NEW/OLD RETRO GTO
 

I've never seen this before. This is sort what I exspected/hoped for from Pontiac in 04.
Not sure if this is an older or new design exercise.

Either way I kind of like it.

http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/p...by_phareck.jpg

Well, that's different...

I'd like to see the back.

To each their own, as they say styling is subjective, If the new GTO would have looked like that I surely would have saved my money and I'd be driving something beside the 05 GTO I have now.

I'd rather be seen in my aussie GTO than that abortion... It kind of reminds me of this...

http://www.53classicchevy.com/1953-2...-corvette.html

Rear quarters & C-pillar look like they used the new Camaro for a starting base.
I don't care for the 'beard' air inlets.
It needs some kind of slim chrome bumper.

X2, or this mess: http://www.musclecardrive.com/articl...muscle-car.php

seriously?
at least that thing bears SOME resemblance to a GTO.
the new GTO's have nothing resembling a GTO.

the logo is on the wrong side.

i like it. not perfect but i like it. if it had a front bumper i'd like it more.
thanks for posting.

There was some car theft movie with Michael Madsen a few years ago that had the "thing" in it....

I never wanted a me too like the mustang is/was they have no place to go with that car, they've painted themselves into a corner so now they just keep upping the power of the car because the retro style doesn't allow you to update the looks.

I also fail to see the statement "nothing resembles a GTO" has much truth to it. Dual exhaust outlets, twin hood scoops, and the GTO emblem is at least on the correct grille, are all styling cues taken from the 60-70s cars. I never wanted a 2005 car that looks like a say 67 car, but if some other people do then that styling exercise is just for you. It looks almost as hideous as Phylis Diller's plastic surgery does, to me anyway. I thought the new crapmaro was about as bad as you could make a car look, however this takes it to a whole new level. When I looked at the pic I think I regurgitated a little..............................:gag:

Was that in the CARS movie? It looks like it could talk.

Doesn't do much for me...especially the nose.
Same as all these Camaro based Trans Ams that every man and his dog are turning out....sort of like trying to make a silk purse out of a sows ear.

I wish I hadn't seen it...

I don't remember any GTO's ever looking like that.

If all it takes to make a GTO is grafting a pair of headlights and a grille onto any body style, then why not put them on a Yugo?

No offense to anyone but...that looks like a George Barris abortion.

Whoever penned that should be shot.

Actually, I kinda like the grill and the headlights, but the valence area doesn't look right. And the C-pillar looks like it's from the wrong A-body. More like a 67 Cutty more than a GTO.

And the color is just wrong. :gag: Who paints a concept car cream/beige?
A muscle car should look bold and loud, IMO.

I can't say I like it much, don't hate it either... and for some reason I get a Lincoln-ish retro-vibe off it more than a GTO, but I do like that people keep trying for a modern retro GTO & TA. I certainly haven't liked any that I've seen so far, but as long as people are trying someone might eventually make something that I actually like.

Scott

Camaro with a gto, well kind of a gto front end. By the look of the car the rear end is probably hugh and no where's close to looking like a gto. The front end has no bumper at al and the vents look stupid. I see the artist trying to add stupid stuff like air vents in the front to give it that new look but its basically a camaro with gto headlights and grill. The front end look smaller in length and the rearend looks hugh and pointless

Its bad, almost as ugly as the actual 04 GTOvalier Prix. :gag:

That doesn't look as bad as what Jeff posted. That thing is fugly.

Even the '789' Brad posted looks better. And I don't like Corvettes.

Grill emblem needs moved to the traditional Driver side location.

They can take a mulligan on this one...

That car got hit bad with the "ugly" stick

That thing's ****ing ugly. I just lost my lunch.

IMO this looks better than that.

http://ultimategto.com/cgi-bin/showc...967/67_00143_2

I can think of several things FMC could stand for on this one.
Future Muscle Car ain't one of them.

Looks like a '65 Grand Prix with '68 Impala Custom quarters.

Shoulda' stuck with this:

http://www.denisdesigns.com/blog/wp-...2009/02/4b.jpg

fixed it. lol.
yeah, i guess in my eyes, the 64 GTO's dont resemble the 70 GTO's; or the 70's GTO's.
but i was really dissapointed when i saw the newer GTO's coming out.
they didnt initialy have hood scoops.
they have dual exhaust but so does every other modern muscle car.
they do have a very cheap looking, plastic GTO logo in the grille, that doesnt really resemble any other.
for me...i'd need something more to make it a GTO. more than hood scoops and a logo. they brought back the name, "GTO"; thats all. just like the 4 door charger. you all remember the 4 door charger, right?
my friends mustang has dual exhaust and two hood scoops. doesnt resemble a GTO to me.
phyllis diller needed plastic surgery.
everyone has an opinion, and beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
i dont much like the nose,
still, i think this car that Jeff posted is pretty cool.

