Gone 'Til 2009: Last GTO Rolls off the Line in Australia

mikeyb

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ADELAIDE, Australia General Motors' Holden subsidiary has built and shipped the final Pontiac GTO the last one, that is, until GM resurrects the badge, probably in model-year 2009.

Based on the two-door Holden Monaro, the GTO had a surprisingly short life span in the U.S. Holden built just over 40,000 GTOs, and GM announced earlier this year that it was phasing out the nameplate because of dwindling interest by consumers.

The Adelaide plant saw the last GTO roll off the line in mid-June; it was shipped to the U.S. a week later, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Production totaled 40,808 vehicles.

The newspaper reports that Holden's performance division, Holden Special Vehicles, is planning a special edition of the Monaro: a limited run of 50-100 individually numbered HSV cars badged as the Holden GTO.

Holden also has confirmed it will market a second-generation Monaro coupe for the Australia market, based on the new Commodore sedan. Here's the twist: The 2009 Chevrolet Camaro will share the same rear-wheel-drive architecture (known internally as Zeta) as the Commodore/Monaro, which could be assembled in North America and then shipped back to Australia.


source:http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=116031#2
 
I wasn't a fan of the hood that Pontiac chose to put on it, but there is no denying that it was a fast car off the lot. In other trims, it actually looked really good as well. Has anyone seen the VXR versions that vauxhall put out in the UK?

The one thing that I thought was a little lacking was the skinny wheels on the back. It could have used a little more rubber.
 
a friend of mine has a GTO 5.7l with cams, beefed tranny and gears, LSedit and a couple other goodies. He dyno'd at 449 HP and 503 ft/lb with using nitrous...
 
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yeah, i also liked that car. The only pontiac that was not overdesigned and had very classy lines, but what do you know, aparantly consumers wanted some aztec looking monstrosities.....

i don't know, it's a cool car, and i would own one

I guess GM should not have given it the all mighty GTO name tag. I think they should have just called it Pontiac Monaro, why the hell not?
 
The GTO will be sorely missed by those who recognized it for what it was: A relativley cheap, well built, comfortable, FAST AS ALL GET OUT, plain jane muscle car. Screw the haters who wanted retro stying and more aggressiveness. I WILL OWN one of these one day! I'm sure you'll be able to pic these up a few years down the road for cheap. Then when the guy in the "retro Styled" Mustang GT pulls up next to you, you can just smile and blow him into the weeds!
 
StealthWyvern said:
I'm glad im wasn't the only one with the same mindset towards Pontiac.
Cool!

tyusha said:
yeah, i also liked that car. The only pontiac that was not overdesigned and had very classy lines, but what do you know, aparantly consumers wanted some aztec looking monstrosities.....

i don't know, it's a cool car, and i would own one

I guess GM should not have given it the all mighty GTO name tag. I think they should have just called it Pontiac Monaro, why the hell not?

Yeah, I thought it was a decent car. It might not be the best "bang for the buck" or whatever, but the ones I've seen around here are very appealing. The stock exhaust sounds sweet. And winding that thing out with the 6 MT would be a pleasure :D.
 
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Dim said:
Cool!



Yeah, I thought it was a decent car. It might not be the best "bang for the buck" or whatever, but the ones I've seen around here are very appealing. The stock exhaust sounds sweet. And winding that thing out with the 6 MT would be a pleasure :D.


It's an AWESOME bang for the buck. Especially the 04's and 05's! 350 ponies for the same price as a 350Z and you get backseats and a bigger trunk!!!
 

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