I'm not surprised at all.
The GTOs are very nice cars, probably the best built RWD besides C5/C6.
Here are my thoughts on why the GTO never really took off:
- When they first came out, dealers were rapping people on the price, that alone turned people away
- GM priced it about 3-5K higher than what it should have been
- Lack of options, people like to have choices, you had what 2, color & tranny...
- They are heavy for a small performance car
- With being heavy, 1/4 mile times aren't as good as they could be.
- Most non car people thought of them as a Grand Prix/Grand Am replacement, due to the kinda bland styling.
If GM would listen to us performance people, they would know what it takes to sell a car like that, instead they let the bean counters dictate what people like us want...