MT article on GTO

[HAGREEN]

motor trend writes an article on the new gto (a holden found in australia by bob lutz). they act like this is the greatest thing since sliced bread. they make a quick comparo to the 2003 cobra in the article, calling it aging with a clunky personality and a suspension that clomps over the road as if it's wearing horseshoes. just a year and a half ago they were singing the praises of the cobra.

the gto looks nice inside but the body styling looks like a pregnant loaf of bread. dual exhaust both coming out left side. go figure.

the performance numbers are not even close.

[sonicblue03]

you have to read Car and Driver. Brock Yates' comments are so funny.

Lusty performance disguised in a phone company fleet car!

When he first saw the dishwasher dull battleship gray GTO he thought a navy recruiter had stopped by!

Did the dolts at Pontiac even take a peak at the 64 65 goats!

I'm from his generation and worked for Pontiac for 11yrs. This overblown grandAm with a chevrolet engine has no right to wear the GTO name plate

[sobra]

I read the C&D article too, and I was going to post a comment on it. I think the reason that M.T. is having such an orgasm over this thing is that all the GM freaks out there have been starved for performance for so long. This car looks like a tick that's been attached to the family dog for about 2 months. I see absolutely no sensuality or artful themes in the styling here.

[bones]

One of the things I dislike most about MT. It's so predictable. I guess Car of the Year can't be far behind.

[sobra]

Originally posted by bones
One of the things I dislike most about MT. It's so predictable. I guess Car of the Year can't be far behind.

Absolutely correct Mr.Bones! I couldn't agree more! I've always thought Motor Trend to be the "General Motors" of car magazines...very common, very boring & predictable...the car mag that even "non-enthusiasts" will thumb through or subscribe to and read every word as though it were the word of the scriptures.

I've always liked Road&Track the best...for their blatant honesty, humor, expertise, and the fact that they've been around fo SO long......

[jboselly]

I have found Motor Trend to be extremely biased toward BMW's. I am actually surprised they wrote anything nice of a domestic car. The GTO looks OK and the performance seems to be OK, but that's it. Did anyone notice the price...34K. I'll take a Cobra for a little less any day.

[norcal_cobra]

I know that when I was in Australia over the summer there was a lot of excitement about the Holden Monaro's (soon to be GTO in the US). Apparently they had built a 7.0L version for Rallye Racing and were kicking butt on every course over there, so the public went crazy over them. Of course, Holden doesn't sell the 7.0L version.

-norcal_cobra

[5.0 guy]

It's all in the name!, next year everyone will be chatting about some dork in a GTO that thought it was a Tri power of the sixties and tried to take an 03 Cobra on, please!, they better get twin turbos becuase all I see is Kenne bell!!! Who cares about it, Pontiac and Chevy are upset that they dicontinued their Camaro and Firebird and Ford released the fastest Mustang to date. They are trying to sell their names of the past rather than take on 03 Cobra type performance. I do see the Camaro comming back in a couple years though, they would sell a ton of cars to Mustang haters(Chevy people!)

[HAGREEN]

i'd like to see camaros come back. competetion always helps. i agree about mt biases. i take it as well as, C&D, R&T, Automobile, and Auto Week. AutoWeek is favorite, but i do like a lot of the commentary in C&D especially from Yates.

[5.0 guy]

The mags are still a great source of info to findout about upcomming cars, just don't beleive their opinions as hard as the straight car dimentions given at the end of the article.

[norcal_cobra]

I'm kinda over the whole retro thing aleady, which is why I am a little dissapointed with the design of the upcoming Mustang, as cool as it is. The GTO on the other hand is really not a retro car at all. It is another weak attempt by GM to rekindle a classic brand name from their heyday by appealing to the fond memories of all those baby boomers who wished they had had a Goat in high school but never had one. At least the new MACH 1 is unmistakeably a MACH 1 .

-norcal_cobra

[5.0 guy]

NorCal, True Dat!
LOL!!!

[bones]

Originally posted by 5.0 guy
It's all in the name!, next year everyone will be chatting about some dork in a GTO that thought it was a Tri power of the sixties and tried to take an 03 Cobra on, please!, they better get twin turbos becuase all I see is Kenne bell!!! Who cares about it, Pontiac and Chevy are upset that they dicontinued their Camaro and Firebird and Ford released the fastest Mustang to date. They are trying to sell their names of the past rather than take on 03 Cobra type performance. I do see the Camaro comming back in a couple years though, they would sell a ton of cars to Mustang haters(Chevy people!)

Hey 5.0 Guy, agree completely:
Let me tell you something about the 60's tri-power GTO's. They were the hottest thing around. I drove them and also a '62 Impala 409 with dual quads and assorted 'vettes of the times. I saw them run at Atco drag strip in Jersey and NONE of them could begin to come near the performance of the muscle cars of today let alone the Cobra. They mostly ran in the 14's and sometimes when they hooked up they could get in the mid-high 13's. I still can't figure out why GM was king back then. To tell the truth the cars that really kicked ass at the track were the Mopars.
IMO this GTO is pure GM marketing BS, business as usual and the same robots will go out and buy them.

[norcal_cobra]

There was seemingly nothing my buddy could've done back in high school to get a date until one fine day when he pulled into the parking lot in the 69 GTO Judge that he had spent the previous 2 years restoring. That was one sweet ride.

All these moves that the General is making towards reviving old brands is pure marketing bs. Didn't they bring back the Impala as a front wheel drive v6" So much for the 409 dragstrip terror lineage. Hmmm.... and what about the Malibu? The Malibu I used to own had a V8 and 4 spd. Maybe next they'll bring back the Nomad as a minivan.

