So the GTO isnt dead after all

[GBS927]

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=120968

DETROIT — Despite earlier reports that it might have scrapped plans for a new family of rear-wheel-drive vehicles in North America, General Motors to the contrary has now expanded its Zeta architecture to include a variety of new products for Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and Pontiac, Inside Line has learned.

The first of the new Zeta models is the Pontiac G8 sedan, based on the Australian Holden Commodore SS-V and due in Pontiac showrooms in early 2008. It could be joined next spring by a new Buick Park Avenue sedan, based on the Holden Statesman and just introduced in China.

While those two rear-drive four-doors are only mildly revised versions of Australian products, the next wave of Zeta models for the States will boast unique sheet metal. They include the 2009 Chevrolet Camaro, which goes into production in late 2008 and should begin arriving at U.S. dealers in early '09. It will be followed in short order by the replacement for the Pontiac GTO, which is due in fall 2009 as a 2010 model and will continue to be built in Australia.

In mid-2010, Chevy will unveil its new rear-wheel-drive Impala, based on the Zeta platform and built in North America. (The older front-drive sedan may be carried over for a year, aimed primarily at fleet customers and rebadged as the Impala Classic.)

About the same time, the 2011 Impala will be joined by redesigned editions of the G8 and Park Avenue, which will join their Chevy counterpart on the same assembly (probably at GM's Oshawa plant in Ontario). The '11 Park Avenue may nudge the older Lucerne from Buick's lineup as the brand's flagship sedan.

Cadillac had planned to shift the front-drive DTS sedan to the Zeta platform for model year 2011, but instead may drop the car. Now comes word from suppliers that a future CTS will switch to Zeta, in 2013, as Cadillac phases out its current Sigma rear-drive vehicles.

What this means to you: GM's vision for rear-wheel drive appears to be wide-ranging in the post-2010 era.


I just found this. Which for me is awesome. Cause I've been wanting a GTO for the longest oldschool or new, new would be better parts wise.

Its still a few years off

[RazorDX]

Sweet... there is still hope! For now...

[Nighthawk243]

I liked the 05/06 style Goat, but I wonder what they have in store for the upcoming one.

[GBS927]

My guess they'll retrofy it. Atleast I hope they do

[TA^Guy]

Wouldn't get your hopes up to much, notice they said "replacement for the Pontiac GTO".

[GT2000]

Originally posted by TA^Guy
Wouldn't get your hopes up to much, notice they said "replacement for the Pontiac GTO".

Firebird! Hey, I can dream at least :)

[RazorDX]

Bring on the G10 baby!

I'd still rather have the GTO... or as Nick said, a Firebird/Trans Am.

[GBS927]

Originally posted by TA^Guy
Wouldn't get your hopes up to much, notice they said "replacement for the Pontiac GTO".

Yeah I know, I dont like the wording of that. Even if it is a replacement, it needs to be a car with some style and power.

[kenna]

the way i understood it was they've been planning on introducing a replacement for the GTO since they came out with the last one, all they did was rebadge a european model like the article said to see if the GTO name would sell the car. It didnt as well as they'd hoped, but planning had been underway for the zeta since early 2000s...like i said, thats the way i understood it so that may be wrong. But in today's market, i think their best bet is to go for a nostalgic look. like the mustang, charger, and soon to be challenger.

[Nighthawk243]

Originally posted by kenna
the way i understood it was they've been planning on introducing a replacement for the GTO since they came out with the last one, all they did was rebadge a european model like the article said to see if the GTO name would sell the car. It didnt as well as they'd hoped, but planning had been underway for the zeta since early 2000s...like i said, thats the way i understood it so that may be wrong. But in today's market, i think their best bet is to go for a nostalgic look. like the mustang, charger, and soon to be challenger.

I didn't know Australia was in Europe... :lol:

[kenna]

It's not, and it seems if i would have known that the company was in Ausralia i wouldnt have said europe. But obviously i wasn't aware. Thanks for your extremely relevant correction.

[tgd]

Well if they build it i hope they don't Lutz it up this time !!!
Maybe retro like with the Camaro would be the way to go.
hopefully far from the path they went the last time with the
car Bob the butcher would proclaim the new GTO!

[RazorDX]

Anyone else think someone sounds bitter? :lol:

[A Profane Legac]

Originally posted by kenna
But in today's market, i think their best bet is to go for a nostalgic look. like the mustang, charger, and soon to be challenger.

The charger is not nostalgic/retro. At all. Its a 4-door. They suck. I drive several of them every day. Their big and slow (except the SRT-8's).

[geabaldyvx]

The GTO started in Australia.. moved the to Uk and Rebadged as the Vauxhaul Monaro VXR then came to the US as the GTO...

I imagine the "new" version will follow the same chain of travel. At least they aren't being modeled after Opal

[GBS927]

I really hope they just make a flatout RWD muscle car and Not a rebadged version of another car.

