Want a free ride? Raybestos has built one serious 1964 Pontiac GTO, sporting 700-hp and hitting 128-mph down the quarter mile on street legal tires. The one-of-a-kind barely street legal custom was fabricated to look amazing and haul ass. The result speaks for itself, and now Raybestos is handing over the keys to one lucky winner who enters the sweepstakes on their website from now until September 15th.

Also on the website are a ton of videos documenting and showcasing the brilliant minds behind the build. All of the progress of the ’64 GTO is complemented by commentary from build partners and performance parts suppliers. You’ll also get a chance to watch the barely street legal Goat get driven down the quarter mile by NHRA Top Fuel driver Clay Millican at Great Lakes Dragway in Wisconsin.

So what are you waiting for? Head on over to www.raybestosgarage.com and enter today.

In his book, “Car guys versus Bean Counters,” the indomitable Bob Lutz talks about many things relating to General Motors. He talks about how the company is now on track, giving credit to former CEO Ed Whitacre and his replacement Dan Akerson.

He talks about how the company went from being obsessed with numbers and statistics, to building quality cars and trucks as its number one priority.

And he also talks about the passing of GM’s late, lamented brands, Hummer, Saturn and Pontiac. While Hummer is described as being the target of left-wing activists and politically viewed as the automotive anti-Christ, even though to quote Lutz himself “an H2 doesn’t burn any more fuel than a V12 Mercedes,” he says it was too bad that Saturn didn’t make it, because GM had given the division it’s best ever lineup, with offerings like the Aura sedan and Astra hatchback.

As for Pontiac, it’s this one that he laments the most. Not only did GM’s sporty division already boast a great lineup with cars like the G8 and the Solstice, but before the decision was taken to shutter the brand, Pontiac was also working on another sporty, rear drive offering, likely based off the Alpha platform.

Unfortunately, now we’ll never know what could have emerged from the Arrowhead division and that’s just too bad. As Lutz says, “Pontiac was virtually destroyed by the fact that we had a new head of Pontiac division about every eight months, and every head had a brand-new idea for its product direction.”

Perhaps a sign of what could have been, we’re reminded of an incredible looking Pontiac coupe design model (above) that we recently stumbled upon at GM’s North Hollywood Design Studio. How cool would that have been?

[Source: Ward's Auto World]

Red Bull has made a name for itself with crazy motorsport antics. The latest stunt is profiled in a video of their drifters, Rhys Millen and Ryan Tuerck, piloting Red Bull-sponsored machines sideways through Peachtree Street in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia. The tandem street drifting was part of a promotion for the Formula Drift event in Atlanta and even gave the mayor of Atlanta, Kasim Reed, a ride-along.

Rhys Millen was piloting his Hyundai Genesis Coupe while Ryan Tuerck was in his Pontiac Solstice Coupe, which is now retired from competition – Tuerck is now competing with a Chevrolet Camaro. Needless to say, Red Bull did a fantastic job capturing it all on video for us to enjoy.

Check out the video after the jump:

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The Holden Commodore Ute has had more false starts in the United States than Elizabeth Taylor has had marriages, but rising gas prices might give General Motors an impetus to import the Ute as a pickup alternative at a time when high gas prices are making large trucks economically unfeasible.

Mark Reuss, GM’s head of North American operations, said that the Ute may be an important product if fuel prices compel pickup buyers to downsize from full-size trucks to more efficient but equally versatile vehicles. ’I've lived in Australia and I’ve seen where fuel prices are $5 a gallon  and lots of tradesmen will use a ute with a tray on the back to do lots of different things, and they don’t need the bandwidth of a big pick-up truck,’ he told Australia’s Drive.

Reuss also said that no decision would come until the next generation Commodore in 2014, and that the pickup truck market in the States was still strong enough to continue with current offerings. General Motors planned to offer the Ute as a Pontiac vehicle, but those plans were shuttered in the wake of the 2009 recession.

[Source: Drive.com.au]

Easily the best thing to come out of the now-defunct Pontiac brand in recent memory was the G8 sports sedan – based on the Australian Commodore. Not only was it an impressive performance machine, but it gave North America a taste of just how good a job Holden is doing down under.

Looking to satisfy that appetite, General Motors will reportedly re-introduce the rear-drive sedan in 2013 as a 2014 model year car. According to GMInsideNews, internal documents regarding the development of the car (code named ‘SS Sedan’) now have it listed as an approved program.

Delayed several times, the new launch date is designed to follow with the introduction of a new Commodore in Australia.

With the Pontiac brand now gone and no indication from General Motors to revive it, look for a Chevy bowtie to grace the grille of this new rear-drive machine.

