A good friend has been contemplating buying a new car recently (better chance now that he is putting off a home purchase for about a year). His issue is there are very few cars out there that inspire him enough to want to spend a large sum of money on a car.

He has been considering an M3, but is put off by the price. Also, he has thought about waiting for the new Pontiac GTO (he's a big GTO fan and it looks promising), but doesn't care for some decisions GM corp has made about that upcoming model.

Finally, he has considered the 350Z. He likes the car as much as any of us do. His only problem... That I already have one on the way!!!

Been trying to convince him that it's okay (and may even be kind of cool) if he orders/buys one, too. Just told him to grab a different color and maybe a different trim level. So far he's not convinced. When my Z arrives in a few more days, I certainly will give him some first hand exposure to it.

Any other ideas how I can bring this "Z fan in waiting" into our flock???

 

He's considering a car that isn't here yet, a car that's hard to get, and a car that costs so much it's best out of reach to anyone saving to buy a house.

It doesn't sound like he wants a new car, but doesn't want to buy a car, lke me and probably everyone else. His three choices are the three best IMO, and I'd add the G35c as a fourth. But I think when he says he doesn't want a Z because you already have it, he's using polite reasoning. He probably doesn't like it as much as us, for some strange reason, or I think he'd go for it, being the cheapest by far and still a great car.

 

Out of curiosity, what decisions about the GTO does he not like? I didn't think that much information had been released about the US version yet.

 

Sounds like he's trying to make sure he doesn't suffer from any buyer's remorse. There are quite a few cars coming out soon and if I wasn't 100% sure I wanted a Z, I'd be looking around too.

But, just because you have one shouldn't discourage him from getting one too, if that's what he really wants. Hey, it's a great car for the money! I'm currently in the process of buying a house and I can still afford the Z. Let him check yours out and see what he thinks. If that doesn't sell him, he just wasn't meant for a Z.

 

I'm sure he could provide more detail than I, but some things I recall...

Horsepower originally announced as compared to what is proposed now has dropped by 20-25. Don't flame me if these are off a bit, but early articles were touting 325-330hp... more recent are saying 305-310.

Lots of questions about how the car will look. The design sketch makes it look very similar to a BMW sedan... not such a bad thing, but there are no styling cues from its GTO heritage. That, of course, can easily change in the next few months.

Seems there were one or two other things he has shown me from various articles. Considering GM's past track record about taking a cool proposed car and ruining it on the was to production model, we probably have a little bit of a jaded view.

 

The Ponitac GTO set for release next yr is the US version of the Holden GTO coupe' available in the great land of Oz right now. It will have the Pontiac "kidney shaped" air intakes and will have a power deduction unlike its aussie counterpart....I am sure I read it will be a V6 instead of the Aussie V8.

 

It will not be a V6. GM (even more specifically, Bob Lutz) has said it will be some version of the LS1.

There are some V6 Monaros, I believe. Of course, I also believe I've read about a Calloway version in Australia with close to 400 hp.