|
On
the Move |
||||||||
|
“Little GTO, you’re really lookin’ fine.” So sang Ronnie and the Daytonas in 1964 upon the introduction of the original Pontiac GTO some forty years ago.When a hit song is written about a car, you know it’s got to be pretty cool. So it was with the Pontiac GTO of the 1960s that inspired such melodious praise. Born from the marriage of a mid-sized Tempest body with a huge V-8 engine, the GTO started the muscle car craze of the ’60s and ’70s. Fast-forward forty years to the present day, and history repeats itself with the rebirth of the GTO name on a mild-mannered looking Australian built two-door coupe with the soul and performance of a muscle car, thanks to its 5.7-liter V-8 LS1 Corvette engine. Mark Mercer, sales manager at Lou Fusz Pontiac opines, “It’s a nostalgia thing. People remember the GTO name and want to relive the past in an exclusive car that delivers all the performance of the original.” The biggest disappointment of the GTO is that it’s not better looking. Offering a fairly conservative wedge coupe shape not too far afield from the Grand Am, the GTO, like the original Tempest-based GTO, takes a conservative coupe shape and crams a monster engine in it to create a real sleeper of a performance car. Times have changed, though, and most people now expect some flash in the stying of their sports cars. It’s not bad looking, it just doesn’t come out and grab you. To compensate for the lack of sheetmetal styling, Pontiac offers the GTO in a number of eye-catching bright colors, including bright yellow, torrid red and cosmos purple. It may be a good thing that the styling isn’t more pronounced because drivers will probably want to blend in as much as possible from the eyes of local traffic enforcement officers. Proving that looks can be deceiving, the GTO is really about performance; it’s basically all engine. And when that engine is a 5.7 liter 350 horsepower LS1 V-8 Corvette engine capable of 0- 60 in 5.3 seconds, that’s a good thing. True dual exhaust with twin converters, resonators and mufflers create one of the best sounding exhaust notes available today. It’s pure muscle car. Power is pumped to the rear wheels via either a four-speed automatic or a six-speed manual transmission. There’s plenty of power with either one, but the manual would be a lot more fun to drive and would fit well with the performance nature of this beast. The good news is the manual is the same slick shifter that’s found in the Corvette. The bad news is that it shares that transmission’s pesky oneto- four shift light which requires you to shift from first gear to fourth(?). After shifting to fourth, you can then shift to a lower gear. Promotional materials suggest that this improves fuel economy, but do GTO drivers really care about fuel economy? Seems they’d be more interested in the acceleration that could be garnished by holding each gear during acceleration, though if you really stomp on it, you can apparently defeat the one to four rule. Like muscle cars of yesterday, the GTO is tailored to drag strip driving. Straightforward acceleration is its strong point. That said, handling is pretty good in the curves. The ride is stiff, but not jarring, befitting the character of this car. The ABS equipped brakes were adequate, but a little mushy. Traction control aids wet weather traction and minimizes wheel-spin. It can be turned off if you feel like lighting up the tires a bit. Front seats are extremely well bolstered and designed for performance driving. Rear seats are a little difficult to access, but once there the seats are comfortable, though head room is tight for anyone over average height, and leg room is dependent on the generosity of front seat passengers. Back seat passengers do get their own air vents, however. The GTO has dual front air bags, but no side air bags. Ventilation controls are three rotary knob simple and the radio is straightforward, but set kind of low in the center console. Redundant controls on the steering wheel allow you to change stations without taking your hands off the steering wheel. Window switches between the front seats instead of on the doors are a bit awkward. Gauge faces match the exterior color and are eye-catching to say the least. The trunk is pretty small and the rear seat does not fold. The last thing to be modernized from the old GTO is the price. Costing a little more than $33,000, the 2004 GTO offers a lot of performance for about $15,000 less than a Corvette, and with a back seat to boot. Robert W. Paster is also an attorney in private practice, concentrating in estate planning and probate. |
|
