2005 Pontiac GTO | Retro Review 

The 6.0 GTO was no joke. 400hp and 400tq was ridiculous for 2005 and is still a lot of power almost 20 years later. I always loved this version of the GTO because it rock and rolled, but it didn’t blare “look at me! I’m a MuScLe caAR!!”. It was low key.

R.I.P. Pontiac 😢

Thank you Bob Lutz for fighting the bean counters to breathe life into GM performance in the 00's!

Excellent Vehicle! I still daily drive a 2006 GTO here in Arizona my Father purchased brand new!

16 years with my 04. Still enjoy driving, maintaining and modding it. Thank you australia for a fun car!!

The GTO's understated, subtle styling is what instantly drew me to the car. Its performance is excellent, and its reliability has been outstanding. My wife didn't understand why I bought it until 12 years into ownership when she finally learned to drive a manual. She learned in our Miata and has never looked back. I bought my GTO from a dealer that dumped it because the production run had ended. It was the last on the lot, and it was winter. I received a GREAT deal. I guess they didn't know what they had at the time.

As a kid I played Need for speed underground 2, and this car was my car of choice when playing. I still play this game to this day, and always use the goat!

I had an 06… was definitely my favorite car I ever had

This was an understated adult's hotrod. Style still stands up today.

I purchased a black 2006 GTO with the 6.0 LS2 and the 6-speed manual, back when it was new. I regret selling it today. It was a very nice car with surprising quality, fit & finish. I loved that car, for what it was. 400 HP in 2006 was very respectable. The interior was actually a bit more premium than most cars of that year. If you can still find one that hasn't been beat-up, modified or drifted, buy it!

Absolutely underrated car. Its drop dead gorgeous and had the awesome combo of heritage of the Monaro and the GTO. I LOVE my 06 GTO. Fantastic car.

Not 'based' off the Monaro, it WAS the Monaro with minimal changes such as a different front bumper and steering wheel on the 'other' side. It was even still made in Australia.

Thanks for the re-upload here. These cars are still fantastic and hold their value extremely well. Theres no other make i can think of that gives you reliable power like this without breaking the bank.

When I was 18 I somehow bamboozled a car salesman into letting me test drive one of these when they first came out. At the time, it was the fastest car I'd ever driven. The dealership wasn't happy when they realized I had no intention of buying it, but I had a blast!

I drove one of these when it was new at a car dealership I worked at. It was a really nice and quick car. I remembered riding with the service manager and got up to 120mph. Fastest I’ve been in a car and it felt stable.

2005 Need for Speed Most Wanted

i got one a year too early back then! lolz, the 04 that had same engine as my LS1 SS. still was fun a ride, and had the manual. i know some folks here that have an old 05, and still looks brand new, they drive it daily too

Best car that I've ever owned.... and I still do! :)

The greatest car to ever wear a Pontiac badge (aside from the G8 of course).

Pontiac’s ultimate coupe, and one of my top 5 cars of all time. I still want one with blue interior and exterior.

400hp(and pure American ponies) for $33K. What a time to be alive.

I truly love these old motorweek videos.

Loved the refresh with the new motor and dual exhaust layout.

I wish these sold better they were great cars.

Imagine getting one with the 5.7 and single exhaust and then the next year the 6.0 with dual exhaust came out

Wow. There's a lot of love for this vehicle now ...(In the comments, anyway) The 04-06 GTO, the "bloated cavalier", used to be hated like a motherfucker back in the day lol

Those last gen GTO's were cool cars. The exterior design was a nice modern aerodynamic version of the 1970 GTO. They are fast and have a beautiful exhaust.

I still have my 2005 Red Autocross edition Pontiac GTO

I was in 1st grade when these started coming stateside. My dad managed to get one for a few days and I remember it being such an exciting car because of how much speed it could build up.

It looked 10 years old when it finally came to the US

Thank you for sharing this GM review. It is appreciated when you share the GM and Lincoln and Mercury and Ford reviews. This car had so much potential. There was a supposed to be a car to replace this GTO as I saw the images, but it did not make it to production. The G8 came after this and the Pontiac was phased out. It was nice when GM was bring the Holden models here to the United States.

Owned an 06' GTO manual for 7 years and put over a 100,000 miles on it and loved every mile. I should have kept it since looking back it was one of my favorite cars I ever owned

I remember watching Top Gear and watching Jezza drifting that thing and just cracking up.

Great looking car! I would love to get one of these. Underrated for sure.

Gorgeous car that aged beautifully, the best looking model ever to come out of the Holden factory.

I got my 06 in 2011 with 9k miles and i have spared no expense on upkeep. I have also done tasteful mods and some carbon goodies now with 48k on the odometer. I always take a second glance when i walk away from it.

Great looking car with clean, understated lines and a modern interior. A far cry from the bulbous, plastic-clad interior and exterior designs of other Pontiacs of the time.

No matter how many times I saw a 2-door GTO, half an hour later I still had the impression it was a 4-door grocery getter. One of the reasons Pontiac regretfully had its plug pulled.

Best GTO by far.

I loved my 2004. The G8 GT was even better. The only three complaints I had about the car, that could also carry 4 people in comfort (they're wrong about the space), was the tiny trunk with a gas tank in it, and the front tires that rubbed in the wheel wells and wore out early. They had to switch to 235 tires on 18s after that. They looked awesome but had even less grip. By far the worst problem though, was no side airbags. Was amazing fun to drive though.

I sold these new. We had two left in the end. They were on the lot for over two years. We couldn’t give them away.

My mom worked for GM on Fischer body back in the day and also was a part of the last 100 Aleros made. I'll never forget the first time I saw the GTO in the brochure GM sent in the mail, metallic smoke paint. 😛

Based on aussie Holden Monaro.

My favorite Holden!

