Lingenfelter Performance Engineering invites us behind the curtain once again to revel in the magnificence of another rare performance car within the Lingenfelter Collection: the 2006 Pontiac GTO RA6.
Here, “RA6” stands for “Ram Air 6th generation,” and the car – originally a 2004 concept from Kip Wasenko and the GM Performance Division – was meant to recall the classic Pontiac GTO Judge from 1969 to 1971 in a more modern package. Sadly, the bean-counters deemed the Pontiac GTO RA6 too cool for production.
Fortunately, after the concept came and went, Anthem Motors took the same basic design and actually built it. That is what we see in this video, and you can rest assured that the 2006 Pontiac GTO RA6’s performance is every bit as good as its looks. Under the bonnet lurks a Stage 3 twin-turbo Katech 402 engine, good for a jaw-dropping 750 horsepower. It’s kept aloft by a Pedders RA6 Extreme suspension setup, and features a Corvette C6 Z06 brake kit and 20-inch wheels from CCW, among other go-fast bits.
Upon visiting Anthem Motors in 2007, Kip Wasenko was reportedly so impressed with what he saw that he signed his name to the glovebox and engine compartment.
For the full rundown on the 2006 Pontiac GTO RA6 Custom Coupe, be sure to watch the video above.
Comments
I have this exactly model on 1/18 diecast ha ha, my little car here:
http://i63.tinypic.com/9vh8gm.jpg
It was not too expensive to build as they could have done a variation of it had GM not been bankrupt.
The fact is the GTO was not changed much from Holden because they flat just did not have money to do anymore.
Fred Simmons told me in 2004 that the hood scoop fake and the Spit exhaust had to wait because they just did not have the money to do it in 04.
There were plans for a Zeta based GTO on the new Camaro but it never really got too far before Pontiac died. I have seen drawings of it and it was a little different car than the Camaro.
Lutz tried to save Pontiac but he was just about 5-10 years too late. By the time he got there they needed to make more changes than they could afford to make. Building a car similar to this could have been considered with a healthy GM but they were anything but.
It is amazing we got the Kappa cars. The Cobalt SS, HHR SS, Trailblazer SS and Saturn Redlines along with any of the other cars GM Performance Division built.
I think that while no one has said it but Pontiac was going to die and they knew it before GM filed for bankruptcy.
I was told directly from the past F body manager how it was amazing how low cost the Holden conversion was considering all they had to do to bring it here. It had to be low cost as they had no budget for it.
The changes in plastic not suited for cold, crash test for the changes in the fuel system etc ate up most of the budget.
It is good this car was saved.
Today what is even better is GM is growing stronger and cars like this can live like the Z/28 and other models. We will see more as time goes on and GM gets to where they should be.
Note most of the GM Performance Division people who did all these neat cars are mostly still there. In place of a special division to fix production cars that are not totally right they are now integrated into the platforms from the start and make the cars handle right from the start be it base model or performance model.
Mark Steilow did most of the GM Performance tuning and now he is working on the cars from the start and why platforms like the Alpha are as good as they are.
For us Pontiac enthusiasts , we are left to dream at what could have been . 🙁
Not a dream of what could have been but a remnant of what should have been.
Pontiac was killed long before the division was removed. Old GM just seldom had people in place that knew how to deal with them and other division that held more power and did not want to deal with them.