Does anyone know for sure when the next shipment is leaving?

I thought I heard something about 11/05...but I am not sure.

They changed it to today Nov 4. Or yesterday as OZ is 17 hours ahead of the West coast. It had 760 cars. Here is the link where you can Check (http://www.flindersports.com.au/about_loc_ade.htm). The ship was named Pioneer Runner.

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****! My TPW was last week but my status is still 3100 so I won't be making ship #2 then. Hopefully, ship #3 will be the charm.

Is there any way to tell what cars are on the Pioneer Runner?

Originally posted by topdownloGTO@Nov 4 2003, 08:32 PM
Is there any way to tell what cars are on the Pioneer Runner?
They're all 2004 Pontiac GTOs :P :P :P

Okay, sorry about that. I don't know how we are going to know which boat our cars are on until GM starts updating our orders to 3800 (i.e. vehicle produced).

Hey rememeber that first ship??!!?? It should be docked by this weekend if it is to unload the cars and make it up to Tacoma by the 12th. Things should start hopping. Where were those instructions on finding the railcars again?
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The east cost of Oz is 14 hours ahead of the Eastern time zone of the US. I have a buddy that lives in Melbourne and just talk to him and it's 10:15 Thursday morning.

East coast of Australia is GMT +10 hours, except its daylight saving at the moment so add another hour. Adelaide is not on the East coast though! So subtract 30 minutes and I have no idea if they have started daylight saving time yet:)

Just to make you jealous, I get to drive your new Goat every day in all colours

and combinations. Shipping out every couple of weeks. I take them to get wrapped

in plastic ,then back out to be trucked to the ships. All the LHD cars go out

together so not sure of the latest schedule. Saw a Monaro sitting there with

a tail light in the rear bumper and a Pontiac steering wheel on it. Turned out to

be a pilot for the pommy Vauxhall Monaro ( RHD ). New colours around too.

Put Monaro CV8R wheels on your goat if you get one , they look like retro

Pontiac wheels, look great on Monaros.

rallysport,

I am very interested in running 18" wheels. Any idea how much a set of the Monaro 18's run. Any idea how much shipping to the US would be? I'm sure it's cost prohibitive, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

Also, what's the blue interior look like?

Just order a set and when they ask for the preferred shipping method, tell them to bolt them on the GTO waiting to go on the next boat.

Not sure on the wheels, but you can see them on the Holden website.

The blue interior looks great, it would be that or black for me. The dash

and even the stitching in the leather gear shift boot is matched to it. The

blue is not overdone and looks great with the black door panels and

roof lining. You have many different features to oun Monaro. It"s like

driving a totally different car. Best thing is the exhaust, it sounds sweet,

can,t help but give them a bit of a rev just to hear it. Much better than

our Monaros.

Thanks for the insider reports Rallysport! :D :D :D :D :D

No worries. We make good solid cars but your GTO is probably one of the best

to come out of the factory. I have never seen so many people working on each

car as though they were individually hand built. They were water tested 5 times

each and even at the wharfs they go through a final inspection, amazing to see.

We get a few come back but with miniscule faults. You can be sure that when

they reach you they will be perfect. No one could not like this car. On another

website it sounded like they wanted carbureters, leaf springs and hub caps back.

This is a great car for the 21st century. Gotta go to work now and drive some

more GTO's I might have driven yours. I love my job.

Hey Rallysport, you're right, I am jealous. Any chance you can post some pictures of some cars from your plant. I'd love to see some more pix of the barbados blue.

I like to see the pics of the blue interior. Every pic I have seen was taken with the flash on and it seem to lighten up the color.

Great news to hear. Imagine driving dozens of GTO's all day for work. :)

I am moving to OZ!!!

I want his job!

I (repeat while crying) just want my Barbados blue GTO....................................

Glad to hear the exhaust sounds sweet...the motor trend review never gave much of a hint.

shrink wrap my car please!! :dribble:

Originally posted by MILLPOND@Nov 5 2003, 09:46 PM
I like to see the pics of the blue interior. Every pic I have seen was taken with the flash on and it seem to lighten up the color.
Try heading to you local Pontiac dealer, they should have the 2004 display folders in the showroom. We have ours out, got them last week. The GTO is right on the front, a couple of pages long. The last page shows paint samples and has leather samples to look at and feel.

Originally posted by rallysport@Nov 6 2003, 01:42 AM

Put Monaro CV8R wheels on your goat if you get one , they look like retro


I've been trying my hardest to get them!!!!!

Help me out!!!

I might just call simmons to get the spec's and have some mustang mach 1 replica's

Originally posted by Howie@Nov 6 2003, 10:21 PM
Try heading to you local Pontiac dealer, they should have the 2004 display folders in the showroom. We have ours out, got them last week. The GTO is right on the front, a couple of pages long. The last page shows paint samples and has leather samples to look at and feel.
Thanks for the reminder. I forgot my salesman told me that last week. I meant to head over and take a look and then in all the excitement with the MSRP and the TV ad and stuff I forgot.