Exactly my thoughts when I looked at it....

Not a good thing.

Looks like somebody tried to graft '65 or '66 Pontiac headlights to something that looks like a new challenger or a new camaro. When I say try, I mean it because they didn't succeed.

John DeLorean would roll around in his grave if he got a vision of this somehow :confused:

I think we all have to agree, it looks better than anything Pontiac is building this year.

You are entitled to your opinion. My opinion differs.

The 2004 GTO was the 2004 evolution of the GM A body from which the GTO was born (the Holdern Monaro was a GM A body back in the day). Car styling changes over the years, and should. I don't want to have a "brand new" 196X/197X GTO.

What Pontiac did was bring back a high performance 2 door, V8 car that had all the torque and horsepower of the originals and gave you the option of either an automatic or a manual transmission - exactly what the original 1964 GTO did.

They gave it the traditional, yet current, Pontiac split grille styling treatment that any reasonable person could spot easily.

I agree with you about the 4dr Charger. It's just wrong.

But I have no interest in the new Challenger or the new Mustang because of their extreme retro look. The new Camaro is a little bit better - because they didn't go as retro - IMHO.

Bob Lutz was so incomprehensibly out of touch with reality that Pontiac bombed with the 2004 GTO. He wasn't listening to Pontiac enthusiasts when they built that steaming round pile. For years we hoped for a rebirth and begged GM to build something based on the 1999 concept car and we got hosed with a rwd Honda Accord.

One thing Ford has done right is to keep building the Mustang. They could have quit after 1974-78 run but they kept at it and have been producing cars which have stayed in demand for nearly 50 years. Pontiac abandoned the GTO and then the Fiero just when they were getting it right.

Opinions may vary...:D



"Even though it was not a sales success, it was a vital lesson to GM that its regional divisions could not only work together, but that overseas divisions could engineer outstanding automobiles."[14]



[14] Lutz, Bob (2011). Car Guys vs. Bean Counters, p. 136. Portfolio/Penguin, New York. ISBN 9781591844006.


Quote from Bob Lutz, above. I guess making money is way down on the list after handholding and playing nice....and Pontiac is gone and GM went bankrupt.

Research says our eyes are drawn to faces...:gag::D

That is exactly what I thought- it looks like a late '60s Mark III

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=68+li...t:429,r:3,s:48

http://cdn3.hark.com/images/000/000/...7/original.jpg

"I wouldn't even poop on that because it looked like someone beat me to it!"

Yes opinions may vary...;)

Ford went to the strongly retro styled Mustang and sales have dropped like a rock.

Ford sold 166,530 in 2006. 2010 sales were 73,716 and 2011 sales are 65,831.

This sales drop came despite the fact that the Mustang finally received a V8 powerplant with some balls in 2011. Further proof that most people that buy Mustangs aren't interested in performance at all, they must think they're "cute" - just like those 1974 - 78 Pinto Mustangs....:D

If im correct I may be wrong but the headlights look like they have the Pontiac symbol in them which is pretty cool looking!

When the 65 GTO came out I thought it was the best looking car on the planet.
When the 69 GTO (coke bottle) came out I thought it was ugly.
I own 1 of each today.

Not really my cup of tea, but to each there own, HOWEVER as a side note to this thread back around 2005 there was a picture of Bob Lutz lifting the cover up on a rear quarter panel of what everyone thought was going to be the next GTO.

The car was orbit orange or sunburst color much like the Rageous show car from previous years, it was a coke bottle shaped lower but not as radical as the Rageous car. It looked like it had great lines almost like the 67 Riv. but I have never seen the whole car, anybody got any pics of it????

Hmmm . . . I like the front , can't really tell if the back is in proportion . . . looks somewhat big.

Old Goat Racer you make a great point in your post!


I also have owned 3 65s (My all time favorite also)
2 67s
a 68 and a 69
a 70 and a 73 (previously thought to be the worst looking GTO in existence)
and now own a 2005

The generations 64-67, 68-72, 73, and 74 don't look like the other generations and the 2004-2006 is another generation, the car changed and evolved and they don't all look alike, natural progression, not hard to understand unless you really don't want to. Never once has Pontiac resorted to making a new model look like an older model so why is it that can't be comprehended?