Less certain, but not entirely ruled out, are the introduction of two additional Commodore-based models for North America: the Holden Ute (El Camino?) and Holden Commodore SportWagon. The future of these two vehicles depends on the success of the sedan, as well as the effect of rising gas prices on the buying habits of consumers.

[Source: GMI]

Ever wonder where Pontiac owner’s are going shopping for new cars since the brand folded? Honestly, we hadn’t, until this new study came to our attention.

According to a study by Polk Automotive, most of them are staying loyal to General Motors. An astonishing 53.3% have come back to buy another GM product, with Chevrolet getting the biggest piece of the come-back pie. To be more precise, 33.5% defected to Chevrolet, 11.7% defected to GMC, 6.7% defected to Buick and 1.5% defected to Cadillac.

That is pretty impressive indeed and shows people who actually bought their cars were happy with what they got.

Some customers have wandered off to other brands though, particularly towards Japanese brands such as Toyota and Honda. Given the recall problems some of these foreign brands recently dealt with, there is a big chance some of those customers might return to buy another car from the General.

[Source: Polk]

Oklahoma car collector Tim Dye is well known in the enthusiast community for his stable of Pontiacs. Now, he’s decided to open a museum dedicated to the now defunct marque, in the town of Pontiac, Illinois, through which passes a stretch of the historic ‘Mother Road,’ Route 66.

The museum will be located in downtown Pontiac, IL in the town square on North Mill Street. Dye will be loaning some of the cars from his own collection, while others are likely to come from other collections or individual enthusiasts. At present the Museum is slated to open by July 21st this year.

Given all that General Motors has been through lately and the way in which Pontiac was unceremoniously dumped, it’s nice to see some enthusiasts looking to preserve the legacy of this once popular and exciting vehicle brand, even if many brand nuts believe the rightful home should be in Pontiac, Michigan. However, given the recent economic crisis and the fact that Pontiac, Michigan is struggling financially and couldn’t fund such a project anyway, one museum dedicated to the brand, even if it is in Illinois, is better than none at all.

[Source: Hemmings Motor News]

Barrett-Jackson celebrates 40 years in the automotive auction business in 2011 and given the company’s reputation over the last decade there’s no doubt it will be pulling out all the stops this year.

Among the high profile cars hitting the auction block at the 2011 event will be this, a somewhat somber reminder of America’s past. It’s the very 1963 Pontiac Bonneville Naval Ambulance that carried President John Fitzgerald Kennedy from Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, to Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland, following his assassination in Dallas, Texas on  November  22, 1963.

It then transported his casket, along with the late President’s wife Jackie and brother Robert to the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington DC, where JFK was later buried.

The Bonneville was one of 69 207G Superior high roof ambulances converted at the firm’s Mississippi facility and completed on February 6, 1963. Once its military service was up, the ambulance was sold as surplus. However, unlike many of its contemporaries, it was mothballed and survived the next four decades untouched. Purchased a year ago by collector John Jensen, the ambulance remains totally original and displays just 38,000 miles on the odometer.

It has been documented by Pontiac Historic Services and won a Gold award at the 2010 Military Vehicle Preservation Association’s National Convention. For the B-J auction it has been assigned lot number 1277.

Said Barrett-Jackson’s Steve Davis, ” the ambulance is not just a historical vehicle, it represents one of most significant moments in the 20th century. Most Americans remember when and where they were when they heard the tragic news of JFK’s assassination. His death was a turning point and those of us who watched it on TV or witnessed it firsthand were affected. It will be an honor to have a vehicle cross our block that once transported one of our most celebrated presidents in U.S. history.”

[Source: Pontiacs Online]

Backing up the last reports from a few months back, General Motors appears ready to bring back the only truly exciting product Pontiac had to offer, the G8. Now with Pontiac dead the car will be badged as a Chevy (likely wearing the Caprice name), but the important part is that it will be based on the rear-drive Holden Commodore platform, just like the G8 was.

The latest rumor comes from the LA Auto Show, where a senior engineer told an Australian outlet that the plan to bring back the rear-drive V8-powered sedan was under consideration for the retail market. It should be noted that currently GM offers the long wheelbase Holden Commodore-based Chevy Caprice as a Police-only vehicle in the U.S.

An unnamed source then reportedly commented that the car has been approved by GM’s product planning folks.

With the platform already sold here in the past, federalizing the car wouldn’t be difficult either. Now wouldn’t a V8-powered 6-speed manual Chevy Caprice performance sedan be just the perfect car for the upcoming Detroit Auto Show?

[Source: Drive.com.au]