Hiding in this garage is a classic with a story to tell. This 2006 Pontiac GTO is covered in dust and has areas of minor cosmetic damage, but it is also an unmolested classic with a mere 5,800 miles on the clock. The seller purchased it from a collector, but active military service meant the car has spent most of its life in storage. The owner feels it deserves a new home and that its shortcomings will be easily addressed. Doing so would return the GTO to its former glory, giving someone a chance to slip behind the wheel of a vehicle with the rare distinction of being the product of two General Motors marques that no longer exist.
The story of the Fifth Generation Pontiac GTO is fascinating, and the car may never have existed if it weren’t for a few men who decided to occupy their spare time with an unofficial styling exercise. Holden was the Australian arm of the General Motors empire, and its bread-and-butter model was its Commodore range. It included a sedan, station wagon, and ute, with all three selling in respectable numbers. However, a group of stylists wanted to recapture an era when the company produced eye-catching Coupes, transforming one of Holden’s test Commodore sedans into a stylish hand-built two-door. Management got wind of this and was so impressed with the finished product that they displayed the car as a concept at the 1998 Sydney International Motor Show. The reaction was beyond its wildest dreams, and the concept became a production vehicle known as the Monaro in 2001. Pontiac wished to add the car to its range, with Holden producing an updated version that complied with American safety regulations. It hit the market in 2004 with bold expectations, wearing the iconic GTO badge. Sadly, the GTO never achieved the anticipated sales volumes, with Pontiac ending sales in 2006. General Motors retired the Holden brand in 2021, making this one of the few cars in automotive history to be a product of two marques that no longer exist. The seller purchased this GTO from a collector when it had 835 miles on its odometer. He is an active member of the armed forces and placed the car into storage when he was on deployment. Therefore, it has seen little use. That explains why it has only accumulated 5,800 miles in eighteen years. Its Quicksilver Metallic paint is dusty, and there are a few minor dings and dents. These aren’t from abuse or mistreatment but from the seller’s wife burying the GTO under various items in their garage. Addressing the problems would be easy and inexpensive, returning this classic to its former glory. The Pontiac has spent its life in a dry climate, so rust isn’t an issue. The glass shows no evidence of problems, and the original 17″ wheels show no signs of marks or damage.
Many people criticized the Fifth Generation GTO’s styling, claiming it was too conservative to carry that badge. However, few people found the performance wanting. Holden filled the 2006 GTO’s engine bay with a 6.0-liter V8, producing 400hp and 400 ft/lbs of torque. Buyers could select from a six-speed manual transmission or the four-speed automatic found in this car. Standard features included four-wheel independent suspension, power steering, and enormous four-wheel disc brakes with anti-lock. Was the GTO fast? With a ¼-mile ET of 13.1 seconds and a top speed of 179mph, the answer is a resounding “Yes!” The seller admits this car’s first owner added an SLP2 exhaust and a cold air intake. Otherwise, it is original and unmolested. The Pontiac last saw the road around ten months ago and performed flawlessly. The seller feels that an inspection and tune-up are all it requires before the Pontiac graces our streets again.
Pontiac marketed the Fifth Generation GTO as a muscle car, but calling it a Grand Tourer probably would have been more appropriate. Occupants sink back into leather-wrapped seats while multiple airbags protect them if things go wrong. Climate-controlled air conditioning keeps summer heat at bay, while the car also features power windows, power locks, power front seats, cruise control, a tilt wheel, a trip computer, speed alert, and a premium AM/FM radio/CD player. This Pontiac’s interior requires a deep clean, but there are no signs of physical damage or aftermarket additions. The outer seat edges are prone to wear, but the lack of such problems in the supplied photos supports the seller’s mileage claims.
I have often wondered whether the Fifth Generation Pontiac GTO would have been a greater success if it hadn’t carried that iconic badge. It hit the market with the weight of expectations on its shoulders, and many enthusiasts felt that the styling wasn’t as bold as it should have been. This 2006 GTO is the last of the breed that the seller has listed here on Craigslist in Temple, Texas. He set his price at $22,500 for a low-mile classic that needs little to return to its best. I hope it finds a new home and returns to its rightful place on our roads. It is a product of Pontiac and Holden, and with both companies now a distant memory, it deserves nothing less.
Having owned an 05 & an 06 (still have the 05) both with the terrific Tremec T-56 I can attest to the great build quality of these, especially the interior design and materials. The LS-2 in these, (04’s had the 5.7) are really strong performers.
