When Bob Lutz joined GM as "car czar" one of his first moves was to revive the Pontiac GTO. Lutz wanted a "halo" car quickly and cheaply and chose an Australian GM performance coupe as the organ donor. But you get what you pay for and the bland Detroit restyle wasn't good enough.

One could also say that a new GTO was an answer to a question nobody was asking.

Now we learn from Automotive News that the GTO is to be phased out at the end of the 2006 model year. Sales never came near the projected 18,000 annually and a source at GM claims the coupe would cost General Motors too much to certify for tougher safety regulations being phased in for the 2007 model year. GM is said to be working on a new rear-drive architecture that could spawn a third-edition GTO as well as a Chevrolet Camaro.

Judging by the number of "heritage" models Detroit is pushing these days it would seem that GM, Ford, and Chrysler see the future in their past. Hmmm... no one ever wins races by looking backwards.