This 2006 Pontiac GTO commercial was made by a college student for a class, but with better recording equipment – this could have been a GM commercial.
This week’s Throwback Thursday video features a commercial for the 2006 Pontiac GTO. However, this 30-second spot was not made by General Motors. This GTO commercial was created by a student named Adam Jochee back in 2009 as part of a college class dealing with video editing. Shy of the video and audio quality being quite different from what we would expect from a commercial produced by an automaker, this could be an actual Pontiac GTO commercial.
Like so many great muscle car ads, this amateur 2006 Pontiac GTO ad begins with a bit of drama, as a heartbeat accompanies a slowly-opening garage door. As the door opens, a bright red GTO rolls out of the garage and onto the street – followed by the rev of the powerful V8 engine from inside the car and under the hood.
From there, the narrator explains that the 2006 Pontiac GTO packs 400 horsepower and 400lb-ft of torque while we watch this particular Aussie-built American muscle car do a quick burnout. During that burnout, we can see the rear suspension squat, which was one of the key issues when trying to launch hard with bigger tires on the modern GTO.
Finally, the video ends up with a short of the 2006 Pontiac GTO driving off into the distance – then racing back towards the camera with the film being sped up for effect. That probably wasn’t necessary, but keep in mind, this was a project for a video effects class, so the student likely added that as a requirement of the class.
Just think, while a commercial like this would have cost an automaker thousands of dollars, this college student likely made it with a video camera, a computer program and someone’s LS2 GTO. Enjoy.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