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Well done whoever ordered the yellow one, black interior I hope. They are a
stunning looking car. I am biased because my Camaro is yellow I suppose.
When you see rows and rows of GTO,s lined up , the yellow ones really stand
out. They all look great though. Plenty more came through last night but no
ship in yet, should be about another 500 down there ready to go though.
I noticed that you don't get a footrest on the LHS footwell - curious as the
manual SS LHD that we send to the middle east gets one, its moulded into the
kick panel. Lots of Monaros in a new colour - Pulse Red coming through, it's
a blood red colour - looks great - hope you get it. I'll let you know if I see a goat
in it. I call the GTO's in our yard a herd of goats but no-one here knows what
I'm talking about. Saw a dusty Lumina coupe sitting on its own, it was a Lumina
S coupe ( 6 Cylinder ) no wonder no-one wants it. We stopped making 6 cyl.
Monaros ( CV6) . A truck rolled over with a CV8R on it, made me cry - not
sure where it went but it was a write off even before it hit the road. Not much
else happening but I won't get bored while I have GTO's to drive.
P.S. Sound system is neat too, not sure if you can order the in dash GPS on
yours , it's good fun to watch yourself drive around the factory on the screen.

can you retrofit the GPS system into the GTO's?

i'll send ya a few bucks ;)

Rallysport,

Greatly appreciate your thoughts of first hand experiences.
Please keep them coming.
:beer:

The cars that get GPS come off the line with the wiring built in, we then send them
to a different part of the factory called " Holden By Design " where customer
ordered options are fitted , wheels, spoilers, roo bars etc. this is where the
disc reader , screen and controls are fitted for the GPS so the problem retro
fitting a factory one is the wiring harness. It may come in GTO 2.

On the subject of spoilers, our Monaro does not come with one but goes to HBD
to get one if you order it, 2 sizes available. Our factort spoiler cars, The SS and
S pack Commodore sedans come off the line with them fitted and the rear
window brake light deleted. Your GTO comes off the line with the boot lid holes
for the spoiler but the rear window brake light still there. I have not seen one
with the spoiler fitted yet it could be made there to keep the unions happy or
something, even the air bag warning tag that you will see attatched to the centre
vent for the customer only to remove says printed in USA. Curious.

And rallysport immediately becomes the most anticipated poster of the site! Thanks for the info!!! :woot: :woot: :woot:

Originally posted by rallysport@Nov 6 2003, 05:50 PM
Your GTO comes off the line with the boot lid holes
for the spoiler but the rear window brake light still there.
The GTO Autocross at SEMA had a brake light in the back window and one on the custom spoiler.

A few more tit bits for you. The first shipment arrives on about the 14th in a place
called "Benecia" where ever that is. They take 23 days to get there.
All of the first batch are sold, and 30% of the next are gone as well.
A dealer in Texas wanted to buy the whole lot according to my Holden source
in charge of getting them to you. They air freighted 4 over at $27,000 each for
some testing or media thing.
You don,t get the power button on the console that all other auto's get to change
the shift points of the trans, maybe cause of the diff ratio. Yours should launch
better than ours, it feels like it does from my short drives in them.
Your speedo can be set to miles or kilometres at the touch of the computers
mode button. I have to check it when I drive them to stay on our speed limit,
any idea why you get both, no other of our cars get the choice.
A new Monaro colour came through last night on a pilot car. It was called
" ignition " and was a metallic burnt orange colour - give it a miss. Saw one
a while ago called " hornet " it was a solid orange and looked good. Like to
know what happened to it - probably crushed like all pilots. You should see
all the GTO's that are now about 30cm high - sacrificed for the cause I suppose.

hey thanx what do you mean sold ?? are they for ordered cars for folks that have money down on them ?? i have 500 down on one which is ordered

Not quite sure what he meant, probably like you - ordered and waiting. I hope not
just for greedy dealers trying to cash in.
It says in todays paper here that the car was launched yesterday by Mark Hogan,
he is quoted as saying Pontiac holds deposits for 1100 cars then says 2800
dealers have orders??? so make of it what you will. They say media and
motoring critics have lavished praise on the car while driving them in the
Californian mountains - where ever they are.
You may remember one of my earlier posts about the fuel tank position
restricting what we send to you and the relocation of the Monaro tank in the GTO.
Well our ute has the tank allready in front of the rear axle so looks like you
will get it as the new Elcamino, imagine GenIII 6 speed ,lsd with no weight in
the back - good fun. Order an SS Elcamino in the same colour as your GTO so
you have a work and play matching pair.
Try www.theadvertiser.com.au to see if you can read the article.

RS, great article. Now if we could figure out the anomalies. 1100 deposits, 2800 dealers have ordered, ship lands on 14th yet is due in Tacoma on the 11th or 12th. Flew 4 cars over early for mags but the mag articles were pre-productions.

