Thats great. Its too bad for the 04's value though, as this is a real bullet in the head for those cars. Leave it to GM to always do that to its loyal customers. I even bet by the end of 05, GM will be discounting these cars about 7K-8K too as this car just has not done what it should, especially given the fact it really is a great machine. At the end of 05, A 400HP muscle car for about 25K is quite a bargain in todays world!
This is one of the best driving and built cars ever in the US. The only problem with this car is its name. A big unforseen marketing mistake in my opinion. If they had called the car "Blahhh" instead of "GTO", it probably would have sold better. Without the name GTO, you would not have the GTO "crusties" that still think the old GTOs actually perform in todays world, constantly poo-pooing the car all to hell and making sure that its the topic of relevance every time this new GTO is talked about. They keep trying to compare it to an old GTO, and in reality this LS6 GTO will kill even the hold grail RA-IV with tons of mods in the 1/4 mile, then it will spit it out and throw it like a bastard step child after that RA-IV car hits its top speed at about 120MPH due to the fact its WAY overgeared and the motor will spin a bearing or two if you stand on it at these speeds. Yea, been there done that about 20 times.....
The old GTOs do have a following for people that have a memory of a car that was much better then, than it is in today in reality. This is true for me too, but I have an opend mind unlike many of the "crusties". The old GTO is a tried and true classic though, so its tough to try and "one up" it for this crowd, as they are set in thier ways. I love the old GTO myself, but classic GTO and Performance are two terms that cannot be used in the same sentance in todays world. If an old GTO does perform, and which it can, it will not be remotly original, then you get poo-poo'd for that too. Some names like GTO are just better to let fade into history instead of trying to bring back, as you cant win. GM did do a good job with the impala SS in 94-96, but made sure they corrected that by putting that name on a front wheel drive V6 pile.
I for one think the new GTO is a HELL of a car, especially now with the LS6 and the low low price tag. Thats funny about the gas tax on the automatic only.... Guess that may actually be a rare car one day.