Why is there this never ending need for an "American Top Gear"? This is 'Merica, the land of freedom! We don't have to sit and accept the opinions of some stuffy old Brits as the gospel truth. We fought a war about that. Here in glorious Freedomland, we can have as many car shows as the market can handle. If…

Plus, you can make the "look at the S-car go" snail joke.

Tell me how getting rid of this was an upgrade again?

Inside joke, Foxbody drives a GTO IRL. I make fun of it for looking like a grand am/grand prix/suppository. He makes fun of me by pointing out every horribly modified 350Z we come across (i drive a 350Z. There are lots of ruined 350Z's out there...)

The Grand National was never under rated. And it is a muscle car. My 86 GN would run the quarter mile in 14.2 seconds on a hot day, bone stock. On cold October days at New England Dragway, it was an easy 13.8 car. Base engined 442s, SS396 Chevelles, and Road Runners from the 60's would barely get into the 14s.

Totally agree. I own one. Most people (non car people) don't even know what they are. The #1 question I get asked is "does that have rear wheel drive?"

Here, you'll probably recognize it better this way.

2004-2006 GTO. 5.7 and 6.0l V8 in a relatively small platform

Pontiac GTO (Fourth Generation)

Have to go with the Buick Grand National, it was a muscle car in the height of the malaise era. Nothing can top that.

Good to know. This might be a dumb question, but is it possible to rinse/wash out the bottom of your truck after driving through salt-filled roads. Obviously you wouldn't want to do it every day, but perhaps weekly or bi-weekly. I always wash underneath my Montero after offroading, especially after dunes/sand etc.

THIS. Although not new per se, a good set of tires goes a long way.

proper rubber

Holden Monaro too.

My GTO has been pretty solid. I wouldn't have bought it if was assembled in the US. Too many horror stories about UAW "quality."

Well to be fair, there are entire american-made GM platforms that dodged the recalls. My H-body Buick, built in Flint, Michigan, has avoided recalls [to this point] along with the rest of its badge engineered siblings.

In other news: GM recalls Pontiac G8 and GTO for defective Pontiac badges that can come off at high speed and injure pedestrians.