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Picture this...

posted 8 years ago by bkelly9505
1 reply | jump to latest

The 1974 model year is approaching. The muscle car is dying out. You work for Pontiac in a position of influence. The A-body, and with it the GTO, was just redone. But instead of reducing the "Goat" to a sport package on the Ventura for the '74 model year, you could continue to base it on the LeMans and make some improvements to the styling.

My question is if you were to do this (keep the GTO based on the LeMans), do you think the model would have lasted the rest of Pontiac's life? In fact, would the car have counteracted the negative image created by the Aztek and kept Pontiac alive?

"The Devil wants his soul. I just want the man."

[–] drunkbear 8 years ago

They could have produced a big-block 'Firebird' model of the GTO, instead of taking the new car off in its own direction, and maybe kept some nostalgia market into the early 1980s. Couldn't 'Smokey and the Bandit' have sold a GTO badge, instead of the Firebird?

But in 1974, I don't think that many in the design/executive end of the U.S. auto industry could have foretold how badly the new emission and crash standards were going to affect the muscle cars. Once the engines were emasculated and the running stock was fattened up, I don't think there was a chance to hold onto the fans of the older GTOs.

- What are you gonna do, when the world catches on?