The goat will ride again

[SLED]

Its been back and forth: no gto after 2006, gto after 2006, no gto after 2006, gto after 2006. Well it comes from the chief goat's (Bob Lutz's) mouth this time:

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer...

New GTO coming around the bend,Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Joshua Dowling, Special to The Plain Dealer

Geneva, Switzerland- The Pontiac GTO isn't dead after all, says a top General Motors Corp. executive, who also hinted there might be a new ultra-fast Corvette coming. The current GTO will be phased out at the end of this year, but an all-new model is expected to return at the end of 2008 as a 2009 model, said Bob Lutz, who heads GM's global vehicle development.

In an interview at the international auto show in Geneva, Switzerland, Lutz also suggested an even more powerful version of the Corvette might be on the way. Industry insiders have talked about a "Blue Devil" Corvette that would be more powerful than the 505-horsepower Z06 that is currently the fastest Corvette. Lutz stopped short of confirming that, saying: "There will be something special for the Corvette soon." When "Blue Devil" was mentioned, he simply smiled.

The GTO, however, is definitely on the way. Last year, it appeared that GM had canceled any future GTOs as part of its efforts to reduce costs. And a Pontiac spokesman confirmed this year that the last GTOs would be sold this summer because the model wouldn't meet a new airbag standard taking effect in the fall. The spokesman said that the automaker would like to have another GTO but that there was nothing to announce.

But in the interview Tuesday, Lutz said the GTO plans were just off the shelf for a few months and he always wanted a new version. The new GTO might be built in North America, particularly if the Chevrolet Camaro concept gets the go-ahead for production, he said. Both the Pontiac GTO and Camaro could be based on GM's Zeta mechanical underpinnings, which are being developed by the company's Australian outpost, Holden, Lutz said.

With the current strength of the Australian dollar and the recent free-trade agreement between Australia and the United States, it would be more feasible to build the GTO in North America and export a version called the Holden Monaro to Australia, he said. The GTO, which is based on the Monaro, has been built in Australia and shipped to America.
Dowling is motoring editor of the Sydney Morning Herald.

[Vanishing Point]

......Sounds like it belongs on the gto board!

[l3it3r@gmail.com]

hopefully it LOOKS like what a car called GTO should look like..

[Vanishing Point]

Originally Posted by l3it3r@gmail.com

hopefully it LOOKS like what a car called GTO should look like..

You got that right!!!! ...We do it nice,because we do it twice scenario!!

[Racer X]

The GTO was never meant to be a resto mod like the stang, but an evolution of the car had it stayed in production all these years. If you look at the last years of its production in the 70's, you'll see that evolution.

[BuBbABFP]

the new gto isnt that bad..

[Mr.DJ]

I just might be wrong, but according to the lastest news I've heard, this just might be the look of the future 'Goat'.

[Chikan]

^ LMAO!! Nice, DJ... hehehe

[SLED]

A GM insider has mentioned that the new GTO will likely come in two versions:

(1) Base: 400 hp LS2 derived block with cylinder deactivation
(2) Judge: 500 hp LS7

The judge will only be availabe with a manual tranny.

[Mr.DJ]

Except for that squared-off/truck-like front-end in that artist rendering, the balance actually looks more like what a 'retro' Camaro concept should look like...more so than the what the current Camaro concept actually does.