I actually like pontiacs but I am not a big fan of this body style. Are they gonna come out with a new firebird or will it just be the chevy camaro with the pontiac emblem on it?

i would like to see a 350z vs it i don’t now who will win but i think 350z.

Return of the muscle car era? I THINK NOT! But then again, this new Ute/G8 is looking to be on the top of my list for favorite rides this year! Unfortunately, I will not be able to purchase it, or any other model like the new Camaro, for quite some time…so this is a major bummage for me.

Still, I can’t wait to see them on the roads!!!

I’m really tired of doing GM’s marketing for them. Based on what they did… correct that… DIDN’T do… when they brought the Holden GTO here, I predict they’ll just dump the ute on the Pontiac lot, just like they did with the GTO… and leave. The majority of the dealers I talked to didn’t even know it was built in Australia, or that it was a Holden, or who the hell Holden even was (it’s GM in Australia, for those of you that don’t know.. and they’re building your new Z-28 as well).

Anyone who’s ever owned an ElCamino knows the advantages a “ute” has over a “pickup truck”. They’re built on a car chassis, so they ride and handle like a performance car. They’re light weight and aerodynamic, so they get gas mileage like a Corvette… think 25-30 hwy MPG. I love it when dudes want to challenge what they can haul or tow. With a little googling, you can find plenty of examples of utes pulling “5th wheelers” in Australia… but then most of V6 Australian cars have a bumper hitch on the back for pulling “caravans” and trailers. I’ve hauled more in my ElCaminos than most people have ever put in a 1/2 ton pickup.

and in my googling… I ran across this… more ute history and info…

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2002/12/01/185511

Utes (short for Utility) are NOT a NEW idea… they’ve been good sellers in many geographic areas before… but Americans never get outside their borders… so I guess they don’t know about…

Ford Super Pursuit in Australia
http://www.fpv.com.au/cars/super-pursuit/overview.aspx

Chevrolet Lumina SS ute in South Africa
http://www.chevrolet.co.za/content_data/LAAM/ZA/en/GBPZA/001/models/1G/index.html

Opel Corsa Utility in South Africa
http://www.opel.co.za/content_data/LAAM/ZA/en/GBPZA/019/corsautility/gallery.html

Chevrolet Tornado in Mexico
http://www.chevrolet.com.mx/content_data/LAAM/MX/es/GMMGM/showroom/chevrolet/modelos/tornado/diseno.html

just a few examples… so then they bring us the least desirable of all of them… and then price it at twice what a Dodge Quad Cab Hemi costs… and then when it doesn’t sell, they tell us “Oh they won’t sell in America”. They’re such masters of marketing… hmmm, then wonder why Toyota whups them.

I’ve been ranting for one of these for at least 5 years… after I saw them in Australia and New Zealand… but then I’ve had several big block ElCaminos too… and lots of dumb big trucks that do nothing more but take up space and drink too much gas. Unfortunately they should have brought the ute here instead of the GTO. Now that gas is $3+ a gallon, they need to make this in some kind of hybrid version to sell it. Typical GM… a day late and a dollar short. Ford also makes one of these in OZ, and I think it’s even cooler than the Holden version. Unfortunately, they’ll bring us a watered down version (not the Maloo R8 HSV) with an automatic… yea, right, why bother? There are several other smaller utes built by GM and others sold around the world that sell well too. Give GM 10 years, and they’ll probably figure out how to get them here too late too. AND, if I bought one, I’d have to take all the Pontiac badging off it and put the correct Holden stuff on it. I don’t want no friggin Pontiac in my driveway.

http://www.hsv.com.au/index.asp

i had a feeling the el camino would make a comeback, but i didnt expect it to come back as a pontiac, i was expecting a chevy and i was expecting an el camino not a ute

It kinda bugs me that they’ll come out with the ST but not the wagon, the market for a new el camino is awful small, not that people won’t buy them at all. There’s a very niche group of folks that’ll eat these cars up as soon as they come out and you can honestly count on every pontiac dealer keeping two or three on the lot at all times. What I really don’t get comes down to conventionalism. Personally I’d rather have the wagon that the sport truck, I have a family to tote around but even if I didn’t I don’t think I’d pick the ST over the SW. Now don’t get me wrong, I love the Ute! It’s great and I know everytime I see one driving by I’ll be jealous (especially in the wild colors the Ute comes in) But Practicality is gonna win me over when it comes to dropping $30,000+ on a car. Come spring 2009 I’m picking up a Mitsubishi Evolution MR, its all wheel drive, combined with a fuel effecient 4 cylinder, a state of the art transmission and features galore make it my go anywhere, anytime car. Other cars I’m considering are a new Civic SI and a Pontiac G6 sedan with the panaramic moonroof.

I have a 2006 GTO and i would put it up against any car out there today under the price tag of 30 g’s. The best bang for the buck. Pontiac’s are great cars.

Hi all, a lot of you blokes are missing the point these utes or trucks as you call them are heaps lighter than your heavy thirsty F series and handle like a sports car to a point, on highway these utes use as little as 12 lts to 100km not sure what that is in miles to the gallon, and don’t fall apart as quick as the F series. will do the 1/4 mile in the high 13sec from the factory 270kw. down under we would sell more v8 6 speeds than auto’s with the gen 4 or we also have the HSV (holden special vehicles)series with 307kw gen 4 just released standard.