[car audio dave]

Originally posted by GBS927
I really hope they just make a flatout RWD muscle car and Not a rebadged version of another car.

part 1 of your statement has no relation to part 2. they will make a flatout RWD muscle car. it will be a rebadged "version" of another car, its their global platforms that will keep the company from going bankrupt.

[GBS927]

What I meant was a car that was originally designed to be sold with the US in mind first...since we are the ones that seem to love high hp cars. Not a car made for foreign markets first then modified for sell in the US.

Thats more of what I was thinking about. I completely understand if their new platforms do not succeed. I'm not that good with trying to clarify what I mean. For some reason I sometimes think people should know what I am saying.

[TA^Guy]

Originally posted by geabaldyvx
The GTO started in Australia.. moved the to Uk and Rebadged as the Vauxhaul Monaro VXR then came to the US as the GTO...

I imagine the "new" version will follow the same chain of travel. At least they aren't being modeled after Opal
I don't know some nice Opals in the line up. I'd rock a O.
Originally posted by GBS927
I really hope they just make a flatout RWD muscle car and Not a rebadged version of another car.
Rebadging cars have been going on for DECADES. Nothing new. If they didn't do it the price of cars would be about 50% higher.
Originally posted by GBS927
What I meant was a car that was originally designed to be sold with the US in mind first...since we are the ones that seem to love high hp cars. Not a car made for foreign markets first then modified for sell in the US.
Who cares...

Obviously we aren't the only ones that love "high hp cars". Especially seeing as both the GM divisions down under and in the middle east have more performance versions to offer with high out put V8 engines.

Personally I like my "muscle cars", as you put it, with more torque.
HP sells cars, obviously you inadvertantly already know that.

[MantaGreen97]

Originally posted by A Profane Legac
The charger is not nostalgic/retro. At all. Its a 4-door. They suck. I drive several of them every day. Their big and slow (except the SRT-8's).
Who cares if it's a 4 door? I honestly don't understand why people make such a big deal about that. Personally I'd rather 4 doors in a full size car with a rear seat (and a rather large rear area in the Charger at that).

And the R/T is relatively quick IMO, particularly relative to any normal Grand Am... The 5.7L makes it around as quick as a 350Z, which I wouldn't call "slow" either. Sure the SRT8 is better but I would not call the R/T a slouch. Plus you can get AWD on the non-SRTs (though it's not the greatest AWD system, it's still a nice option).

PS: Muscle cars of the past weren't exactly "small" either. And they weren't usually lightweights... Charger is probably lighter than some of those old-skool muscle cars. Furthermore the 340hp 5.7L modern-day HEMI probably develops more torque and power than most similar-displacement stock engines of yesteryear with their fuel dumping carbs, low voltage mechanical ignition systems, and wildly inflated gross hp ratings...

[GBS927]

Your post inadvertantly made me feel like an idiot. Your tone seems harsh (my interpretation). But we all like what we like, everyone would like something they would prefer.

I'm not saying "lets go US first all the way hoo hah." Its just my personal preference as to what I wish they could do, knowing that more than likely it wont happen because it would not be the wisest business decision. Marketing a vehicle that can potentially be sold in a hundred countries with modifications is a far better investment than a car made on this scale specifically for one market.

I didn't mean that I would prefer a car that wasn't rebadged at all, more than I would prefer it made with US in mind first.

[A Profane Legac]

Originally posted by MantaGreen97
Who cares if it's a 4 door? I honestly don't understand why people make such a big deal about that. Personally I'd rather 4 doors in a full size car with a rear seat (and a rather large rear area in the Charger at that).

And the R/T is relatively quick IMO, particularly relative to any normal Grand Am... The 5.7L makes it around as quick as a 350Z, which I wouldn't call "slow" either. Sure the SRT8 is better but I would not call the R/T a slouch. Plus you can get AWD on the non-SRTs (though it's not the greatest AWD system, it's still a nice option).

PS: Muscle cars of the past weren't exactly "small" either. And they weren't usually lightweights... Charger is probably lighter than some of those old-skool muscle cars. Furthermore the 340hp 5.7L modern-day HEMI probably develops more torque and power than most similar-displacement stock engines of yesteryear with their fuel dumping carbs, low voltage mechanical ignition systems, and wildly inflated gross hp ratings...

The only reason I have a problem with the 4 doors, is because its not a charger then... Its a magnum with out the hatch.

I realize that they were big in the past, and you took that the wrong way I think. While they are big, they just seem like clumsy cars, because when you sit in them you feel so low because of how high the doors are.

But everything about the torque and power is very true. But then again, thats true about any car now-a-days.

[woods]

I definately wanna see a new Firebird. but it'll probably just be a rebadged Camaro. The GTO could use a re-design, it looks too generic.

[TA^Guy]

Originally posted by woods
I definately wanna see a new Firebird. but it'll probably just be a rebadged Camaro. It would be unnatural if it wasnt.