Actually I only wanted to create a list here on this site to see if we could measure if more members here like the new GTO or dislike it without resorting to generalities. Thast why I made the other one up too. To try to get some facts here. Maybe I didn't explain myself enough on the original post.

 

I dont like it one bit!

 

Maybe I'm biased ... having grown up with the original GTO and its brethren ... but to me this car is just not special enough to be a GTO. I think it should be called something else. Let the GTO's memory remain intact. The History Channel had a program last Sat. about the muscle cars of the 60's and early 70's. Sigh ...

 

RWD, V8 Like it!

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One day at a time
1-16-92

 

It's awesome. guaranteed sell-out even at 50K, much less 18K.

 

See, we're not alone.....

http://ultimategto.com/monaro06.htm

Look around on this site for GTO enthusiasts reaction.

 

I personally think the new GTO is O.K. and I'm waiting until I get to see photos of a production car and then, finally, a real one before I will make my ultimate judgement, but man with all of the crap people say about the GTO, the current Grand Prix must REALLY suck ***. GTO, V8, rear drive, two doors, manual transmission. What did the vintage GTOs have again? Grand Prix, front drive, V6, will soon be 4 door only, automatic only. Where's the tri-power 4 speed 421?

I'm not dissing the Grand Prix - I like them, personally, but the current car is WAY more an affront to the GP heritage than the new GTO. If you hate the new GTO then you can't say you like the current GP, that's just the way it is. You have to say that the "real" Grand Prix died a double death - when the rear drive V8 (available at least) car died in 1987 and when the friggin' four door was introduced. I think it could probably be argued even further back that the "real" Grand Prix died with the last Pontiac 455 installed in 1976 or the last 400 in 1977.

Then again, I guess that the Firebird and Camaro died when the last "American" cars were made in 1992 and the Firebird was dead long before that when the last Pontiac powered cars were produced in 1981. No, I guess it was before that when the last 400s were installed in 1979, before the car ended up with the outrageously bad 301. Or maybe the Firebird died when it became just a clone of the Camaro. Oh yeah. That's what it was to start with. And the GTO always shared it's body with the totally pedestrian Tempest/LeMans series and even the Nova in 1974. Every car that changes or doesn't meet a certain person's certain criteria is constantly getting ripped up on these forums and it's just silly. People probably complained in 1968 because "Man, that ain't a GTO, the GTO is SQUARE and that car, it's ROUND man!"

 

How many times must it be repeated.............we DON'T hate the GTO....we ONLY wish it looked just a LITTLE like a GTO. PERIOD.

Good Lord people....at least have the common courtesy to read the responses and not beat the same tired dead horse.....

 

Do you want it to look like a 1964 GTO or a 1967 GTO or a 1968 GTO or a 1971 GTO or a 1973 GTO or a 1974 GTO?

 

Heck any of them would do.....

How many GTO's came w/o hood scoops? Many had hood mounted tachs and rear spoilers (I'm guessing this one will have that though)

Nearly EVERY negative resopnse has pointed to the simple fact that this new design is too generic, too uninspired, etc.....

This new design (and I use that term lightly) simply does not say "GTO".........a point we make more distinctly due to our hopes that the 5th gen Camaro doesn't come back in a similar plain brown wrapper, unrecognizable as a "Camaro".

Do you honestly think we'd give a hill of beans about this car if it didn't PROMISE so much? It promises performance....we look forward to that! It "promises" a link to the past......it only delivers on half that promise.

Only time will tell if this car becomes a classic or just another toy soldier.

 

Eric,
I like what you're saying brother. In both posts.

And how did the GP get to where it is today? How come nobody is having a cow about the current car?

Ya know, the GP back in '68 & '69 was available with a 428HO putting out 390 hp and could be mated to a 4-speed manual that drove the rear wheels. This engine was the second highest rated engine Pontiac ever made and the highest readily available engine.
And in '62 & '63, one could get the 421SD (405 & 415 hp) in a GP.
What happened? This is a car we should be up in arms over. But no one really cares about the GP. All the youngsters only remember the car as a 4 door, FWD, V-6 family car. And the car was never intended to be that kind of car. It is supposed to be a personal luxury coupe. And now the 2 door is gone. This, to me, is wrong.
If you guys knew Grand Prix history the way I know it, you would be just as upset as I am. It truly is sad.

 

Every GTO had hood scoops, true. But the 64s are just silver ducts, the 65-67 and 68-70 designs are too low to the hood to provide any true "ram" effect even when they are open (and most weren't) the 1973 NACA ducts are nonfunctional and the 1974 shaker is functional (the last Pontiac so equipped) but too far from the windshield to reap the "boundary layer" effect that the shaker was designed to take advantage of. While hood tachs were optional as were rear spoilers after 1969 (both standard on The Judge, of course) most cars were not so equipped from the factory and there are far more hood tach and spoiler equipped cars now than were ever built by Pontiac, so I don't necessarily know if I'd say "many" had these features. As I said, I'll reserve my judgement until I've seen the car in person -or at least production pictures. Ferraristi were livid when Pontiac called the 1964 a GTO, but it endured and built its own legend It's hard to say what the GTO would look like now if it hadn't fallen victim to high insurance and even worse gas prices, but I think it's only fair to give the new car a chance and judge it on its own merit when it actually exists. And while we know Pontiac/GM probably doesn't want to invest the money in a real Ram Air system at this point, maybe it will come back in the future? The Trans Am did without for almost 25 years, but they sold pretty well for most of that time. And if they just stuck a fake scoop on the hood of the GTO how would that be any different than the Mustang GT's fake scoop which has been a constant target of ire on this board?

 

And here's what Pontiac should do:

Move the Bonneville up a size class and make it RWD.

Move the GP up to the current Bonneville size class and make it RWD. Offer both a sedan and coupe version. Call the sedan a Catalina and the coupe a GP (the original GP was based on the Cat).

We've got the GTO below that. They should offer a cheaper version, also. With cloth seats, 5-speed manual trans, 16" wheels, and some power stuff missing. Throw in a 250 hp V-8 (4.8 L out of the trucks?) and call this the Tempest.

Keep the Grand Am plans the same.

Make the Sunfire an import killer with standard FWD and optional AWD in 2 & 4 door and wagon configurations.

Bring the Solstice in as shown.

Kill the Aztec, Vibe, & Montana.

And for God sakes, bring back the RWD Firebird and Trans Am.

This plan will set Pontiac right.

 

Hu, I'm with you on both your Grand Prix post and your future plans for Pontiac (I don't think there's any way in hell it'll happen, but I'd be more than pleased if it did)with the only exception being I'd keep the Vibe as I think it has potential as a niche player in the entry level market.

 

Eric,
Thanks. I love Grand Prixs. The RWD ones are my favorite cars of all time. I just sold a '73 Model J and I currently own a '94 2-door SE with the B4U package.

RE the product line-up. I suggested to cover all body styles with one platform. Cheaper for the company. Essentially, the wagon version of the Sunfire would take over for the Vibe.