Not sure if there is a topic already started on this one but I have been searching everywhere for an updated thread on news of the 2009 GTO or Firebird.  I did get some inside news though.  I used to work for a Pontiac dealer in Anaheim and I spoke with my old boss, the general manager, and he said he went to a meeting about a week ago in Las Vegas and GM announced the GTO would not return.  Instead we will get a Firebird T/A due out 1 year after the release of the Camaro.  Has anybody else heard anything like this?  He said the announcement from Bob Lutz about the GTO return was false... I love Firebirds but I've always been a GTO fan so I dont know what to think.  If anybody heard different recently let me know...  

Well since he publicly announcing that the Firebird would never return, and that there was a possibility that the GTO would, makes me more than skeptical. GM has the freedom to take the GTO in a different direction, while the Camaro/Firebird has only one goal as a muscle car. I think the Camaro will return, and the GTO will share its underpinnings with a more up-scale interior, possibly a more refined ride as well. We'll see.  

Seems like a bad move to say it isnt coming back if it is. A lot of people probably went out and bought Mustangs, or put money down on a Camaro or Challenger.  

Hey Bob Lutz!  I think it is time for you to hang things up and turn the reigns to someone who has a clue.  The original run of GTOs was awesome!  What were you thinking when you sat in a 4 year old Holden and decided to make it the new GTO???  Anyhow, here goes:  I currently own a 2002 Pontiac Firebird/Trans AM and have been a GM fan my entire life. What is Pontiac's plan now that Chevy is bringing back the Camaro? I have read that Pontiac wants to release the GTO (again) on the Camaro platform. Since when was the GTO based on the Camaro? Please get things right this time - the 2004-06 GTO was a nice car, but was not a GTO! Please start planning the next Firebird and Trans AM for release on the Camaro platform and keeps things right! If you want to bring back the GTO, bring it back too, but on some other platform. Why not the Tempest or LeMans - not that 4 cylinder one! By the way, who came up with that idea? Please stop and think before releasing the next awesome Pontiac and get it right! Firebirds/Trans Ams had 6 and 8 cylinders and was based on the Camaro platform! By the way, I am still ready for a new Trans AM and I hope to be one of the first to buy one in 2009 or I can even wait until 2010.  Watch some Overhauling and learn to stick to the basics!!!!!  

I think GM will drop the ball on this again just like they did with the new GTO and the last generation of Firebird/Camaro. All three cars were way too expensive, even in their base versions for the original target audience- youth! The 3rd and 4th gen F-bodies got weak V6's for power (although the 3800 powered birds were impressive) and terribly uncomfortable- I'm 6ft tall and the roof line of the 4th gens always left me feeling that I would hit my head on the top of the windshield, and that hump in the pass side floor was awful- I know the cats have to fit somewhere but that was terrible. TA's were only available with t-tops and leather? Who's bright idea is that? No intermediate or entry level V8, or even a supercharged V6 as astep above base level. Same with the GTO, a rich man's toy, not even marketed to traditional enthusiasts. Jim Wangers is right, the car was great but the marketing that made the original so great was missing (or intentionally ignored!). If GM wants to sell these cars they need to follow the 5L Mustang recipe- make it fast and affordable! Build them with several powertrain options (even back in the 60's and 70's not everyone could afford or handle a Ramair 4 or Super Duty), leave off the ABS, airbags and traction control (contrary to popular belief, these are not government mandated), and tire inflation systems. Give them a tasteful, easy to maintain interior- no more light gray mouse hair- and keep tire sizes to reasonable limits, not everyone needs, wants or can afford 17-18-19-20" tires. If GM were to build such a car, they would have trouble keeping up with demand. As I see it the coming Camaro is already headed for extinction because it can't meet any of these goals, it was designed to be over-the-top from day one. Ah, what could have been!  

Yeah, I read the article about the 2009 Firebird but not sure if it is a "go" or not and would like to know myself.  I have a 1977 Firebird, got it recently, waiting to register it, the new one is based on this style, too.  You would think that if it was going to be produced you would hear something soon, especially as the car shows are coming.  

I see nothing wrong with what they did with the new gen GTO's. Sure they dont look retro but like stated before, its for young people.  Not old guys living in the past.  The Holden may have been a few years old but it was new to us.  Also GM could have fallen into the trend of retro but didn't. Im glad to be a 2004 GTO owner.  And I get way more looks in it than the next guy in one of the 10000 variations of mustang.  And noone can say "Is that the V6 model?" cause they didnt make a GTO in v6.  And as far as price.  I was 19 and bought my GTO.  Same HP as a vette and half the price.  

I'm glad to see this is a topic of interest.

Being a GM loyal, I would love to see the T/A come back just much as anyone else. I just think that GM knows what they are doing this time around. They have a lot of inner competition going on with their cars, and I think they are trying to avoid that with the next run of the Camaro. Currently the Pontiac "Performance Brand" is lacking just that.

Pontiac can't survive on the Solstice, which reaches LS1 F-body pricing. Who's idea was this? When the Camaro comes back out it should be between $20,000 and $38,000. Now the Solstice, with a base price above $22,000, is going to look like a toy. I don't think that GM has overlooked this either. I don't expect to see a GTO or performance Pontiac in the low $30k's. I think a new price of $38,000-40,000 base will be the new target. Features from the Vette will justify the price, but not so many that it competes with the Corvette. Pontiac needs a car that can allow it to stand out, a flag ship. A Camaro with a face lift will basically show Pontiac as the lesser brand with the Vette in Chevy's stable.

There is still a lot of debate on what the Camaro will receive as a powerplant. One V8? 2? 3? Who knows? I think we will find the answer by paying attention to  what the General has been doing with the Gen IV powerplants. The LS2 is gone and was replaced by the LS3. The LS7 may be on its way out as well since the LS9 is about to power the new "über-Vette" or as it's officially called, the ZR1.

Keep your eyes open. I really don't care what they call the next performance Pontiac, as long as it has an LS-series engine!  

I TELL YOU ALL WHAT  but what would make the new 2009 GOAT/BIRD? a true pontiac and an awsome car is to give it a better tuned cadillac 4.4 ltre the one out now is rated at 305 hp at the fly. not to metion 4.4 instead of 5.7 of displacement so less wieght, and the camero would then be a different car all together hell for the trans-am or fire hawk do a supercharged version or bring back the zr1 motor pushrod engines are nice but out dated time to do the dohc or at least sohc well what you think?  

I would like to see the Firebird/Trans Am come back, especially tied into the Camaro body. But there is a lot of interest in the new G8 that's coming out. The Firebirds had a good following, but nothing like what Camaro or Mustand had and still have. My guess is Pontiac will not go that direction.  

Contrary to populary belief, just because an engine has smaller displacement doesn't mean it's lighter. The LS-series engines are extremly light weighing in at around 430lbs. That's over 100lbs lighter than the traditional small block. Now I'm not too sure what the new V6 3.6L direct injection DOHC engine weights, but it would be very tough for it to be as skinny as the LS3.

So the benefit of power-to-weight ratio is lost. In terms of PTWR the LS3 is much more efficient than a 3.6L DI.