Lutz says GM was working on 5th-gen Pontiac GTO

Bob Lutz was one of the forces behind bringing the Holden Monaro to the United States, as the ill-fated Pontiac GTO in 2004. And while that car received critical acclaim, it was a sales disappointment. Now, Road & Track is reporting that our suspicions were correct - Pontiac was working on a two-door, G8-based coupe before it was shuttered.

In that R&T article, which is no longer available online Lutz explained that the new GTO would solve many of the issues found in the original. Car Advice speculates that the new model would have look like a rebadged version of the Holden Coupe 60 Concept from 2008, a conclusion we also came to.

That car would have been a big departure from the 2004 to 2006 GTO. It has an extremely long hood and short rear deck, with an almost fastback roofline and a wide greenhouse with a tall beltline. The wheel arches were very pronounced, and the chin and rocker panel splitters gave it a race-ready look.

Gallery:
http://www.autoblog.com/photos/holde...#photo-668268/

 

meh, what could have been... smh

GM messed up with Pontiac. Pontiac should of held a midlevel sport premium dealing with only RWD applications. As it stands Pontiac was diluted with hatches, mini-vans, SUVs, and FWD cars.

 

In the latest paper-issue of Road & Track magazine (I have a subscription), Lutz addresses this in his monthly column (he answers letters from readers, and is now technically part of the magazine's staff). A reader wrote in and asked about the (possible) residual value of his 2006 GTO if he kept it a while and what the prospects had been at GM for a new one. Lutz explained that they actually did a full clay mock-up for a 5Gen (it used the G8 platform), and some of the development work, but, of course, that Pontiac's demise killed it.

But before too many tears are shed, though, consider that we will definitely, not far from now, get an essentially four-door version of it with a bow-tie grille (the upcoming Chevy SS) , and maybe (?) even a Buick Grand National/GNX.

 

Maybe, maybe not....depends on how you look at it. True, the GTO/G8 and Solstice were interesting cars, and the G6's retractible-hardtop convertible was reasonably-priced. But the majority of their products, IMO, (including other versions of the G6) were junk..........in a number of ways like Dodge/Chrysler products of that vintage.

Where GM (maybe) did mess up, IMO, is in keeping two divisions that sell essentially the same trucks/SUVs.....Chevy Trucks and GMC. IMO, the GMC division could have been done away with no significant loss to the corporation. Chevy Trucks could easily have picked up the slack, and they were already part of the existing Chevy division. True, GMC vehicles are maybe a little more upscale than their Chevy counterparts, but they simply could have been kept and offered as top-line Chevys.

 

Luts is a Putz.. Most modern-day GM failures where with Lutz behind the wheel. Ditto the GTO we got here that flopped. The nerve he has to spin the story and skip over his own missteps.

 

I have to agree

 

And that's what I'm getting at. Pontiac could have been a special performance sport only oriented automaker rather than the loads of rebadges and platform sharing vehicles that were actually offered. Imagine a midsize G6 that was RWD (not FWD), a full size RWD G8, the RWD Solstice, a GTO coupe, and some RWD convertible. I think they'd have done well. Let Chevy and Saturn chase volume, while something like Pontiac could have been used for more niche's and catered toward enthusiasts

 

Thought Pontiac is done?

 

Key word was Was. Basically had Pontiac survived, another GTO was waiting in the wings. As fate would have it, Pontiac as well as it's Saturn, Hummer and Saab siblings all got the axe

 

While I agree with you totally, I actually love the styling of the new Sierra, IMO that should have been the Silverado's new styling theme

 

THANK YOU. Except I did like the GTO. But cars like the G6, 2004 Malibu, 2005 Equinox, CTS, Cobalt, and essentially a lot of the products 2004-2008 that were launched were all his, and none set the world on fire.GM didn't really start getting it until 2010 or so, and they still have a ways to go.

Not to mention, his arrogance and ego, not to mention his seemingly irrational hate for Toyota, are off-putting.

 

I was in the Philippines when I was informed of Pontiac's demise, and I mourned for a couple of days. My first car was an 89 Firebird, and before that I used to ride with my dad in his 67 Firebird. GM went to hell in a handbasket starting in the 80's when everything from engines to bodies went 'corporate' as they termed it. Too lazy to consolidate branches, they just offered the same vehicle with a different badge under each marque. Cheap bastards.

Pontiac was born to be a performance marque, and should have been allowed to thrive as such. They should have left the boring crap for Oldsmobile or Chevrolet. They're finally getting the message with Cadillac....but it has been a costly lesson so far.

 

Pontiac died over 40 years ago. The corpse just hung around like a zombie for far too long.

 

Most of these auto execs have big time selective memory when they talk about their time at the helm.

 

Tell that to the people who drive Corvettes and the Camaro SS.

The problem is.....at Cadillac, while gaining some new buyers, they are alienating most of their traditional buyers (and that's a LOT of older people), who don't want sport-oriented products.