The Rider
Caitlin Longhofer is the bomb. As a 13N Nuclear ICBM Weapons System Launch Officer, stationed at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Montana at she holds a lot of responsibility in her hands.
So, she is actually “The Missile” but that does not sound too good. Luckily she has her ’05 GTO to keep her grounded. She has always been into the car scene thanks to a gearhead family that included a dad with a ’69 TO and a mom that owned a ’69 Camaro SS.
So as far as when she got into the scene, she was born into it. She bought the Pontiac in December of 2016 and that is when her project started. She has tried to be as active as possible in as many online groups and forums, which has led to Caitlin gaining new friends from all across the country. Caitlin loves her GTO and has built it over the last two years and has done most of the work herself. After being stationed in the service, the project had to be shelved but she is excited to start work again.
She does enjoy racing and has taken it to the track a few times, but she mostly just drives it with a heavy foot on the streets. Now, we are NOT saying she does some mild street racing. But her GTO is on the street, it is fast, and she likes to drive it fast.
Being a female in the custom car scene has been an interesting experience for Caitlin. Being immersed is cars since childhood, she is able to talk with knowledge and experience, she can talk with the old shop dogs, and give other drivers a run for their money out on the track! She, like other female owners/builders/racers/enthusiasts wants to level the field and just have it be about the sport of racing, the appreciation for build vehicles, and having the community come together to support their own. Being active on forum pages, and Instagram has given her widespread exposure as well as being able to connect with other female builders, many of which have been featured here at Maverick Man Carbon.
The Ride
While the actual build has been a little start/stop due to her service to our country (thanks for that BTW) Caitlin has done a fair amount of work to get her ’05 GTO running the way it does. Starting in the engine bay, a Vararam cold air intake, Mishimoto performance radiator, with Long tube high-flow headers that feet a Borla S-type exhaust with 5-inch tips.
She noted that the previous owner put in some work in the form of dry shot spray system. A DSS 1K aluminum driveshaft is connected to a rear end and gearset that was the brainchild of the previous owner as well, and that is on the list of things to upgrade.
Keeping things planted is mostly the work of the stock suspension, but coilovers are the plan (hopefully from Maverick Man Carbon), and the power is transferred to the pavement using another familiar name "Pontiac G8" stock wheels (18x8 ET48) that had been powdercoated Midnight Black, shod in Nitto Motivo All-Season 225/40R18s.
To complete the look there are SAP grille inserts, black side marker lights, front bumper splitter, black carbon fiber Pontiac emblems, LED fogs, headlights, and turn signals.
To keep the harsh light of the sun out of the cabin, there is a 35-percent tint on the windshield and 20-percent all around.
Inside, those tinted windows do a good job protecting the custom floral trim and headliner, the custom black aluminum GTO floormats with red devil cutouts, and red LED lights all the way through. A Blaupunkt Bluetooth enabled nav and touchscreen headunit.
Caitlin would like to give special shoutout to her parents for bringing her up a car girl, to her “hoodrat friends” for helping her with most of the minor work, and to KC MAXX in Kansas City where the dyno tune was performed.
Follow -> @caitel_93
Author -> Anthony Soos
Photography -> @miguel.angel.photography
