USAF: Goodbye Chevrolet Camaro, Hello Pontiac GTO
The demise of the Camaro left the Air Force's U-2 Dragonlady pilots with a problem. The Camaros were used as chase vehicles for the take-offs and landings of the surveillance jet. One Camaro "sees" for the pilot (who literally can't see the runway), and another carries the removable wing landing gear that detach upon take-off. After years of hard abuse, the Camaros finally started to give up, and the USAF needed a very fast, stable platform to chase the jet down the runway. Corvettes were too expensive, and couldn't carry a wing strut. That left the Mustang GT, GTO, Charger R/T or something "ferrin" (other than the GTO). After several trials, they selected the GTO 6.0-liter as the quickest, most reliable chase car. If you're looking for a used GTO and can't find one, blame the Boys in Blue. The GTO of your dreams is probably chasing a U2 down a runway somewhere. No shit.
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I wonder if they might have considered a Holden Commodore Wagon? Same running gear - huge body. Or a Ute for that matter.
seems to me the only car they really needed is Saab (made from jets...or something)
Enthusiasts won't need to worry. I doubt they bought any with manual trannies.
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