2004 Pontiac Grand Prix Gtp Sedan 4-door 3.8l 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

World's only 1964 Pontiac XP-833 Banshee coupe for sale by Kia dealer

It seems like there has been a spate of especially odd car sales in the first part of this especially odd year, from the numerous barn finds and homebrew specials to the time capsule cars — like the BMW wrapped in a protective bubble for 23 years. Napoli Kia in Milford, Connecticut, brings us another, via Motor1. Len Napoli is the dealership principal and die-hard Pontiac maven; his father opened Napoli Pontiac in 1958, and Len held onto the franchise until the early 2000s, just before GM shuttered the brand that built excitement. Napoli got hold of the 1964 Pontiac Banshee XP-833 coupe concept, and put the car up for sale through his Kia dealership for $750,000. The exceptional price comes from the fact that Pontiac built two Banshee concepts in 1964, one this silver coupe with a red interior, the other a white roadster, making each concept a one-of-one collector car.      Motor Trend wrote a detailed piece on this one in 2013, the editorial tour hosted by Bill Collins, the Banshee's lead engineer. The short story is that GM exec John Z. DeLorean — yes, him —  gave approval to a small crew at Pontiac to create a two-seater sports car to compete with the Mustang, because GM had nothing to fend off the four-seat coupe that would sell one million units in just 18 months on the market. Collins and his team took inspiration from the 1963 Corvair Monza GT concept, working up a fiberglass body over a steel frame, with a 230-cubic-inch overhead-cam straight-six producing 165 horsepower and 216 pound-feet of torque, a four-speed manual transmission, and 9.5-inch drum brakes at all corners. The idea was that the XP-833 would be "an affordable and fun two-seat sports car," the concept demonstrating the base-model price leader offering a lengthy list of options for those who wanted more. The white roadster, in fact, fitted a 326 cubic-inch V8 under the hood. Rumor says that Chevrolet execs didn't like having another two-seater sports car in the GM fold, especially one with a fiberglass body that held weight down to 2,200 pounds. GM execs took one look at the two concepts in 1965 and shut the project down. The two XP-833s lived in a garage for years, Collins and his colleague Bill Killen getting permission to buy the cars from GM in 1973 before Collins left to help engineer the DeLorean DMC-12. It wasn't until just before Collins departed that the XP-333 got the name Banshee.

Win a sports car 2022 | The best giveaways this week

Autoblog may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page. Pricing and availability is subject to change. No donation or payment necessary to enter or win this sweepstakes. See official rules on Omaze. The feeling of getting a new car is wonderful. Winning that new car, or even better, your dream car, feels even better, or so we would imagine. And Omaze is here with a chance to experience that feeling. You’re probably asking yourself, what does it take to win? First of all, according to Omaze, "no donation or payment is necessary to enter or win this sweepstakes." $10 will get you 100 entries in this sweepstakes, while $50 will get you 1,000 entries and $100 will get you 2,000 entries. The best part? Each paid entry raises money for a worthy cause. See more about these causes at Omaze. Here are our favorite vehicle giveaways weÂ’ve found online this week. 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E GT Performance Edition - Enter at Omaze Regardless of what you think about Ford using the name Mustang for an electric crossover, one thing is for certain, the Mustang Mach-E GT is an impressive piece of machinery. Here are some numbers for you: 480 horsepower, 634 lb-ft of torque, 0-60 in 3.5 seconds and 260 miles of range. Price? Well, thatÂ’s really up to you, because if you enter to win this Mach-E GT. it can be as low as $0. Here are the specs of the Mach-E in question, according to Omaze: Maximum Seating: 5 Engine: fully electric motors Drivetrain: eAWD Exterior Color: Rapid Red Metallic   Interior Color: Black Maximum Horsepower: 480 hp  Maximum Torque: 634 lb-ft Acceleration: 0-60 in 3.5 seconds Range: 235 miles Approximate Retail Value: $75,500 Cash Alt: $56,625 Special Features: GT Performance Edition; panoramic fixed-glass roof; Ford Co-Pilot360™ Active 2.0 and 360-degree camera; Brembo brakes; RTR Design Package including 20” RTR Aero 5 wheels, Nitto NT555 G2 tires and RTR Speed Block graphics Win a Restored 1969 Pontiac GTO - Enter at Omaze Joel Stocksdale, News Editor: There are an awful lot of ways to build a restomod. And a lot of those ways can be boring or tasteless. This one is neither. This is a seriously classy Pontiac GTO. Under the hood is a 461 cu. in. V8 from Butler Performance that's based on an actual Pontiac V8, not just another Chevy engine. The whole thing is subtle with a low-key metallic green and clean gray wheels. There isn't any overly flashy chrome or decals.