Pontiac's RWD - NJFBOA - Home of New Jersey's Camaros and Firebirds

LS1Hawk · 02-22-2006, 05:48 AM

This is from the Detroit Free Press's website. Don't know if others have posted or heard of this yet, but it sounds official now. . .

GM will drop GTO this year
By JOE GUY COLLIER
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

February 21, 2006

General Motors Corp. confirmed Tuesday it will quit making the Pontiac GTO high-performance vehicle this summer.

The last GTO, made at an Australian plant, is expected to roll off the lines in June and reach U.S. customers in July, said Pontiac spokesman Jim Hopson.

GM decided to stop production of the GTO because of new U.S. safety requirements, Hopson said. The GTO uses the same platform as the Australian Monaro, which has been discontinued.
“As this platform is being phased out worldwide, it simply doesn’t make financial sense to make those kind of investments,” Hopson said.

The original GTO was an icon of the muscle-car era from 1964 to 1974.

The current GTO, revived in late 2003, boasted a 400-horspeower engine that hit home with car enthusiasts. GM sold 11,590 GTO’s last year, according to Autodata Corp.

As the current GTO is phased out, Pontiac is exploring options for adding another high-performance, rear-wheel-drive vehicle to its portfolio but no decisions have been made about a replacement, Hopson said.

Contact JOE GUY COLLIER at 313-222-6512 or jcollier@freepress.com

http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artik...plate=printart

jin1481 · 02-22-2006, 06:01 AM

As the current GTO is phased out, Pontiac is exploring options for adding another high-performance, rear-wheel-drive vehicle to its portfolio but no decisions have been made about a replacement, Hopson said.

can you say camaro/firebird....please god...

LS1Hawk · 02-22-2006, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jin1481

As the current GTO is phased out, Pontiac is exploring options for adding another high-performance, rear-wheel-drive vehicle to its portfolio but no decisions have been made about a replacement, Hopson said.

can you say camaro/firebird....please god...

New Camaro announced...GTO phased out...door open for Firebird...who knows. I had found the article on Ultimategto.com and the site indicates that rumors are 2008-2009 the GTO will return.

Koll · 02-22-2006, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jin1481

As the current GTO is phased out, Pontiac is exploring options for adding another high-performance, rear-wheel-drive vehicle to its portfolio but no decisions have been made about a replacement, Hopson said.

can you say camaro/firebird....please god...

Firebird............no.

qwikz28 · 02-22-2006, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Koll

Firebird............no.

QFT i think all who post about revival of the firebird should be banned. Lutz said flat out that there will be no more firebird. no more bitching and moaning will be tolerated! i would like to see it come back just as much as anyone else but its just not

slugger27nj · 02-22-2006, 09:17 AM

This is on GM Inside News, too......it's too soon to tell.

coldkilla · 02-22-2006, 09:47 AM

they would never do the firebird cuz it would eat up camaro market share. its not good business having two similiar products competing in what is now such a small niche market anyways. id imagine that they will have a larger rwd car like the gto was. maybe a grand prix rwd. arent the impala/gp/monte carlo platforms supposed to go rwd sometime soon or was that canned?

V · 02-22-2006, 10:23 AM

i believe just a day or two ago, an auction sponsored by ebay and holden, auctioned off the last Holden monaro being built. that was ebay Austrailia, pretty cool car, nicer than the gto for sure.

12secondv6 · 02-22-2006, 12:06 PM

GTO = crap
GM = crap

BigAls87Z28 · 02-22-2006, 03:22 PM

Pontiac will get RWD, it just probably wont be a 2dr coupe.

PBodyGT87 · 02-22-2006, 03:23 PM

muahaahahahaa.

....Fiero.

NJSPEEDER · 02-22-2006, 03:39 PM

i can see the GTO returnign very soon. it woudl fill the segment gap between the Camaro and the CTS very since it is already a car that people are used to seeing priced in that range.
if they brought it back specifically to fill that market gap it would open teh car up to more possible features and option combinations very nicely.

Firebird67dude · 02-22-2006, 04:14 PM

They either need to retro the GTo or bring thr FIREBIRD back. All you chevy guys are just made cauz you KNOW that compared to Pontiacs the Camaro sucks. Trust me I'm a GM all the way. But everybody even my 3 yr old brother knows that Trans Ams ARE BETTER.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHa

Tru2Chevy · 02-22-2006, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Firebird67dude

They either need to retro the GTo

I hope to god that they don't. The GTO was the first car that "came back" and stayed true to it's heritage in 10 years. It was a plain-looking coupe with a big-ass motor. That's all the original GTO was. If they go retro, I'll be pissed.