Mine has a larger cam, intake, and full 3” exhaust, one piece driveshaft, and it’s lowered. Currently putting over 475 horses and an equal amount of torque to the rear wheels. It’s a lot of fun, and I highly recommend these cars.
If the styling turns you off, take a good look at it from the front; looks a lot like a ‘70 Goat for the 2000’s
This car with the low mileage will need some maintenance, tires(if original) and a good cleaning.
Make sure you upgrade the front suspension, and you’ll have a great time!
I had an 04 torrid red with the auto and loved it. Often regret getting rid of it.
Maybe I’m wrong, but it’s my opinion that Pontiac would of sold the living daylights out of this car if they just would of named it something else other than an iconic American name. The actual car its self was quite good in my opinion.
Chevy tried that with the 2013(?)-2017 Chevy SS bur SUV’s were beginning their infestation with extremely few drivable SUV’s tho the Chevy SS Trailblazer is lone as being the exception..
2014-2017 (I owned a ’17 6MT for four years and loved every mile).
The Impala SS also sold well 1994-1996.
They tried with the G8 GT and GXP, granted, they were 4 doors, but so were the mid-90’s Impala SS’s and late model Chargers. The Australian built mid-20 teens SS’s nor the 4 door LS Pontiac’s sold well even though they were patterned after the BMW M5. They should have been successful, but weren’t, for whatever reason.
Steve R
Reason?
That’s easy.
Barely-trained drivers buying 4WD station wagons, sorry, SUV’s, so they’d be safer in a crash instead of learning to drive more responsibly to actually avoid crashing..
Another guy wanting top dollar for a car that can’t be bothered with getting out a hose and washing it off.
Don’t touch that dirt! It preserves the time capsule quality of this car. It would take years to get that kind of layered dust.
But the add says it was last driven 10 months ago and has that much dust in a storage unit in that amount of time?
To Hemistroker
The car wasn’t washed at the time so most of the dirt will remain after driving. If driving it got rid of the dirt then you’d never have to wash your car again just drive it around it will clean lol
I always found the “boring” styling a plus; it’s somewhat of a Q ship that can fly under the eye of Johnny Law, and that’s important in a fast grand tourer. This silver is perfect for that.
To be clear, I believe the 178mph top speed is with the speed limiter delete(?) Still, mighty impressive for ANY 2000 car. I had a friend with a similar G8, and that was one car you HAD to set the speed control, as 80 didn’t seem any different than 40. Nice dash, ( orange at night?) she loved that car. How a car company could discontinue such a nice car, pretty much defines what was happening. That’s where GM lost me.
As s big GTO fan I have to agree that had they named it something else it would have sold better. It’s a weird conundrum in that the car has a fantastic engine. transmission and interior but I don’t care what anyone says the styling is up their with a Civic. I remember being next to one at a light and didn’t even realize it until they took off. I’ve seen front end kits with recessed lights and stripe kits over the wheel arches that wake it up a bit. This one looks to be Honda Accord grey lol Glwta
That drivetrain should have sold more for sure. I agree, looking like a Honda Accord or larger Cobalt has to be what held it down. GTO faithful would never touch it.
Looks like something that would get me some speeding tickets
There is two of these in my neighborhood, and both probably don’t get second looks from most everyone else. The few of us who actually know what they are, are patiently waiting for the current owners to hit that age where they just can’t or shouldn’t be driving any more!
:)
I’m getting scam vibes from the “deployment “ trigger word
It even comes with a car cover. Too bad he didn’t use it.
That “hoarder ex-wife” comment is both kind of humorous and kind of sad. If the car was at least clean, it might make the presence of damage a bit easier to accept. At least the seller showed pics of the damaged areas.
Why not take a day and deep clean this car which is practically new? I will never understand sellers that do this… there’s one for sale locally with low low miles (1700) for $42k but its spotless.
Both Pontiac and their dealers really let this car down. I think the GTO brand was fine, outside of the 73 Ventura based car the GTO brand was unblemished. But marketing wise, GM did next to nothing and dealers weren’t that interested in selling these. I went to a large Atlanta dealer to take a look, they had 3, one with a manual in black that I was highly intrigued by. No test drives allowed without a $1000 deposit! By that time I was 46 years old , hardly a hooligan and pulled up in my 04 Lincoln Navigator. I don’t think I appeared to be much of a risk. No way I was putting down $1000 and then arm wrestling for 3 hours to get it back so i left. Another dealer was happy to let me drive it but was adamant they didn’t negotiate on “limited production” cars. Eventually I lost interest but only for a short while as an 8 cylinder manual BMW was soon in my garage. Later that year GTOs were being blown out and 3k under invoice seems to be stuck in my mind. Shortly thereafter the difficult economic cycle was in full swing and the writing was on the wall for GM and Pontiac. Can’t help but think the GTOvwould still be in my garage had a deal been made.