Little secret here, the 2004 Grand Prix doesn't look like a 62 Grand Prix either, the 2004 Bonneville doesn't look like a 57 Bonneville, the 2004 Grand Am doesn't look like a 73, OMG!!!! :eek:

I guess if you wanted a "retro GTO" that white thing is what you pining for then, yep it's a beauty. Pontiac really missed the boat not making those things.........................:biggerGri

I think I'll take my 2005 GTO just the way it is. I like it fine as do other people that have paid me many complements on it.

The haters, I don't care if you like it or not.

well, you sure sound frazzled to me. LOL!!!!

Back around 1986/87 Pontiac had a styling exercise using a 2 door Grand Am, with '65 style patterns in the seats and door panels, and a "Super Duty" Iron Duke 4 cylinder engine:gag:. Thank goodness Pontiac had enough respect for the GTO nameplate at that time to not produce that thing. Also too bad that the Grand Prix 2+2 didn't have an engine with some real power when they produced that. If weak kneed management hadn't thrown out all the V8 tooling in 1981, they could have produced a port injected 301 turbo with a reinforced block that would have really did the 2+2 justice. And would have made a potential muscle car out of the regular "formal" roofline Grand Prix, along the lines of what Buick did with the Regal T type and GN.:2cents:

IIRC, that was actually in the early 90's when the discussion was bringing it back for the 30th anniversary (1994).

I'm proud that Pontiac refused to play the 4 or 6 cylinder game with the GTO, like Ford and Chrysler have done with their heralded "names".

A GTO always meant at 5.7L or larger V8 engine, 2 doors and a manual transmission option.

I still have an old issue of HPP with the "1987" GTO on the front cover. I'll see if I can find it and post a picture of it.

Wouldn't be the first time I was wrong...;)

I know that I had already purchased my '64 (purchased in June 1992), but not driven it (first drive Oct 1994) when I read about it in a then current magazine.

I definitely remember it had the Iron Duke and it was a stylized Grand Am.

Attachment 266106 Here it is.

That's one of the faults of the internet, no one yourself included can hear any inflection of my voice and you incorrectly assume you do.

I only try to please myself, I really don't care what someone else thinks about what I drive, what I do, or how I act, if I did I would drive something everyone drives, like a ruststang, or a crapmaro yanno every woman wants one....LMAO Pontiac owners don't usually follow the demographics and buy what every middle age woman drives with a v6, because they're cute.

When the Carousel red GTO Judge premiered in 1969 I was 16 years old and guess what, there were plenty of people that thought it was ugly and made fun of it, do you think any of them would like to buy a new one today if they had the chance, I'm betting they would even if just for an investment.

I just thought the post by the other gentleman was very relevant to the subject, he made a really good comparison about how times change and tastes change. I've noticed on this board how many of the older members are buying the 21st gen GTOs and really aren't listening to the detractors because it's a fine car that does everything all the predecessors did plus more.

My 05 is the only new car I have ever bought and since Pontiac is gone the only one I'll ever buy. I was never lucky enough to be able to afford a GTO during the 60s or 70s so I was at a time in my life I could afford a brand new GTO and I bought mine, and 2 days after my purchase they announced that there would be no more GTOs produced, for once I had perfect timing. I could have bought something else for less money, however I agonized for days about buying the car and I have never regretted my decision.

If your really lucky maybe someone will snap that white car up and start producing it and you can be truly happy owning one, one can only hope............:D. At least I proudly drive a GTO daily, except during snow, I don't drive jap crap :gag: as a daily driver as so many of the self appointed critics on here do. Other than my trucks there is nothing in my driveway that doesn't have a red arrowhead and a Pontiac emblem on it.

I'm done, have fun.

Car reminded me more of a mid 60's Grand Prix than a GTO.
Looks better to me than the "new" GTO's, but then I love the new Challengers.
If I could buy a brand new 1970 styled retro GTO for about what a restored one would cost or less there is no doubt I would do it. I like the old style cars, they had style back then. For the most part these days they are all too similar. Just my opinion. The newest GTO's just don't do a lot for me. They don't look like a GTO to me at all.

The Grand Am GTO was definitely around the 86-87 time frame. I had my 70 GTO then and got really excited that they might be bringing the GTO back in any form.

Russ

People that think the new GTO was a failure because it was not retro live in their own little world where they think everyone wants an in-your-face muscle car. Had it been retro-styled, sales would have been worse. Whether you're talking about gearheads or Pontiac-loving gearheads, we're a dwindling group of people. We're not living in the 1960s anymore. Most people just want something to get from point A to point B.

Then some new GTO haters criticize Bob Lutz. He was the best thing to happen to GM this last decade.