PocketMatrix

Sorry to burst your bubble James, but the Pontiac GTO is just the Holden Monaro, a 3 or so year old car made in Australia. It's entirely designed for dirt and bumpy roads with an older generation frame and suspension. On tarmac roads, it rides (this is from reviews) sloppy and bouncy, with excessive body sway. Also, they say that the engine is much too powerful (and Car & Driver never say this!) for the chassis, saying that with just a little too much gas, the rear end is extremely difficult to control and the normal person would easily spin out. If you look at the center console, you'll see that the radio controls are on the right side, that's because they drive on the right side in Australia, so basically Pontiac took this car, put the steering wheel on the other side, a Pontiac grill, put a giant engine in it, and put a fancy sounding exhaust on it and call it the GTO. Car & Driver is known for being biased towards American cars, they love American muscle, but this GTO they said is a huge disappointment. Here's the site for the .

Yeah, the powercurve is awesome. It has 300+ footpounds of torque at 1,200 RPMs!

I did notice on the tag that the car was assembled in Australia. The transmission is the Z06's, and the engine is the LS1 engine, though. But it's not some secret that the car is a Monaro. It said that nonchalantly in R&T. Holden is owned by GM, Pontiac is owned by GM. Holden is an Australian only car, Pontiac is an American only car. Big deal.

It was a pretty nice car. I read the shoot-out of it against the Cobra in Road & Track. It won favorably.

And besides, it's certainly a better design than the Grand Prix.