Well, if I get my wishes, Ford will bring back the Mustang II King Cobras! Now those were sweet rides! :D

-norcal_cobra

[5.0 guy]

My brother had a late 70's Cobra II, that was not even worth shooting at!, did someone say Pinto/Cobra???LOL! Bones, that's cool that you had cars such as you previously mentioned, guy's like you were my heros as a kid, and of course JOHN WAYNE! I do agree about the Mopar muscle back in the day, it's time to make something other than a Viper. By the time everyone gets their competition on the assembly line Ford will be selling 2007 Mustang Cobras with a parachute option. I'm sure the technology in future cars is definately something to be excited about, but the technology is here now, so lets see what they have other than a Viper, Zo6, or did I say SRT Neon! I want to see true muscle car models, not a $80,000 racer or a $19,000 economy car with a turbo, sorry but I'm bord with their products.

[Rocket]

I too was in Austrailia a while back. The idea is pretty good to bring back to the market a competetive name in muscle car lore, aka GTO. But, as many have said the new "for the U.S." GTO just doesn't seem to make the bench mark that even blue bleeding Ford people would enjoy rubbing elbows with. A dual exhaust on one side? Come on. If they really wanted to do it right, they "GM" should have made the GTO available as they do in Austrailia. See, in Austrailia they can order a car with options from "Holden for GM" AND "Tickford for Fords". The availability of options are much like we in the U.S. used to have back when the muscle car era was in full swing. A customer could order a car with option packages, i.e. a big motor, different gears, etc. etc. . This is still the way they do cars from Holden and Tickford in Austrailia. In the U.S. we have the mass produced vehicles personalized only by colors. Thankfully we Ford nuts have SVT which gives us a bit more. Could you imagine being able to order a New 05-06 Mustang GT as a GT naturally aspirated, or supercharged with the current Cobra power plant, or an even more radical option a Shelby-ized version of a Cobra version, with selectable paint scheme, power plant, gears, IRS or not, auto, 6 speed or 5 speed hi-po version. All these types of options are available in Austrailia, you can even get pictures of "Your special car" being built. Ah, some folks will settle for the GTO at GM for lack of an existing platform, but it's kinda like putting whip cream on a turd. The U.S. Gets a New GTO! .... Whip Cream on a Turd. Give us a U.S. version of the XLR8 with options "XLR8... ex·hil·a·rat·ing" . 8^)

[dennish]

I think an 03 Cobra incorporates just the right amount of Mustang heritage, excellent performance, and clearly sends itself out as the clear winner of a product ie pony car era run. The newer body looking like the 69 is a great idea, and will enable Ford to give us back a bigger more practical Mustang for the future.

God help us if Chevy even gets close to another Chevelle ever again. That size of a car was perfect for young people and with the available technology today, they would give Ford a real battle and WE would win as a result. We need all three to get us back into cars that are just a little bigger than what we have along with a vast list of performance option upgrades for all of us. You know they're gonna do it because Ford will prove that we will buy them with the retro Mustang, and the 500 etc.

Come on, you remember the 71 Grand Prix's don't you? Man we need 2 door coupes with no stupid frames around the doors and plenty of trunk and seating space without having to be uncomfortable. It's too easy and they know it. History repeats itself all the time in the car business, just take a good look and you'll see.

No this isn't a GTO by any means, but GM is a very capable car company, and I think they will answer the call, just watch.

[j card]

Both C&D and Automobile are quoting 1/4 mile times of 14.0 so I dont think we have anything to be worried about. They are also listing a weight of over 3800 lbs.

My wife looked at one at SEMA and said "It looks like a Grand Prix and a Sunfire mated and had a baby" - even the tarted up one in the GM booth (that was cooler than the production model) was very disappointing. Too bad they chose to use the GTO name - this car doesn't do justice the the heritage of the marque. If I was a classic GTO fan, I'd feel betrayed.

[slow lane]

As big of dud as the GTO looks to be as a performance car, as a mid-priced coupe it's got good performance.

As much as hate to say it, GM will probably sell more GTO's than Ford sells Cobras even though they are comparably priced 2+2 performance coupes. The Cobra is a true GT car, GTO is family sedan with som pep but without the back doors, a comfortable back seat or apparently any trunk space.

GM sold a lot of those ridiculous Monte Carlo's and even worse, the Monte Carlo SS without a V8 or a supercharge V-6.

[ArkAngelx3]

Originally posted by slow lane
As big of dud as the GTO looks to be as a performance car, as a mid-priced coupe it's got good performance.

As much as hate to say it, GM will probably sell more GTO's than Ford sells Cobras even though they are comparably priced 2+2 performance coupes.

It doesnt matter how many GTO's are sold. Ford is not going to match the numbers no matter what. There will always be a set target number of SVT's produced and sold. And its pretty much going to be much lower for a reason.

[dennish]

What about the front wheel drive? That's like drop'n yer shorts with NO HAIR!!!!!

[5.0 guy]

LOL!

[HAGREEN]

I read they put the gas tank in the trunk of the GTO. is this correct? that ought to leave room for a ditty bag

[2k3mk1]

Tho 04 GTO looks like a Grand-Am/Grand-prix that some how got put together as one. If the performance numbers are what the mags are saying it will not be a threat to my 03 Mach1 much less a Cobra. We as Ford lovers should have nothing to worry about from the old tech that GM continues to produce. GTO, SSR, whatever can you say overweight overpriced and underperforming????????? The only real performance car GM builds is a 2 seater that is plastic and overpriced as well.