RR of the Day: Holden the Goat in high esteem
The idea of refitting your set of North American wheels to resemble its domestic market counterpart is not new. One of the more popular conversions has been transforming the Nissan 240SX back into the JDM-spec Silvia from which it sprung. Until the SEMA show last week, however, we were unaware one could do this to car other than those that came from the East. A company called JHP Vehicle Enhancements, however, had a Pontiac GTO on display that, besides the incorrect location of the steering wheel, was a dead ringer for the Holden Monaro.
We took a week off from featuring a RR of the Day to focus on SEMA, so imagine our shock when we return to find a privately owned Goat-turned-Monaro in the Autoblog Flickr Pool. Owned by Flickr member Julius C., this late model GTO suffered an unfortunate up-close encounter with a guard rail one rainy day that created the perfect opportunity to practice some Aussie-inspired rhinoplasty. The damaged front end was swapped for a Holden Monaro look-a-like from JHP and a Gravana hood with two scoops was added for good measure. Check out Julius C.'s own Flickr account for a journal of the car's transmogrification.
When the GTO arrived back in the U.S. it was harpooned for being too vanilla in the looks department. While the Holden Monaro isn't exactly the Rocky Road of vehicle design, driving a GTO that looks like one will surely turn the heads of those in the know. To everyone else, the badge re-reengineered Goat will continue to be the same 6.0-liter sleeper it's always been.
We're back with the RR of the Day feature after a week-long hiatus for SEMA. All this week we'll feature unrelated rides that catch our eye, but we're returning with a theme next week and that theme is "Best Autocross Car". If you've got a hot AutoXer, join the Autoblog Flickr Pool and submit your ride for consideration. More detailed instructions can be found after the jump.
PHOTO GALLERY:
How to submit to RR of the Day:
Create a Flickr account if you don't already have one. Search for and join the group called 'Autoblog RR of the Day'. Upload up to three photos of your ride to your own account at a size no larger than 450 pixels wide if possible and include as much information about it and yourself as possible. Even if your ride is sweet, it will not be chosen if there's not a lot of info accompanying it. Click on each photo and just above the picture it will say "Send to group". Click that and select the Autoblog group. You're done, that's it!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
menice 10:44AM (11/06/2006)
good for you julius, for not doing the norm after the crash.
I was a fan of the GTO but your car looks better with that hood and front end.
you just need a set of grey/carbon rims with a chrome lip, not black not all chrome.
thank god that huge black box they attach for the plate is gone! what an eyesore front plates/ plate holders are.
did you rebadge interior also? any other mods? intake or anything?
keep modding it now!!
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UpIrons 11:12AM (11/06/2006)
Man that looks so much better without the pontiac front end! Nice job!
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Howard Kerr 11:33AM (11/06/2006)
The largish coupe you always knew Toyota/Lexus wanted to build....but wouldn't/won't.
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Jeff 7:13PM (11/06/2006)
There are at least 5 or 6 people that have done some sort of Holden rebadging with the GTO. There is an HSV GTO bumper in australia that is killer. The same car is a Vauxhaul (sp) Monaro in europe. Pontiac just pontiac'd the front end, and it turned out oh-so-plain. It's a hell of a fun car and quite nice inside.
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fabian 12:53PM (11/06/2006)
Cavalier on roids hahaha next!
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Mark 1:12PM (11/06/2006)
Fabian, get a life, you've obviously never been within 10 feet of a real performance car like the GTO.
Great work Julias, you have an awesome goat. Check out http://www.ls1gto.com for a bunch more conversions like this one.
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vectorbug 2:11PM (11/06/2006)
GTO is not a performance car. Especially at 4000lbs. It might be a cool car, but its not a performance car. Muscle, yes, performance, no.
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Mark 2:24PM (11/06/2006)
That's debatable, the lack of any sort of mechanical similarity with a Caviler isn't.
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Andy 3:02PM (11/06/2006)
The GTO had a 3,700 lb. curb weight. That's about 200 lbs. less than the 2007 GT500. The Ferrari 575M Maranello has a curb weight of 3,800 lbs.; the Aston-Martin Vanquish has a curb weight of 4,000.
Speed TV even dedicated a special to the GTO's performance with SCCA drivers running a GTO and a Grand Prix GXP against Infinitis, Bimmers, and Fords, with the GTO winning its category.
I was one of the people in the chorus who complained about the Monaro being the next GTO. It was boring and bland compared to the final Trans Am. The chubby coupe grew on me. One of my neighbors had an '04 and I always like it.
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Kansei 3:14PM (11/06/2006)
congrats Julius! How many www.Roclife.org forum members are going to be RR of the Day?? First marnie with her civic, and now your GTO/monaro.. who's next?
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Aaron Bluestone 3:34PM (11/06/2006)
nice!!! so much better than the pontiac front end.
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BOB 6:40PM (11/06/2006)
Hey -- how original! A car looks better with its own front end, as designed!! Too reminiscent of other cars to be the right design for a US label, but pretty. Let's see if the General builds some takeoffs in Ontario with American stying cojones.
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Julius 11:47PM (11/08/2006)
Hi all - thanks for the input.
Yes, I have other mods - from headers/cat back, to short ram intake/shifter/brakes/bushings/swaybars. I still have a set of heads to put on too. Some of the pics are on my flickr site, others are on my Cardomain page. (http://www.cardomain.com/ride/587801)
I know I'm not the first to re-Monaro the GTO, and I haven't changed the interior badging yet. Oh, and Mark, I'm on LS1GTO.com (aka "traumadog"), which is where I got the idea in the first place.
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Jay 6:15AM (11/09/2006)
Hey Jeff,
I have an HSV GTO bumper on my US GTO, only one of 3 that I know of in the US. I am soon going to get the rest of the body as well.
Julius C.,
Great job on the conversion.
As for the article, I have one correction...
"he damaged front end was swapped for a Holden Monaro look-a-like from JHP"
It is NOT a "look-a-like" it is the OEM Holden parts, not a cheap aftermarket fiberglass replica.
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GTOGRRR 2:01PM (11/08/2006)
no thanks...I'll take mine just as it is....a PONTIAC GTO....put the "racemesh" grill in the lower front and its beautiful....BMW ish....:-)
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JD 10:30PM (11/08/2006)
There is a slight error in the article. The front by JHP is actually a genuine G.M. Holden Monaro front, not a look like front. 95% of JHP's products are genuine.
If you like this, you should check out the HSV Coupe 4 Body Kit. That is one bad ass kit.
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