Assuming it is all true then the dealers were smart and got their orders in knowing they would sell whatever they brought in. Hopefully the 1100 will all get their cars. I say that because I do not have an order number yet and there are 1200 cars in the first two shipments. The ship may hit Tacoma first and then Benicia. The mags will be coming out with more articles in the next couple of months with the real cars?

Ya'll have other ideas?

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Thanks for the article link Rallysport. That's the first indication of how many have been ordered that I've seen.

pontiac has deposits on 1100 cars ?? and 2800 dealers were are all these people they need to get on these web sites i think my dealer has 1 or 2 ??

Thank you for the inside scoop, rallysport. It is nice to hear what is going on at the factory, and your information is invaluable.

A blood red or orange GTO for '05 maybe? Hmm...

My dealer told me that his first GTO will be in Monday, the 10th. Is that possible? I live in Mass. He told me if i like that car, i will be able to buy it. It was supposed to be his own personal car.

Originally posted by red devil@Nov 8 2003, 07:34 PM
My dealer told me that his first GTO will be in Monday, the 10th. Is that possible? I live in Mass. He told me if i like that car, i will be able to buy it. It was supposed to be his own personal car.
highly unlikely

Originally posted by Tails@Nov 8 2003, 05:14 AM
RS, great article. Now if we could figure out the anomalies. 1100 deposits, 2800 dealers have ordered, ship lands on 14th yet is due in Tacoma on the 11th or 12th. Flew 4 cars over early for mags but the mag articles were pre-productions.

Assuming it is all true then the dealers were smart and got their orders in knowing they would sell whatever they brought in. Hopefully the 1100 will all get their cars. I say that because I do not have an order number yet and there are 1200 cars in the first two shipments. The ship may hit Tacoma first and then Benicia. The mags will be coming out with more articles in the next couple of months with the real cars?

Ya'll have other ideas?

:laughbounce: :laughbounce: :laughbounce: :laughbounce:
This still doesn't all add up. Why are some of the TPW's for people with orders on the other site so far out if only 1100 cars are ordered and they plan on filling orders before putting cars on the lot for general sales?

You have chosen well. The red leather interior is at its best on the phantom black
car , it is one of the classiest combinations there is. The interior is called red hot
and is too much on anything but the Phantom black. You are going to love your
car, I hope I have driven it. The leather is a soft feel and you get a brushed
leather on the glove box and bottom of the door panels, it feels sensual if you know
what I mean. When I say you will love your car I mean it.

You can see why Holden are leaping ahead in leaps and bounds, if the attitude of employees like rallysport is indicative of that throughout the company, from production line to boardroom.

yes the wording of the 1100 cars is strange it makes it sound like they are bought up?? but by who if pontiac dealers have dibs on them they will be marked up cars for sure/ or there a bunch of people in front of us even though i went down to the dealer the day they would take my order/money in june? hopefully when they hit the shore and get put in the system then the #s will change and we will know who gets there car?? maybe this week

I was asking a local dealer about putting a deposit down and he said sure he had a black/black 6 speed coming in. When I asked about price in relationship to MSRP they didn't want to talk to me. I went down to the next dealer and had no problem with MSRP.
I love the USA but I want a GTO from OZ because I think it will be nicer than the ones they make later in the US. The features may be better later but I wouldn't bet on the quality. I don't want another car with the fit and finish that my TransAm (I loved that car anyway!) had.
Pat

Let's hope the cars to be transported East are not delayed by this!

Mike

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read...ad.php?1,643394 (http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,643394)

First word out of Benicia. Not much information but a start....

http://benicianews.com/articles/index.cfm?...ID=132887&cp=53 (http://benicianews.com/articles/index.cfm?artOID=132887&cp=53)

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Nice work Tails! Anybody have an in at UP? I heard that the staging area will be in KC. Hopefully our goats are crossing the Rockies RIGHT NOW!!!!

ok has the boat hit the shore yet ??

This is very frustrating. The Chijin is to dock in Tacoma today. I can find no verification that it has landed in Benicia which is where the GTO's will be offloaded. I have tried several emails addresses with the shipper NYK and the port authorities at Benicia and have either not received a response or the email addresses on the websites were bad. At this point I assume that the Chijin is leaving Tacoma tomorrow and headed for Benicia. I can only guess that it would be there Friday and there might be something in the local papers down there over the weekend. This sure seems like a lot of top secret stuff.

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yes it is // iam calling 007 // all we can do is wait and hope gm is not playing the top secret game???

The second shipment was sent via the Pioneer Runner and left Nov 5. I found this morning that it is scheduled into Tacoma Nov 28. Whatever that means. Based on CHIJIN it looks like the GTO's will be offloaded the first week in December.

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Thanks Tails! That is great news!

Man I really hope my GTO is on that second ship. With a TPW of 10/30 I would think it is. If not: :zap:

Just imagine if they find a medium fault, not a show stopper but one that has to be rectified at the Holden factory, and all the cars have to be turned back or reloaded on the ship and shipped back, and then shipped back to the US again. Man that ould be slightly annoying.

MWUHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAH!!! :P

Please dont say! That would suck! :flush: