Thinking about a 2004 GTO

[cchase]

Originally Posted By: 97tbird
Originally Posted By: hardcore302
Get a Mustang,

everywhere - way too common. - doesn't mean it's a bad car, BUT:
Someone who looks for a GTO is probably looking for a bit of exclusivity, and owning a not too common of a car. (I think)


They're also far nicer inside and out and to drive than a Mustang of that vintage.

 

[Win]

I spent about four minutes looking at Mustangs, then drove across town and bought the GTO. The Mustang simply wasn't in the same league as the GTO.

 

[Mr Nice]

Maybe a used Vette ?

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
GTO is a terrific bang for the buck. A little short on brakes/tires due to wheel sizing, but that's only a problem at the track.

Otherwise a terrific street car with mega potential.

I certainly wouldn't mind that LS1 model, as a few bolt ons will easily make it run with an LS2. The difference is small really.



Yes, that (the wheel/tire/brake width/size limitations without MAJOR body/wheel well work) is about the ONLY thing (besides slightly more weight than my car) I don't like about the Ozzie GM coupes.

I actually really like the way they look, despite everyone else thinking that they look "bland" (what do these same people think about most of the Nippon styling out there, if that is the case, or do THEY get an exemption because they are percieved as "perfect"?

).

What the **** does everyone think they should have looked like, what Vinnie D. drove at the end of "XXX"?!?!?


Exactly! Looks are very personal, and I have NEVER bought any car because of what others think!

Buy it if you want it, and if you like it. I still have my car because it still makes me smile when I walk up to it in the parking lot. I do not care what others think. I also love that very few people recognize it.

The ones that do are true enthusiasts...

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: 97tbird
Originally Posted By: hardcore302
Get a Mustang,

everywhere - way too common. - doesn't mean it's a bad car, BUT:
Someone who looks for a GTO is probably looking for a bit of exclusivity, and owning a not too common of a car. (I think)


Then get a neon pink Yugo with green polka dots and orange interior.

 

[cchase]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle

Then get a neon pink Yugo with green polka dots and orange interior.


I think that's the wrong kind of exclusivity

.

 

[SLCraig]

Originally Posted By: 97tbird
Originally Posted By: hardcore302
Get a Mustang,

everywhere - way too common. - doesn't mean it's a bad car, BUT:
Someone who looks for a GTO is probably looking for a bit of exclusivity, and owning a not too common of a car. (I think)


I would much rather have a GTO myself.
Mustangs might be good, but are just so common for what should be something a little more rare to see (a good sports car)
I think they look amazing myself.

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: NHGUY
Just buy a 1978-80 LeMans or Grand Am,fit it with that same Chevy engine and drivetrain,affix a few "GTO" emblems and you will have something closer in heritage to the real thing than that Aussie import "label engineered" model.


Bet it burns you that we designed the Camaro too !

 

[Jarlaxle]

You mean the homely, overweight, overpriced grandpa-mobile? Keep it, it's a joke!

The GTO died after 1974.

 

[fdcg27]

I've always liked the smooth and subtle lines of this car.
The Grand Am was always pretty hideous and cheap looking.
This is also a fairly rare car.
You won't see yourself coming and going, and a only a handful of enthusiast types will know what it actually is, particularly if you debadge it.

 

[fdcg27]

So the current bloated caricature of the first gen Camaro was designed in Oz?
Now we know who to blame!
It certainly wasn't penned by the folks who did the Holden coupe sold here as the GTO.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Actual Camaro owners give the cars high marks for daily utility.

Styling is pure opinion, thank God we don't all like the same stuff. I think Subaru is ugly enough to upset your stomach! But we all get a free choice.

I've rented one (V6 ragtop) and we had a blast in it for a week while we had a car in the body shop. While the weight is high the car was very solid and tossable in a way that really surprised me.

 

[Turk]

I just put my '06 GTO in storage last weekend and I'll tell ya, it was tough.

It's such a fun car to drive, is agile, not "boxy" like the new Camaro. Tons of power, lots of looks & "stares", comments galore at the gas station.

Plus, I get 33MPG

with my GTO on the Freeway, because it's basically just above Idle!

 

[cchase]

I don't think I would get 33 mpg with mine if I shut the engine off every few minutes and coasted down the hills.

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: tpitcher
I just put my '06 GTO in storage last weekend and I'll tell ya, it was tough.

It's such a fun car to drive, is agile, not "boxy" like the new Camaro. Tons of power, lots of looks & "stares", comments galore at the gas station.

Plus, I get 33MPG

with my GTO on the Freeway, because it's basically just above Idle!


Yes, but of course some will STILL call it "homely"/"plain jane"/"grandpamobile", etc.

I guess some would not have been satisfied unless it REALLY DID look like the land yacht which Vinneboy drove at the end of "XXX".

(Which I must remind everyone was certainly NO 'lightweight' as far as HEFT goes either, and could not handle it's way out of a paper bag, unlike the Holden car with it's EXCELLENT dynamics!

)

The 5th gens' "boxiness"/'retro-look' does not bother me at all.
The ONLY worries I would have about it are the heft, the overly large wheel diameters, and the outward visibility for the driver.
In fact, I think that the ZL1, and 1LE are wicked looking, and if ~500-700# could be shaved off of them, they would be supercars!

 

[cchase]

The thing is that the new GTO is just like the original - they took a plain jane car and put a big motor in it. I'm not sure how that isn't true to the original, other than being from Australia...

 

[SteveSRT8]

^^^Hahaha, Lido Anthony "Lee" Iacocca's formula still works today.

A serious injection of power to a dynamically sound platform is always fun!

 

[fdcg27]

Umm,
I think the formula belonged to John Delorean before the midwife of the Mustang discovered it.
In fact, that formula was arguably created with the original Tempest GTO.
OTOH, there were plain Jane cars with big motors before the first GTO, like the 409 Chevy.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
^^^Hahaha, Lido Anthony "Lee" Iacocca's formula still works today.

A serious injection of power to a dynamically sound platform is always fun!


I thought Iococca was irate at the idea of shoving a larger engine in the Mustang and the overall shift in making the car less "dainty", and subsequently left Ford?

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Actual Camaro owners give the cars high marks for daily utility.

Styling is pure opinion, thank God we don't all like the same stuff. I think Subaru is ugly enough to upset your stomach! But we all get a free choice.

I've rented one (V6 ragtop) and we had a blast in it for a week while we had a car in the body shop. While the weight is high the car was very solid and tossable in a way that really surprised me.


It's still morbidly obese! The thing is two tons!