LandofMinos, is begging congress for more hotpants for GM

Monaro / Commodore stuff is popular with the GTO crowd. I've got a set of V2 HSV GTO wheels on mine.

It's really nice to have a lot of OEM parts and aftermarket available. No waiting 2-3 years for good headers, catback, or suspension parts. And modding a LSx? Easy as pie!

Having a Holden in the US is a great experience. I imagine it's like the JDM scene, except with a ton of beer.

G8 and Ute owners are going to be in for a treat.

TRAMS_AM

Who does your proofreading?

"it's the kind of pointless that makes people uncomfortable enough to buy one."

"Pointless" is an adjective which, by definition, cannot be the object of a preposition. I think you meant "pointlessness".

When I told him I was an English major, he said, "That's interesting, my father was in the British Thermal Unit".

Sorry, I just couldn't resist.

supersoul

schoonahOblack

DannyBN

Benson2175

Damn I remember this commercial theme all too well. I want to see if somebody has the 80's trans am "we build excitement" commercial

tanooki2003

LTDScott, Porcubimmer pilot

Oh, and I had an '84 Grand Am with the 4 banger. The only thing remotely exciting about it was the bass the rear speakers put out. Not high fidelity, but they could kick for an '84 factory system.

MasterShake

The mid-80s Hyundai Stellar had that set-up as well.

TwilightSentinel

Mike Spinelli

Cameron RS

Tachman

I sat in a G8 at the Chicago show last month, and while it is a pretty killer deal for the money and great room inside, the plastics (especially the console) felt craptastically cheap.

PaulE

Oh, and the "plastic-capped stalk (pressed) horizontally toward the steering column" to activate the horn is known as the TURN SIGNAL LEVER. Mike, perhaps you drive a BMW and are unfamiliar with such a device? (I own a BMW -- sorta -- so I'm allowed to say that).

Oh and for the record, I'd love one of the GTA Firebirds in the ad ;)

LTDScott, Porcubimmer pilot

danio3834

Mine was the deep maroon over silver. Never did tint the windows like I had wanted, would have looked sharp then. I did black-out the chrome around the beltline and put a later model SE spoiler on the trunk just to make it not so Grand-Am like from the side. Even gave some thought to putting the blown 3800 from the Bonneville in it.

I remember when they came out they were the hot stuff then, and even years later everyone still thought it was a nice car, despite having "Darth Vader's bathroom" for a dash. It was comfortable, super quiet on the road (think Lexus ES levels) reasonably fast, somewhat fuel efficient despite a 3 speed automatic, I think it would have been much better with the 5 speed manual.

texan01

MajorKong

junkman

SundaySunday

TurboBrick

dudeman2323

You might enjoy hearing about a sweet sighting I had yesterday. walking through a huge under ground parking lot at work and say to myself "cool, a GTO, wonder what engine size?" Walk closer and say to myself "WTF! There's not an arrowhead on this things, there's a lion mounting a rock.. it's on the wheels too, and that thing says Monaro..."

I was shitting myself over the chance I was spotting some tricky ass guy that somehow got a left hand Holden and I was figuring out how to hunt him down for his secrets, then spotted the one thing thats hard to change (harder then the rest at least).. the white GTO stitching on the seats...

nevertheless, a good heart racing 30 seconds checking it out.. he had HSV rims and everything!

om nom de plume

vr6john

(Did I just have an STEgasm...?)

FLB

TRAMS_AM

stevecmh

om nom de plume

Tomsk

Also agreed on the Torana. Currently, the G6 is expected to be replaced by a RWD Alpha car, but who knows what CAFE will do to these plans.

I'm happy to see Pontiac and Holden together. Both brands have given me the V8 oversteerin' action I need.

TRAMS_AM

MustaineGT

However, crunchy guitar rifts and diva crunchy hair, animate my clay monster.

SpeedWagon - Now in Classic view!

