Quote:
Originally Posted by E.B
Looks like an Australian car to me.....  (A rebadged Holden Monaro) Were the GTO's made for the US in Aus or local in the US?
Does the GTO use the same (year dependant) LS1 5.7 / LS2 6.0litre engine as the Monaro did? I think here the change over year was 2005. |
I love these things because they are a confluence of my two favorite brands. I've always loved Pontiacs and being from Georgia, it is no coincidence that I have a black one. Holden built the best American cars in the world for a couple decades.
They were all made in Elizabeth, South Australia on the same assembly line. They moved the fuel tank of all of them into the trunk or boot for American regulations. Same goes for the Pontiac G8 and Chevy SS which were Commodores. I only found out after they stopped making the SS that you could have it badged as a Holden as an $1,100 option.
The 2004 has the V2 Monaro body style with a flat hood, exhaust on the left side, and the LS1. 2005 got the hood scoops, true dual exhaust, bigger brakes, and the LS2. 2006 changed the tail lights and it got faster seat motors for access to the back and wow I am a massive dweeb and you're probably sorry you asked.
Quote:
Originally Posted by E.B
@JHamilton, Forgot to say in Aus the Monaro the GTO is spawned from is becoming quite a collectors piece..... this quick search of the local online car sales site shows prices up to $185,000 for a no miles unused stored manual transmission 5.7 litre version.
The cheapest is at just about $50,000 with close to 250,000 klms on it.
https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/hol...ries/?offset=0 |
Unfortunately, that's not the case here. They are more of an oddity. A nice, low miles, LS2 GTO will go for $15-20,000 - Decent money for a 15 year old Pontiac but nothing like the Monaros. I think because C5 Corvettes are so affordable and parts for the GTO (outside of the drivetrain) are really expensive and rare.
edit - I have a factory Holden center gauge pod (GTOs didn't have this or auto climate control) that a company called JHP in Melbourne would modify for left hand drive. You could get new gauges to change the oil pressure to PSI but I left mine in Bar. That is quite rare and sought after now.