[zerosum]

Last night I went to the NY Auto Show and I gotta tell you that I was really disappointed with the way my beloved GTO was presented.

Each of the manufacturers set up highly visible displays for their performance cars. Chevy had the Corvettes (the new Z06 and the race car), Cadillac had a great set up for the "Killer V's" (STS, XLR and CTS V-series), and the Chargers, Magnums and 300C's with the new Hemi's were featured. (BTW: you can't fully appreciate how ugly a Charger is until you've seen it in the "Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry" yellow paint scheme.) And of course Ford went crazy with at least six different copies of the Mustang.

When I got to the Pontiac display the had one Torrid Red 05 with 18" wheels sitting out on the floor with the rest of the line up. No special display, no rotating platform and most disappointing, no drift car. I was at least expecting to see the car that won the 24 hours of Daytona.

I realize that Pontiac is pushing the new G6 line up and Torrent, but if they are going to compete with these guys in the American muscle car revival then they better get with the program on marketing the GTO and the performance side of the division.

 

[GrayGoat]

I agree, It's a shame since the GTO is a quality car IMO. I think GM has thrown in the towel, and plans to go forward and dump Pontiac. We'll just have to wait and see, but lack of the GTO in the general advertising market and your description of their pathetic display shows a loss of faith in their product. If they dropped the price a few thou, I'm sure more people would be interested.

 

[ouijaguy]

I just read the Car&Driver's review of the GTO vs. Mustang. I know it has been out for a while now but i just read it. They talk down about the GTO during the entire article. Ya know, people read those magizines and never give the GTO a second look because some over paid desk jocky take one ride in one and says it sucks because he does not like the looks. Take a look at the numbers and the Ford "Mus'take" cant compare. And darn GM for not pushing the GTO or the GXP. They dropped the ball.

 

[Tom]

I was at the show wednesday afternoon. I noticed the unidirectional tires were all facing the wrong way. I mentioned it to a guy that worked for PMD, he gave me a dirty look, and walked away. Screw you dude was what I thought.

I then went to the counter and asked a very attractive gal that works for GM who had lost her voice for a GTO brochure. She took my info and promised to send me one. I told her the tires were on backwards, and she laughed, rolled her eyes and appreciated the humor of it.

We started talking, I told her i wanted to see the SAP, she pulled out a brochure and pointed to the car with the SAP, told me she liked this part, but not this part, didnt like the long throw of the shifter, I told her the knob was glued on because I wanted to put a lower knob on mine, etc. Turns out she works for GM and is on the road with the travellig circus about 300 days a year. I gave her my card and she is going to send me info on the automotion (i think) show where you can drive all the GM cars.

Now the point of this story. She told me they get a lot of cars form local dealers, and they probably didnt have the decked out GTOs around. I guess the dealers dont want their cars getting crapped up. Probably explains why the optional 18's were on backwards. They probably tour the country with the show.

Did you see the torn weatherstripping by the door sill, and how crappy the seat bolsters got on the red interior?

 

[Don]

I went to the Chicago Auto Show where they had two GTOs, a red one and a blackone with red seats. I too asked for a GTO brochure. I got it in a cool Plastick folder/box along with that GTO movie. It took about 10 days and is pretty cool.

 

[b_a_betterperson]

Was at the San Jose Auto Show earlier this year. The show's theme car was the GTO. The Golden Gate GTO club had a nice display of their classics throughout the entrance to the San Jose Convention Center. Yet there was not a new GTO on display. Went to the Pontiac booth. Even THAT didn't have a GTO on display. I'll tell you what, if people who worked for me missed a promotion opportunity like that -- they wouldn't be cleaning out their desks -- they'd be picking up their stuff out of the street after I got done throwing it out there.

Helped Ford set up/take down the San Francisco Auto Show a few years ago. Man, you won't believe what people do to those cars. All the knobs and switches get broken or stolen, the seats get trashed -- and the fun goes on under the hood. People take stuff like the oil filler cap! Was following a Suzuki Samurai out of the Moscone Center -- and that thing was running like it was starring in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Popped the hood -- to find that somebody switched the plug wires around.

 

[zerosum]

Did you see the torn weatherstripping by the door sill, and how crappy the seat bolsters got on the red interior?

I didn't notice the weather-strip but I did see the seats. As noted by others, cars really get beaten up in these shows. The red seats in the GTO can get dirty after a number of miles but in a car show there are people sliding in and out of the car everyday for a week.

The other thing that I noticed was that there were a number of people checking the car out. There are still a lot of people that have not gotten close to one and are interested in seeing them. It is nice to see the novelty hasn't worn off.