Holy smokes! Any car that can do that to tires is insane!

I have a 2006 with lowered suspension, larger brakes and 3.91 gears. With the six-speed it's a nice cruiser that gets great mileage!

My dream car growing up

Gotta thank our Aussie brothers for this car , i loved my '06 BOM M6 GTO.

John the kinda guy who come visit your home n leave a huge bowl winder in your toilet without flushing.

Way faster and nicer than a 2005 mustang gt.

The fit and finish was definitely ahead of it’s time. I miss my 05

Beautiful gtos I always liked them so much

I saw a review of one of these the night before and I woke up to this video uploaded. I think something’s telling me to get one of these.😂

I still want one 😔 those backfire flames 🔥🚒 💪😈

The Holden Monaro had really aggressive but still subtle styling. Not sure why Pontiac made it bland when it already looked good. They learned their lesson with the G8, even if it was too late at that point.

I can’t stand GM but always liked these. 😂

I absolutely love mine 💯

Funny how the styling was celebrated in Australia as clean and restrained but regarded as underdone in the USA, where there weren’t enough cladding and add on “themes”. 🤔

Remember when GM had awesome cars for relatively low prices?

Pontiac made an optional Sport package that came with 18 inch wheels with Summer only performance tires. I am sure those GTOs handled a lot better than the all season tires that were not designed for track duty.

This car was way ahead of its time

Always loved these. Loved their understated, subtle look. That's how you make a timeless car. You don't give in to all the obnoxious styling cues of the era. A wolf in sheep's clothing. You don't see many previous owners in the comments complaining either, many regret selling and most still seem to have theirs since new.

It really blended in when new, but it really stands out today

Neat retro review of a cool true muscle car.

I always wanted a Black one with Chrome rims. They sounded great with a Catback Exhaust.

I wanted one of these so bad back in the day. I remember I got a raise at work and immediately tried to buy a yellow 2004. Of course I wanted a 05-06 but they were too expensive at the time.

Since I first saw it in the Need for Speed Underground 2 I fell in love with it.

A guy in my neighbor has the purple spec … sharp every time I see it 🔥 - I miss Pontiac 😮‍💨

Such a cool vehicle, Pontiac should have been selling vehicles like this a few years earlier, and I think they would have had a very different future. It's incredible how GM's then international divisions could produce a gorgeous interior, while the domestic GM models of the time were mostly saddled with terrible design and an overabundance of very cheap plastics.

Nice car! 400HP with that interior? Amazing.

Acabou de celebrar o ano novo e já estava trabalhando mostrando essa nave !

That thing was spinning to the moon. Need a driver behind that thing!

Crazy how motor week showing a Pontiac gto review 😢. With my gto 1 year anniversary

I remember when these first came out. First take was, aye it's a souped up Grand Am.Big V8, side skirts and large 5 spoke wheels. Lol I guess I was one of many that just didn't want a V8 Grand Am.

4:07 - Comparing the GTO to the likes of an Evo, a Merci, a CLK and a 911 and then criticizing it's ride and handling as too soft shows that someone was clearly missing the point. The GTO was designed to be a grand touring luxury coupe, while the rest of these were sports cars made for track use. We seem to have forgotten that soft springs and large sidewalls on tires are there for comfortable and quiet rides which the GTO was a hell of a lot better at than any of these other cars. I don't know if that's a marketing problem or a review problem, but if you look at the market today for automobiles, there is certainly still a demand for big quiet power in a soft and supple ride, and nobody is meeting that demand.

Was definitely a banger!

Its unique compared to everything else on the road. Mine always turns heads.

I always wanted a GTO.

I'm not a GM fan but I love what Pontiac did with this car, the G8, and the Firehawk.

Always liked these, one of the last cool & halfway decent cars GM ever made.

Weird to see an Aussie Holden with those strange badges and the steering wheel on the wrong side!

That test driver didn't have a clue of what they were doing. Over reved starts with lots of wheel slip and an over reved and slopy slow shift into 2nd gear with throttle lift after the clutch was let out, causing a delay on getting back into the throttle after the shift was completed

I actually like this GTO over the other gens. Even if it's just a rebadged Aussie car. Actually, I think that makes it better.

I think we americans were too obnoxious to appreciate this when we had it. Subtle, Powerful and reasonably reliable.

Cooler and more fun than any comparable import

thanks to the 2650 LSA it boosted it to the extreme fun😎

Scotty had this car yesterday on his channel. Now motor week is doing it too. Coincidence. Maybe….

Ah, yes. The V8 Grand Am with an amazing glass diff

I've always wanted one of these but they're starting to become increasingly difficult to find one that has not been abused hard or modded. Doesn't help that prices are starting to creep up either.

It’s an Australian Monaro. Manufactured in Australia

I would have bought it based on that engine note alone!

My favorite car

i want one SO bad , but My FAV car from NFS MW 2005

I liked this GTO. It was nice looking and was a great performer. It didn't sell well because people wanted a modern interpretation of the 1968 GTO. Pontiac simply didn't have the budget for that.

The GTO was a great car. It was a better looking than the 5th Camaro that came 5 years later.

lol! It’s not based on the Australian built Monaro - it literally is the Monaro! A tweaked bumper and some Pontiac badges is about all that’s different aside from the having the steering wheel on the wrong side.

What's really crazy is people are comparing The Terminator and all kinds of stuff in the 2000s. But it's nothing compared to a buick gnx. That put out the same specs 18 years ago so most of these cars aren't so special. Are they if there are 20 years newer and they're putting out the same exact specs? And a hundred more horsepower

Bad Ass 400hp, so damn underrated 😊 love to own one

I bought a 6spd '05 new. Wished I had kept her.

This car was instantly 10 yrs old when it came out. The idea they branded an Australian coupe ruined it too.