1969 Pontiac Gto Judge on 2040-cars

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The U-2 spy plane needs high-performance cars to help land

Typically, aircraft deploy their landing gear from three main points. Most military aircraft, for example, deploy two gears at the back and one forward, like a tricycle. Some civilian aircraft flip the layout, with two in front and one in back - tail-draggers. The U-2 Dragon Lady is wildly different than any of these. With a 103-foot wingspan but a body that's just 63-feet long, the layout of the U-2 makes a traditional landing setup infeasible. Instead, the U-2 utilizes a pair of wheels, one up front and one in back. With such a bizarre layout, landings are so tough that since the U-2's earliest flights at Area 51, the US Air Force has used high-performance chase cars to guide the pilot down safely. The landing process isn't over there, though. As this video from Sploid shows, balancing out the aircraft to fit the detachable "pogos" – think training wheels for spy planes – is a comical procedure requiring a number of airman using their full body weight to even out the U-2. This video also recaps some of the great vehicles that have served as chase vehicles for this legendary spy plane. They include Chevrolet El Caminos, and the Fox-body Ford Mustangs so favored by the California Highway Patrol. For the last several years, the USAF has utilized products from General Motors, using fourth-generation Chevy Camaros, before switching over to the Pontiac GTO and most recently, the awesome Pontiac G8. It's fair to say that if you're a gearhead in the Air Force, this is the job you want. Check out the video, embedded up top. News Source: Sploid via YouTubeImage Credit: Sploid Chevrolet Ford GM Pontiac Military Performance Videos

Junkyard Gem: 2006 Pontiac Solstice

The debut of the Pontiac Solstice, back in 2005 for the 2006 model year, stirred up much excitement in the automotive world. Sales were brisk at first, and then they weren't so great… and then Pontiac itself went under The General's cost-cutting axe. One thing I have learned during my junkyard travels is that even sought-after sports cars eventually reach a point at which they start showing up in the big self-service junkyards. For example, the BMW Z3 began appearing in such yards about five years ago, along with the Audi TT. While the Honda S2000 still appears to be exempt from this process, today's Junkyard Gem shows that the time has now come for the Pontiac Solstice/Saturn Sky. The first Z3s and TTs I saw in the U-Wrench-type yards were crash victims, not worth fixing, and that's the case with this Solstice. In a few more years, I'll start seeing the occasional Solstice/Sky discarded due to general worn-outness. Someone grabbed all the undented front body parts and the transmission (these items, presumably, being valuable), but no junkyard shoppers have felt like pulling the non-turbo 2.0-liter Ecotec. The interior seems dirty, probably from exposure to the elements while sitting outdoors in this Colorado Springs wrecking yard, but not in bad shape otherwise. Perhaps the car's owner celebrated a return from Iraq with the purchase of a sporty new Pontiac, 13 years ago. These cars have an enthusiastic following, so I wasn't expecting to see a junked one so soon after production ceased. I felt the same way about the Chrysler Crossfire, however, and I found two of those last year. What's next, a 2002-2005 Thunderbird? This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Such optimism!

Trans Am Depot teases 2014 GTO

Here comes the Judge. Court is in session. The verdict is in. How many more tired clichés can we come up with? It hardly seems to matter, because it's happening: Trans Am Depot has announced via the teaser video below that it is launching a 2014 GTO, complete with Carousel Red (bright orange, really) paint and full Judge badging.
The car is based on Trans Am Depot's 6T9 Goat, which, in case you don't get the reverential references, is meant to mimic the look of the 1969 Pontiac GTO. As with the company's other cars -including the 2013 Hurst Edition Trans Am we recently drove - the GTO will be based on the current Chevy Camaro, which means two doors, V8 engines and rear-wheel drive, just like the muscle cars of days past.
As for actual details of what's under the 2014 GTO's hood, we're completely left hanging. We'd expect some sort of power adder (turbo, supercharger or possibly some other form of a highly massaged version of the Camaro's V8), and we certainly know that GM has any number of hi-po crate engines to choose from.