Just about every domestic make of car has its icons. Cadillac’s pink El Dorados, Chrysler’s art deco Airflow, and Lincoln’s first Continental all come to mind. As for Pontiac – well, despite its decades of stripper Catalinas, Impala-based Parisiennes, and Bonnevilles with hood-ornaments that grotesquely affixed Chief Pontiac’s head to what looked like the airframe of a Stratofortress; its iconic image is the legacy of a car that – like some mythic beast – was sired by a Tempest. The Tempest involved was just the 1964 Pontiac’s compact offering – but the GTO it produced went on to reign as the archetype of that era’s fabled muscle machines.

That era pretty much ended with the 1970s’ enactment of federal clean-air legislation. There were sporadic attempts to revive the muscle car genre – but even the once hot-selling General Motors’ Firebird and Camaro coupes were written out of – well, if not history, then current events – by 2002.

That was soon after Bob Lutz came on board as G.M.’s vice chairman of product development. Mr. Lutz, who made his bones while at Chrysler by combining elements of innovation and nostalgia in the alchemy of building great cars, thought he’d fill the reardrive void in Pontiac’s lineup by falling back on the postmodern device he helped pioneer. That is, to bring out something new, he brought back something old – in this case, the GTO nameplate.

G.M. borrowed the basic design of the Monaro, a two-door sport coupe built by its Australian subsidiary, Holden. As with anything you’d expect see derived from something called a Holden, the GTO is conservatively – even innocuously – styled. Devoid of basket-handle spoilers, lower-body cladding, or any action-hero bugles and scoops, the sleek sport coupe’s looks attain an under-the-radar stealth quality. That’s good, for among the 20% American parts that G.M. used to effect the Monaro’s transformation was a 350-horsepower version of the Corvette’s 5.7-liter V8.

While remaining within the boundaries of civilized idling, the motor rumbles with a hunkered-down authority in anticipation of fulfilling G.M. claims of 5.3-second, zero-to-60 acceleration. Of course, that’s when it paired with the GTO’s optional six-speed manual transmission. The standard four-speed automatic is slower, but only by a heartbeat. If you want a G.M. product that’ll get out of the gate any faster, just use this GTO to drive to your Corvette.

However, as is most likely the case with you, we have no Corvette. That’s why we drove the $32,000 test car to a place called Catalina instead. Inside, the new GTO is surprisingly Spartan, despite its 10-speaker audio system (with in-dash CD changer), and leathercovered 2+2 bucket seats. Well contoured and comfortable, these seats sat before instruments that were easy to see and use, with the exception of the radio’s maddening arrangement of rocker switches. Furthermore, both front and rear passenger room were good, as was driver visibility. Our only complaint was with the six-speed’s clutch, which was offset enough to interfere with our resting left foot. While the test car’s interior use of black and “Bermuda Blue” leathers was pretty, the cabin’s overall interior refinement fell below the level of competing BMW 330Ci and Infiniti G35 coupes.

However, on the point A to Catalina circuit, the GTO moved with an unflagging sense of power in reserve. Producing 350 horsepower at 5,200 rpm, and 365 pound-feet of torque at 4,000 rpm, nearly any slot in its six-speed manual will do to get you through passing maneuvers with grace. Punch it, and the GTO will give you the torque and rapid up shifts to zoom the horizon in like a Hasselblad.

Raw power and torque are nicely circumscribed by the GTO’s steering, which like the suspension, is both confident and agile, although the former feels isolated and the latter relies on an old MacPherson strut/trailing arms setup. The test drive incorporated enough switchbacks to make use of the car’s ability at cut and thrust, its 17-inch tires grabbing curves as the car exhibited minimal body roll.When we arrived, four-channel anti-lock brakes provided yet another in a series of controlled and powerful stops.

With combined road driving, we managed about 30 miles per hour, 15 miles per gallon, and two thumbs-up per week from onlookers. Somehow, we felt that – despite some flaws – a revived icon that so deftly combines European road manners with rear-driven American V8 power deserves better.