High Performance Pontiac Magazine Disses High Performance Pontiac Owners
High Performance Pontiac magazine might want to reconsider its implication that anyone who has a 2004-2006 Holden-based Pontiac GTO doesn't own a real one, especially given that those readers are a part of whatever subscription base they've got left.
The "challenge" from High Performance Pontiac is simple enough: take a current 2010 or 2011 Cadillac CTS-V and turn it into a Pontiac GTO the company can't build because Pontiac doesn't exist anymore. They've posted this on what they're passing off as a "blog" and even had the audacity to tell readers "Though we can't fund your project, if you can make it, we want to write about."
Oh, but the audacity doesn't end there. No, they can't afford to fund what's probably a six-figure project because they represent high performance cars from Pontiac, a brand that's been (sadly) discontinued, but they can afford to piss off a huge chunk of their readers. How so?
They say "Make it look like the GTO GM should have built for Pontiac ... and didn't." To translate, it means if you own an '04-'06 Pontiac GT (one of only a few truly high performance Pontiacs built in the last few years) you have a car that shouldn't have been built.
And how do their readers respond? By going completely and understandably crazy. We've received a ton of emails about this since it went up, but we'll let their own commenters explain:
1. The polite version: I wish you the best of luck with this completely irrelevant and unnecessary project request, but I think it's unfortunate that you're so intent on alienating 2004-2006 GTO owners.
The less-restrained version: get your head out of your ass. While I would love to have a 1967, I wouldn't give up my REAL GTO – a supercharged LS2 2005 model – for any other year. For decades, Pontiac and its owners have been the laughing stock of the enthusiast community due to Poncho's penchant for garish styling and and overabundance of tacked-on plastic. Pontiac finally unleashes a wolf-in-sheep's clothing with a proper powertrain, instead of more-of-the-same badge-engineered econoboxes (LeMans? Hello?) and you aging hypocrites COMPLAIN?
For six years, I've been tickled pink as a GTO owner. I could not be happier with the overall package that the Holden-sourced GTO provides. You should try one – if you think you can handle it.
Signed,
The owner of a REAL GTO.
There's more to it right here until they take it down.
UPDATE: Looks like the folks at High Performance Pontiac had a change of heart and posted this:
TO ALL THE RESPONSES WHO MISINTERPRETED THIS BLOG: HIGH PERFORMANCE PONTIAC MAGAZINE AND THE AUTHOR OF THIS BLOG REFER SPECIFIALLY TO THE 2010 GTO WHICH WAS IN PROCESS OF BEING APPROVED BY GM FOR PRODUCTION WHEN GM DISBANDED PONTIAC, NOT THE HOLDEN-BASED '04-'06.
All caps, so you know they're serious. Also, they'd like you to please stop sending the writer death threats. Having been on the receiving end of a few of those myself I'd have to agree, it's not fun to get them.