This car look familiar? Check the sculpted bodyside and the low-slung greenhouse. Check the wheel-in-each-corner stance and bob-tail rear end. Yep, it's basically the stunning Holden Coupe 60 unveiled in Australia yesterday. But with a modern interpretation of the classic wide-track Pontiac grille up front.
Now, here's the kicker: These photos are about three years old. This car is the still-born Zeta-based GTO replacement killed off by GM's decision to spend money on fast-tracking the GMT900 trucks into production instead. With funds diverted to GMT900, works on all U.S. Zeta-based products was stopped. This coupe, and a Buick sedan, did not make the cut when the program was re-started some months later.
Apart from the fact they reveal the Holden Coupe 60 is basically a three-year old design (executed under the direction of Mike Simcoe, the quietly talented Aussie responsible for the Commodore/G8 and now the designer with overall responsibility for all GM rear drive unibody cars) these pictures also show GM was contemplating a radically different front end design for the Zeta-based Pontiacs.
Had it been approved, this car's "wide-track" look would have appeared on the G8 sedan. However we understand it was a considerably more expensive option than the design that made it into production, primarily because it would have required unique headlights.
As we said in our story yesterday, the appearance of the Holden Coupe 60 doesn't necessarily mean a new Holden Monaro, and therefore a new Pontiac GTO (or G8 Coupe) is on the way. Holden needs Pontiac volumes to make production of the Monaro viable, but GM officials are worried that with the impending launches of both Dodge Challenger and Chevy Camaro, the U.S. coupe market is fast becoming saturated.
But what we do know now is GM could build a new GTO if we really wanted one.
I hope they take out the whole flex-fuel part though. This will be awesome, look at that almost uniquely Australian styling.
