New Pontiac GTO was in development, was killed in the phase out

Bob Lutz has recently revealed that General Motors was developing a new GTO before the Pontiac brand was axed in 2009.

Lutz did not reveal much about the car but confirmed that it was a two-door coupe based on the same architecture that underpinned the Pontiac G8 (aka the Holden VE Commodore). In fact earlier designers had already created a full fledged clay model of the car but the cancelation of the Pontiac brand let it dead in the water and it had to be quashed completely.

Not much detail is available about the model as of now, but there are speculations that suggest it was previewed by the stunning Holden Coupe 60 concept which was introduced way back in 2008. Just to refresh, the Coupe 60 was based on the Commodore VE platform and featured an aggressive front fascia, a ventilated hood and fitted with a 6.0-liter V8 engine.

In fact at that time Holden chairman Mark Reuss had said that this was one vehicle that his designers would dearly love to see go into production, but for the moment it had to remain as a concept only. This shows the confidence that the executive had in the model at that time and surely it should work this time.