Pontiac GTO Forum banner

Email Traffic With GM Car Czar Bob Lutz Re: The GTO

5K views 28 replies 15 participants last post by  jontyrees 
I got a call about a week ago from GM asking how i liked the car. the caller knew the car, had insight, and asked what i wanted changed. I said get rid of the passenger electric seat because of the baby seat, add memory to the drivers seat and screw the damn shift knob on.

he asked about the exhaust, i said i didnt care, told me how they rushed an 04 intro to celebrate 40 years (i thought 30! ;) ) etc.

Overall this has been a very pleasurable ownership/lease experience. much better than the first 2.5 years of my Aurora!!!
 
I think we are giving lutz a bit too much credit. I find it hard to believe that when they killed the F body they had no plans for a replacement. I know things shifted to trucks, but I think he inherited at least a general plan to bring something over. Did anyone think GM was just going to hand the pony/muscle car market over to ford? On the other hand, the FWD coupes are more the rage/more in demand than the RWD coupes. maybe ford was just a dozen years too early with the probe as a mustang replacement.

I subscribe to autoweek, road & track and sports car market. Why is it that I read in businessweek and not autoweek that bmw did not design the X3 ? why did the mustang and corvette win awards and the low volume GTO get knocked.

I know an engineer at GM. he hinted to me that there was some resentment when lutz came on board because the press made it like the messiah came over to wake up the sleeping engineers and designers that did nothing for years. The catera was here, and was a flop. why should the gto be more successful? why is lutz a genious for bringing us the GTO and the guys that brought the catera are fools?

i give him a lot of credit for being in charge, and pushing for things like the solstace, GTO, rebadged aurora as bonneville, etc. but lets not forget, GM is a big company, and people dont make decisions, committes do.

Im not knocking what groucho got/did, or what was accomplished with lutz at the helm. i think it is very cool. I also think my GTO is about theh nicest car Ive owned, and Ive owned some nice ones. it is a combination of my Legend Coupe and my worked Z28. The best of both with the exception of the trunk.
 
Groucho said:
This is gonna piss off the Pontiac faithful, but...

Thank God the F-Body was killed. It needed to go.

It was a cartoon of everything wrong with Domestic cars. A stake has been put in its heart.

May it's flexible chassis forever RIP.
I had a 944S2 which handled about as good as any car out there and then some (my brother sold his mid 90s 325 to his ex and bought a mid 80s regular 944, and hasnt looked back, a S2 is his 944 and a lot more). When it was stolen she who must be obeyed said no to another porsche (got one 8 months later after six months of searching). I got a 93 Z28 with 32k miles and a worked suspension.

Six speeds, no T tops, and a very stiff suspension. The car handles great! I autocrossed it a few times with the local PCA, and it did better than the 944s and 3s! Stiff, Raw, solid axle fun, lots of fun. the shifter was nicer than the GTOs, the seats were lower more sports car like than the GTO, just sold it Tuesday, and miss it (until I drive the GTO that is - no regrets).

I think the F bodies got a bad rap because of the kids that think they can re engineer the car better than the engineers.

I just hope the GTO that replaces ours is a step forward, not like the 73 to 74 GTO. It has to be a better car, and if they screw up like they did with our Aurora and then compare it to something good like they did with the Aurora comparing it to the Acura, they will screw themselves - again.

The QC has to be there, it isnt in the 37k Aurora's details, it is in the 32k GTO's details.
 
II-Savy said:
Dude please, right on :lol: . The F body was awful. This is not ground breaking discovery. The only thing it really had going for it was the motor. I have tons of memorys of IROC's and trans am's....leaking, awful interiors. OMG the things I have seen taking those apart.....lol
If we de-content the GTO by say 10 grand, dump the IRS we have a F body/mustang!

The only thing the GTO has going for it is the motor and fact that it wasnt designed by american bean counters. Look at how much more it sells for overseas!

The F bodies/mustangs are/were the best performance bang for the buck!

My RX7s had less power and cost about the same, the ZXs cost more, the 944 had the same 150 hp as a early 80s TA but cost twice as much.

Yes they were crap, but they were good crap.

Im sure the build quality of Lutz's prowler and viper are not much better than a F body. Lutz had price points to meet over at chrysler too.
 
GTOJon said:
I guess to each their own. After I buy the '05 GTO, I will own my 2 dream cars...I don't think I could possibly be happier with these 2 cars. Owning and driving these gorgeous machines is all I could possibly want and ask for. :cheers
Bet you marry your high school sweetheart. I am almost willing to lay odds on it! :cheers:
 
GasTiresandOil said:
OFF TOPIC

The Catera would have been a better car if they would have done with it what the Aussies' have. Put a V8 in that car. They call it a Commodore.
And the GTO will be more successful than the Catera for this reason alone.
The GTO may be a better car, of course it's a better car since I own one, but they sold more Catera's in the first year, and probably didnt have to discount them 40% to move them. Maybe the US buyers really wanted a catera coupe,or a GTO with a six?

What is off topic anyway? Is Lutz a genious because he brought over a car from australia in 2004 that failed when it was brought here in 1997?

Is the ford 500 going to be a better car than the Volvo S80 because it sells more? even though the 500 shares the S80s platform? was it genious of someone at ford to take a high line car and turn it into a bread and butter car? Was the commodore ever such a great car?

Oh and Groucho, I really do enjoy my GTO, I came from an Acura and Porsche. I echo what you wrote, and think the reply from someone as high up as Lutz is very very cool. I have a picture of my 68 Firebird signed by Jim Wangers.

When you have to replace your tires I am curious as to what your paramaters will be. I say get the same as what was on your 3, then take it on the same twisties and report back to us.
 
My 93 Z28 had a SLP stage II suspension - lowered eibachs, bigger Lingenfelter sways, urethane bushings, Hotchkiss trailing arms & strut tower brace, bigger panhard and revalved bilsteins, etc. It beat a bunch of Porsches at a PCA autocross with a kid (he was rebuilding his motor) I let drive it who never drove the car before. I had a bad day, but when I had my 944S2 and he had his 944 turbo we were usually very close.

Back on point. I had the bigger sways, urethane bushings, stiffer springs, trailing arms, etc. I got the GTO because my wife told me she couldnt sit in the car for more than 20 minutes without killing her already bad back.

be careful how far you go with the mods because of the long trip you have every day.

I haven't driven my current 944S2(this one has stock Boges which are too soft especially when compared to the Z28, the one that was stolen had Konis) since I bought the GTO. I plan on taking it out next weekend to a porsche meeting. My rears are a bit too wide so I have extra understeer, but I am curious to see how different they are.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top