A LUST FOR LIFE
This article is from our archives and has not been updated and integrated with our "new" site yet... Even so, it's still awesome - so keep reading!
Published on Sun, Apr 11, 2004
By: The LACar Editorial Staff
A LUST FOR LIFE
By JOHN GRAFMAN
I might as well dish the dirt out early and get it out of the way here and now.
First, can we manage to make a car like the GT0 here in America? Second, if
isn't made here, must they pinch the name off a prior Pontiac success story?
Yes, an American icon. There. I said it. I feel better now.
The image of Pontiac’s muscle car of yore is etched into our brains. The
public has accepted a romantic image for this car that expresses the spirit
of America, much in the same way the image of the cowboy had on previous generations.
No way would GM do anything to tarnish that image. I was thereby anticipating
good stuff from the far reaches of General Motors. I wasn't expecting something
this good, though. After all, we are talking about the General. Well, maybe
the new generals at the General have a better battle plan. The GT0 might be
one of their first salvos aloft.
The Pontiac comes across as attractive and refined. No ungainly molding or trendy
accents. Design such as this one won’t be dated nearly as much as cars
that seemed to try too hard expressing the latest fad when it comes to styling.
The inside, overall, works. Plenty of room for four. One could argue the link
between GT0s of past, but that is a rather weak argument. Immediately I noticed
that the gauges are colored, but not in a way that resembles something childish.
The seats are all business. Once in these buckets, sliding around is out of
the question. 
For the driver, the lack of a dead pedal is definitely a misstep (pun intended).
Having your left foot float in space is not what enthusiasts want. This is supposed
to be a car that's meant to be driven, right?
As good as the interior is laid out, the window buttons have taken an awkward
placement. In the center console lays both the driver and passenger window switches.
To the amazement of my passenger, the switch is off limits once a cup is placed
in the cup holders. The general strikes again! 
All minor problems aside, the overall fit, finish, and material choices are
beyond my level of expectation. However, the real story lies not inside the
passenger cabin but, rather, under the hood.
This is the spiritual successor to the recently departed Camaro and Firebird.
The power produced by a 5.7 liter motor is maybe not as extraordinary as in
the Corvette (where it produces 400), but it's as gratifying as anyone can hope
for. The engine is engaging and excessive waste of petrol is a habitual pleasure.
This car moves out with authority at any speed! 
Even puttering around town, sticking the automatic transmission in low gear
is muscle car all the way. This car is torquey and poised to pounce - just like
back in the day. This time, though, the red line is a good deal higher than
the good ol’ days. The sound emitting from the motor to the tail pipe is
enough to turn heads. Its low tone invades your body in a gratifying, sexual
sort of way. The gurgle emitted from the exhaust system is so potent, why bother
with a stereo? Now if the transmission was of a sequential type as seen in most
modern cars, this would be Nirvana.
When the GTO is pitted against nearly any other in its genre, the GT0 shines.
For a car priced in the low thirties, with room for four and enough power to
smoke nearly any at a stop signal, how can this not be an awesome value if not
an outright steal? The GT0 is one of those cars where the total package is greater
than the sum total of its parts. This indeed is the soul brother to any one
of the numerous muscle cars from the '60s and early '70s
.
On taking a short spin with designer and a muscle car nut, Mike Desmond (formally
of Mitsubishi and now designing at West Coast choppers), the look on his face
said it all. Eyes wide open and an ear-to-ear grin highlight what I've been
saying: This is a blast from the past.
This history of Southern California is steeped in performance car lore. So much
of that lore revolves around American-made cars. As we reinvent the new American
economy, will foreign-made cars like this suffer backlash or get their fair
share of the pie? That's a tough one to ponder. In the meantime, I'll take the
GTO for another spin around the block. Being bad feels so good in this car!
Placing the whole experience behind the wheel in perfect perspective was none
other than music legend, Iggy Pop. Iggy’s classic 1977 song “lust
for life” found its way on to the airway twice while I was behind the Pontiac’s
wheel. Although currently being exploited by a cruise line, this song still
has special place in the heart of the automotive world. The sincere, poetic
utterance of “Got a GTO” says it all. What else contains three short
words that mean so much after so many years? 