It did win some races, and could manage highly illegal speeds and manage to annoy girlfriends with the flick of a button to change 62mph to 100kph without being obvious. It was quiet, only left me stranded once (bad ign. module), and rode well. Even despite my attempts to put the shiny side down it fared pretty well, with a loose panhard bar on the rear end, two flat tires, and a dented rocker panel (sideways into a ditch, cause for some excitement as to how much it would suck if it went over) If I ran across another STE for a good price I might reconsider it, but I'm not gonna actively look for one.

Now my sisters '84 Sunbird was pure excitement (excrement?), if you got it over 80mph you played the "How long till...." the headgasket blows, or the muffler, or the A/C compressor, or the alternator, or the power steering hoses. It also had a knack for dumping hot water on you if you parked it for a week at her school and it rained, and then drove it from a badly installed sunroof.

texan01

UDMan

NovaloadMissesPolar

NovaloadMissesPolar

Vipper Of Vipp

Mustang lovin' non-redneck...not that there's anything wrong with that.

Still, Pontiac's usually had some form of adrenaline running through at least one of their cars. Firebirds, '88 Fieros, the 3800 Supercharged, they even had a handful of turbo cars in the late '80s. Just not enough to sustain a brand in the face of a whole lotta plasticated Chevys.

What I'd ideally like to see is for Pontiac scrap FWD altogether. Drop the G5 in favour of a small four-seater based on the Solstice platform, and get Holden's Torana concept built as a G6 replacement. The Vibe works alright as is, if it sticks to AWD models.

Because, hey, I feel the thunder, the call of the road.

Maymar is convinced M.C. Escher engineered his car

Benson2175

Mazda Eric has his own radio show

We Built Malaisement!

But now we plan on doing that whole excitement thingy!

POLAЯMISSESEVEЯYBODY

RNelson4

I also take this declaration of impending badassity at Pontiac to suggest that we'll be getting a Sportwagon. Sportwagons are to crossovers what the G8 is to the Acura TSX.

(I have a mental image of the G8 shaking the TSX upside down for it's lunch money)

Mad_Science

To achieve the admirable goal you set out, higher gas taxes would be FAR simpler to administer. And they would have the same effect.

rkwadd

FЯeeMan is slowly cЯawling out of the new commenting system

rkwadd

[www.autobloggreen.com]

Between now and 2015, expect lots of solid engineering work on turbocharged inline fours and V6s and, on electric drive subsystems. The resulting cars will not be malaise-era shitboxes by any means, in objective tests they'll probably be better. They'll definitely cost more for the same rated power.

But raw performance isn't what defines a muscle car - it's the brutish menace of a large growling V8 plus the styling cues that reinforce that and identify the owner as a tough guy to be reckoned with. Unless he's 5'5" and wears glasses, in which case he'd better fake a decent Aussie accent and keep a machete in the glove box.

Ironically, there would be no need for any of this to go away. As long as you don't put too many miles on it, a musclecar consumes no more fuel and emits no more CO2 in a given year than the econobox you use use for your long commute every day of the week. If CAFE were scrapped in favor of vehicle license fees based on the product of official combined fuel economy and actual miles driven, responsibility would shift back to the actual polluter.

Someone would have to come up with a tamper-proof electronic odometer and someone that DMV trusts would need to read out the value once a year, but those are solvable problems.

rgseidl

radio1

mailman

Mysterious Utility Bento

Charles_Barrett - Now with Variable-Valve Timing

LUV_TRUK

@Mike: You should have called this: "From a Pontiac 8"--wait. Too obscure? Besides, Dylan's already whorin' for Escalade.

NovaloadMissesPolar

Charles_Barrett - Now with Variable-Valve Timing

NovaloadMissesPolar

I used to get that jingle stuck in my head all freaking day after hearing that ad. Thanks for bringing THAT memory back.

Agreed, Pontiac needs to get their shit together, and Aussie Hoon-mobiles may be just what the doctor ordered.

graverobber- My Yugo Nova!