Which gto to buy

Because the Monaro-to-GTO transformation was hasty—about 17 months, says GM—there wasn't much time or budget to thoroughly alter the car. The biggest change involved moving the fuel tank from below the trunk floor to inside the trunk—to help keep the GTO from becoming a fireball in rear-end collisions.

The There's no sunroof, no seat heaters, and no OnStar offered. Navigation is by the old-fashioned paper map and driver-supplied compass. As sparse as it is of optional luxuries, the GTO's cockpit welcomes patrons with leather seating for four adults, detailed with elegant French seams and embroidered GTO logos. Put to the endurance test during a nonstop, hour beeline to Las Vegas see " Fear and Losing Near Las Vegas ," page 60 , the GTO's seats left backs feeling free of fatigue, tailbones coddled, and spinal nerves unruffled.

Highs: Corvette sound and power, Euro ride and handling, acceptable price. The individual rear seats are ergonomically sculpted and scalloped like the fronts. Heads and elbows in the rear get plenty of stretch space. The front seats sprout a manual-release handle that flips the seatback forward, but only just past vertical. Then a separate button must be held while the front seat motors forward and back with the alacrity of a garden slug. More than a few passengers preferred to wriggle into and out of the rear like escape artists rather than wait for the seats to release them.

The center-console window switches, the thick rubber knobs of the manual climate control, and the European Blaupunkt CD-changing stereo will seem alien to GM regulars.

So will the manual tilting and telescoping steering wheel. Every two hours the cluster's LCD flashes a "rest reminder" with a pixilated image of a tree perhaps Australian eucalyptus? How exotic. The elegant detailing—including the red-face GTO dials with silver bezels and chrome pointer hubs, the red stitching on the leather-wrapped wheel and shifter boot, the polished metal door handles, and the aluminum-colored ring around the center dashboard stack—is also a welcome departure from GM's typical Tupperware interiors.

We only wish Holden would find some space for a dead pedal left of the clutch. The corn-stalk shifter provides the leverage to easily shove the heavy forks around the Tremec T six-speed. The detents are mushy and the gates somewhat sloppy, and the Corvette's hated one-to-four skip shift is there for fuel economy, but the stick knows its way and rarely hangs up. For a muscle car, the GTO's clutch is soft, slipping enough during shifts to cushion and flatten out small rpm differentials.

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Related Reviews. Model Overview. Login Sign Up. Popular Tags. By Make. By Car Type. Unlike previous models, the new model featured four individual headlamp nacelles instead of a sleek hidden headlight option but still keep the distinctive Endura nose.

However, the public had started losing interest in muscle cars, and this affected muscle car sales. This was the first model year for the Pontiac GTO. Thankfully, they finally decided to try the engine. When the cars were released, knowledgeable enthusiasts could see the potential, and many copies were sold. The GTO came to deliver the image that popped up in every enthusiast's head when talking about car fans.

Back to Blog. Leave a Reply Cancel reply. Jim Strenger Sep 15, at pm. John Kleier Feb 21, at pm. The one of many muscle cars, I miss the most! I loved that car!