- Justin

Firebird67dude · 02-22-2006, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tru2Chevy

I hope to god that they don't. The GTO was the first car that "came back" and stayed true to it's heritage in 10 years. It was a plain-looking coupe with a big-ass motor. That's all the original GTO was. If they go retro, I'll be pissed.

Tru. I never thought of it like that. I have to say I agree. I say "if" they were to build a firebird the should build it off the 4th gen model. Make it totaly diff. than the maro.

NJSPEEDER · 02-22-2006, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Firebird67dude

They either need to retro the GTo or bring thr FIREBIRD back. All you chevy guys are just made cauz you KNOW that compared to Pontiacs the Camaro sucks. Trust me I'm a GM all the way. But everybody even my 3 yr old brother knows that Trans Ams ARE BETTER.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHa

ahhh, bitter little birdy boy wants to hate on the camaro. :finger:

they won't have both camaro and firebird unless they are terribly back ordered on camaros. it took jsut over 100 years, but GM realized that having similar cars fight it out on the same platform in the same market isn't as profitable as having 1 car with options that cover all the bases.
since the camaro was always viewed as the icon and always moved more units, the one they had to build was obvious.

like i said, the GTO or something similar from pontiac will return soon. GM isn't going to let that market segment vanish into the crap that MOPAR is offering without a fight.

BonzoHansen · 02-22-2006, 05:01 PM

Bring back the Tempest!

LS1Hawk · 02-22-2006, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tru2Chevy

I hope to god that they don't. The GTO was the first car that "came back" and stayed true to it's heritage in 10 years. It was a plain-looking coupe with a big-ass motor. That's all the original GTO was. If they go retro, I'll be pissed.

- Justin

That's what I have felt all along as well. But, apparently from the articles I've been reading online today, a big reason they cite the car not selling as well as GM wanted was because of the styling. But a lot of people thought putting the hood scoops on and spliting the exhaust boosted sales, but they said GTO sales for the '05s were actually down 15% overall from the '04s. Maybe it was just bad timming.

BigAls87Z28 · 02-22-2006, 06:00 PM

I guess that means a lot of left over LS2 Goats on lots with little miles that can be had for probably high to mid 20's. Oh baby, thats awesome.
Cheapest 400hp available new from any car company in the world.
Anyway, Pontiac is looking at the Charger for sports sedan market in the 25-35k mark. IMO, I think that the new GP, if it was RWD, would be one bad ass car. 320hp LS4 or a 400hp LS2, 6spd manual, with the same attention to suspension as the GXP got...helllllll yeah.
I think that a Commodore sized car would be awesome for Pontiac.

AJP1987 · 02-22-2006, 06:12 PM

Actually GM was very smart about marketing both f bodies.
in the 60s the camaro was awesome.
in the 70s the firebird looked a little bit nicer.
in the 80s the camaro in my opinion was a little nicer.
in the 90s the firebird pissed on the maro.
see a pattern? every generation they would choose which would be the nicer car.

BigAls87Z28 · 02-22-2006, 06:25 PM

Please define "pissed on", because if you think its sales numbers....you would be wrong.

AJP1987 · 02-22-2006, 06:37 PM

no i dont mean in sales, bc i think the only trans ams that has a chance were the 70s era in that domain. but when it comes to style the late 90s ws6s and ram airs where quite a bit more stylish than even the "still pretty tame looking" SS. The bodies were still similar but the firebird was much more serious looking, all the maros looked like 6 cylinders.

Savage_Messiah · 02-22-2006, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigAls87Z28

I guess that means a lot of left over LS2 Goats on lots with little miles that can be had for probably high to mid 20's. Oh baby, thats awesome.
Cheapest 400hp available new from any car company in the world.
Anyway, Pontiac is looking at the Charger for sports sedan market in the 25-35k mark. IMO, I think that the new GP, if it was RWD, would be one bad ass car. 320hp LS4 or a 400hp LS2, 6spd manual, with the same attention to suspension as the GXP got...helllllll yeah.
I think that a Commodore sized car would be awesome for Pontiac.

Gott keep in mind that if all the cars are 400 HP RWD 6-speeds, it won't turn out too well

BigAls87Z28 · 02-22-2006, 07:24 PM

Nope, it wouldnt go well sales wise. There will most deffinatly be a V6 and the 6spd automatic available.

Savage_Messiah · 02-22-2006, 07:49 PM

By every car I meant throughout GM, not just grand pricks