has long had a love affair with Muscle cars and we are proud of 'most' of our efforts in the past. Granted they have all been small blocks and GM cars have all been powered by either the Chevrolet V8 (307's, 327's and 350's) or our localally produced 308 cubic inch (90 degree) V8 and lately this Monaro/GTO is powered by the GM corporate 350 which is not a bad engine in it's own right . To my re-collection we have never had a V8 powered front wheel vehicle and believe me if they made one it would not sell.

I can feel some dissapointment from some of you at the fact that the GTO is being built "off-shore" and to some degree I can understand that emotion but I'd like to offer an alternative Australian point of view. We are extremely grateful to our "American cousins" (US and Canada) for starting this whole "muscle car" concept and have embraced it wholeheartedly. The wide long (never ending) open roads in Australia have lent themselves well to having some muscle underfoot and if there was ever a country that could exploit the power of a muscle car it is Australia. I have personally driven on roads where you could drive any car with your foot to the floor for hours (if your concentration could stand that amount of high speed driving).

I like to think that instead of trying to 'muscle in' (pun intended) to the American automotive industry we are actually trying to give something back for all the muscle that you guys have given us. It was because of muscle car enthusiasts in Australia that the Monara was even re-born. Australia has been without a (locally made) 2 door V8 powered muscle car for decades and it was only after constant and incessant lobying to GMH (General Motor Holden) by ordinary muscle car enthusiasts that GMH finally decided to "allow" the design team to work on a two door version of the Commodore (our local '4 door version' of the Monaro) "in their own time".

The result of all this effort is the Monaro of which we are all extremely proud. Of course, the standard body stands up well to all the 'normal' modifications and should not be looked on as the final look for this car. This car can look and sound much hotter with a bit (lot?) of lowering and the right wheels, a bit of extra window tinting and a free flowing (read louder) exhaust.

No Rick (don't worry) I didn't direct my comments to anyone in particular as I've been hearing this feedback from several sources at various bulletin boards and in the press generally.

I must admit that it does upset us a little when we consider that we finally get a chance to give back to a country that gave us so much (in the way of high powered cars) that we are a bit surprised that all many people (again - no one in particular) can grumble about is that it's an 'import'. Industrial relations issues aside, think of this car as a gift from us Aussies (pronounced 'Ozzies') to our American 'cousins'. We hope you have as much fun with it as we do.

Your comment regarding the shape of new cars in general is valid. I expect that the wind tunnel has a lot to do with that.

By the way, it might interest you to know that you can buy it much cheaper than we can which pisses us off but that's another issue.

I particularly like the comparison between the price of this car and the price of a pristine GSX. I see that as a no brainer...classic muscle for me without a second's hesitation.

This is a great car. Give it a chance to prove itself and I'm sure you will be impressed. Thanks for listening.


Please understand We dont have a problem with the Down Under Guys.
Our problem is with Gm and Bob Lutz He could have waited a year and done the GTO Name sake Justice. But his EGO being the size of Texas Made him hell bent on shoving this car down our throats. It Backfired not due to the quality of the car but because it does't make the (HEY SEE ME I'M A GTO AND I'M BAD) statement. We all know they will sell everyone they have this year but because of it's looks it won't be worth anything in afew years when they finally get their act together.