Goat Happy
I drove up to the community “mail center” tonight to drop a Netflix DVD in the mail. There were some teens riding scooters around the parking lot, and as I was getting out of the GTO (I was the only car in the lot) several of them called out “Nice car!”
I thanked them and figured that would be it, but they kept going on about the goat. “Is that the 6.0 liter GTO?” “The one with 400 horsepower?” “Those are sweet!” “If I had the money I’d totally get one of those!” It was pretty cool. I’ve never had anybody talk to me about my car like this; the only adults who have ever struck up conversations about it usually tell me how much they think the car “doesn’t live up to the name” or some crap like that.
These kids were really cool, though. Not only did they know the product, but they were in awe of it. They were even aware of the Vauxhall Monaro variant in Europe, but didn’t know that the car is originally an Australian design. “Please tell me you burn some rubber once in a while?” one of the guys said. “I have a friend with a new STi, and I swear the dude just drives 45 all day. It’s such a waste.”
I had several moments like this in my Trans Am WS6, but this was a first for the goat. As one of the moderators at the GTO forum said when I told this story, “I can almost read the shit-eating grin on your face.”
Speaking of the goat-induced SEG, I’m loving this cool weather we’re having here — and so is the GTO. The LS2 engine just loves sucking on cold, crisp air. Whenever I get on it, I’m constantly chirping second and third gears — with the traction control on — which was practically impossible in the sweltering heat of the summer. Never realized what a difference all that heat soak made. I’m loving this!
Categorized as Cars, Cars/GTO
Glad you found someone who really appreciates the Goat! And amazing that they were Florida teenagers! Looks like you both had a good time
Yeah, that was a fun little encounter! I was indeed very surprised, as most kids these days are into the import tuner scene (tricked-out Hondas and the like). In fact, one of the kids there mentioned he really wanted a Hyundai Tiburon for his first car, which I can’t fault him for, as I do think those are pretty nice little cars. A lot of people should not be starting out with a 400 horsepower V8 anyway, but their simply having an appreciation for domestic technology was refreshing.