Holden Monaro, Pontiac GTO to be twins again?

In an interview with Australia's Age newspaper, GM designer Michael Simcoe said there will be another Holden Monaro "eventually, but it won't be here in the next six months or year or so." The last Monaro was recently discontinued alongside the Pontiac GTO. The GTO, was, of course, a rebadged version of the Holden coupe.





Mr. Simcoe said the next Monaro will be rebadged in a similar manner. "We'd want to find a sister vehicle to give us some volumes so that you could do the job properly."

While Simcoe didn't say if that car would be the GTO, it seems like the most likely scenario. He said the new Monaro is not currently under development, which means it's very unlikely it will be a clone of the production Camaro, which is already believed to be deep into development.

While the idea of the Monaro and GTO being twins again may irk GM enthusiasts, the act of badge-engineering was not what most analysts feel led to the downfall of the GTO. Rather, common wisdom is that the car's styling was insufficient in the first place.

Recent rumors have suggested the next GTO will have similar levels of aggressiveness to the 1999 GTO Concept (pictured). If true, this would likely mean an American design will be imported to Australia -- the reverse of what happened with the Monaro and GTO.

In March, GM Vice Chariman confirmed the GTO program was a go. He told AutoWeek the new GTO project was only on hold for two months, but had since been revived. While no timeframe was given, most enthusiasts expect the new model in 2009 or 2010.