If I had the money I’d buy this in a heartbeat.
I had two of these. A 05 and an 06, both 6 speeds. They were phenomenal cars. One helluva sight better than my 64 GTO.
I’ve had over a dozen 64-72 GTO’s, and most of the people in that demographic HATE these cars. I had an 06 with the Tremec, and it was a terrific car. Superb handling, the LS2 had plenty of performance even stock, comfortable cruiser. The hate towards these cars by most is amusing! Excellent cars, I regret selling mine.
I purchased an 06 in 07 that was languishing in the back of the dealers lot that they could not sell. Paid 28K for a 35K list new car, black with the 6MT. Was a fantastic car, total sleeper as it looks like a Grand Prix or similar Pontiac. I drove the wheels off that car. Sold it to a collector with 22K miles, went to Ligenfelter’s collection as I was told. I would buy this one if it was a 6MT, price is fair for the miles assuming it cleans up and is as described.
As a retired active duty Air Force Chief, I can attest to the fact that nobody deploys for 18 years. You come and you go. The sitting for 18 years does not pass the sniff test. Secondly, this car has been trashed. What a super hyped up story in a lame effort to justify collector level money on a car that will require lots of cash to get it show ready. My 2 cents worth.
Yeah, the 18 year deployment sounds phony, but it’s not unusual (more so when there were more bases in Germany) for servicemen to spend most of their careers in Germany or Japan. When I was at Camp Lejeune I rented a house from a Marine who’d been in Okinawa for 12 years, he only came back every few years to check on the house and see relatives.
I re-read the Craigslist ad, the guy never said anything about being deployed for 18 years… he said he bought it in 2010, and mentioned “it being in storage a lot from deployments.” The low mileage is appealing, but even the simple modifications take away from the value. Maybe if he had the original parts that were removed it would be even more appealing, along with washing the thing! Thee really isn’t any excuse, except that it tends to hide the overall condition of the car.
I owned an 04 GTO which I traded for an 06 in silver, just like this one, but a 6 speed. The extra 50 hp over the 04 really changed the car. Instead of building for more power, I went with upgrading the suspension with a Pedders kit. At that time, Pedders had a few quick ratio steering racks which I also purchased and installed into this car. This was the best car I ever owned when it came to cruising the country backroads. It was so solid and just grabbed the road at 90 mph, no problem. The car felt different than any other manufacturer. It was like a combination of American, German and Japanese DNA. The GTO in this ad is not that far from me, but it’s not a good time for me to start with another hobby car. It sure brings back memories, though.
When the show car was displayed it wasn’t called Monaro, just Coupe. The public in Australia really pushed for the Monaro name to be re-applied, despite it looking nothing like the original or second generation Monaro. Perhaps Pontiac were thinking the American public would accept this as a modern iteration of the GTO in the same way and save on the need to build a halo brand.
They did build an all-wheel drive version of the Commodore variant of these but they are very rare – so rare that I can’t remember what they were called.
The two door all wheel drive version was developed by Holden Special Vehicles here in Aus and was called the HSV Coupe 4.
I wonder how many more buyers would have bought a GTO if it looked like the wild 1999 concept GTO!, tho that had today’s too short gangster side glass & the above GTO has too much/high side glass, IMO.
For some reason, when i see today’s loaded 4 door “cars” with the gangster side glass, i think of 2 things – if the car goes under water, will you be able to fit through the side glass to try to get out, since the door most likely wont open ez due to water pressure.
And, even worse, will the POWER windows still work to roll down the glass?
“Listing has expired”.
Gotta wonder, again, if it wasn’t cleaned up and was photoed inside because he really didn’t want to sell it!
I know of at least six of these that were bought just for their drivetrains by a guy that builds bagged early sixties Chevies. Almost all were very nice low milage cars that desereved a better fate.
It’s dirty because it’s in a work shop, you can clearly see it has been in an accident. Plus it has the infamous Xmas tree fragrance hanging from the rear view mirror, must smell pretty bad!
Low miles or not, I would beware of this one.