Looks like the passenger got the ride of his or her life!

Holden, like a so many other car manufacturers, has come close to producing what could have been a legendary car only to pull out at the last moment. Its GTR-X design was reminiscent of cars produced by Lamborghini and Ferrari, with its wedge-shaped profile and concealed headlights. Running an inline six producing 160 bhp, the GTR-X was able to achieve a top speed of 130mph and go from 0-60 in 8.3 seconds. To keep costs down, the mechanicals were borrowed from the Holden Torana, and the six cylinder was chosen over an eight due to its economy and widespread availability. Interestingly, it would have been the first Holden to be fitted with 4-wheel disc brakes if it had gone into production. There are a number of reasons why the GTR-X never made it that far, including both competition from the Datsun 240Z and restrictions faced by Holden in export markets—and Australia didn’t have a big enough domestic market for the GTR-X because of our small population base. So instead, it was the Monaro that became Holden’s first coupe in Australia. Check out this cool footage of one of the GTR-X prototypes being tested in 1970.

Well, it’s official. Finally. Tata is now the new owner of Jaguar and Land Rover. Now, some of my friends—who obviously don’t read the blog—thought I’d be despondent about the ownership change, but I actually think this is great for Jag. Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata has even expressed interest in making the F-Type Concept. So basically, he had me at hello. Best of luck Tata! Here’s the news:

• If Social Security is the so-called "third rail" of American politics, what should we say officials are touching if they advocate for a higher gas tax? On second thought, maybe we should just call that situation "political suicide." Auto Observer
• The Mayor of Detroit was just indicted on eight felony charges, and GM is not commenting. When I talked to some folks from the Motor City last week, the overwhelming sentiment I heard was that this whole mess is just a shame. Apparently, before he got caught up in this sex scandal, he was a great Mayor. The lesson here? Keep it in your pants. And if you can’t, don’t lie. Automotive News
• Holden just announced that its Commodore will be available with the new Corvette 6.2L V8. That’s great news for gearheads in the Land of Oz. Not so good news for nemesis Ford. Auto Week
• Alfa Romeo is coming back to the US, and the company might look to partner with BMW for domestic production. Again, the bad news is that companies aren’t coming here because they think our dollar is going to get better. Automotive News via Winding Road

Earlier this week, Ron filled us in on the history of the Ute, which began with Ford in the 30′s. But of course Holden has its own take on evol-Ute-tion, and they’ve put it together as a very slick commercial that’s airing on TV in the land down under. Check out all the vintage Utes!

Via CarScoop

I was pleased to hear that Holden is going to be exporting its Ute to America as the newest member of the Pontiac lineup. Here in Australia, we have enjoyed the benefits that Utes provide for a long time: put simply, they are powerful workhorses that still give you the creature comforts of a car. What many of you may not know is that the Ute in its current form, where the pick-up bed and side panels are produced as one piece to provide a seamless body molded tray, was in fact invented here in my Australian hometown, Geelong. In what must rate as one of the best customer-service responses of all time, Ford Australia designed and built the first Utility Coupe based on the request from a farmer’s wife in 1933. The long-suffering woman wrote a letter to Ford asking why they could not produce a vehicle that could both take them to church in comfort on Sundays and take their pigs to the market on Mondays. The request was passed on to a young designer by the name of Lewis Brandt, who designed what would turn out to be a real winner in the Australian car market for generations. GM and other manufacturers quickly followed suit, though the first actual Holden Ute, predecessor of the ones that’ll soon be rolling out of Pontiac showrooms in the US, didn’t appear until after WWII. Brandt’s original design for Ford produced a vehicle that had a wheel base of 112 inches, with a rear tray that was 5ft 5 inches long and had a load capacity of 1200 pounds. Sadly, Brandt died in a collision with a commercial truck in 1987, while driving a vintage Ford Ute that he had restored.

It seems as if the Pontiac G8 sport truck, announced over the weekend and scheduled for its debut at this week’s New York International Auto Show, came straight out of the blue. Sure, we knew Australian buyers could choose a GM-built, Holden-badged ute for decades now, but we had little idea, save for a few hints here and there over the last few months, that GM had thought of bringing a sedan-pickup back to the United States.  But it appears somebody in GM yearned for the return of the El Camino SS more than a decade ago. On the same trip to the GM Heritage Center where I spotted the awesomest Aztek I’ve ever seen, I grabbed a couple snaps of this 1994-1996 Impala SS-based El Camino SS. At first glance it appeared to have used a slightly modified body from a Caprice station wagon with a Plexiglas-type rear window.
The concept seems to have debuted in 1995 and, according to what I could glean, could have entered production, but the increasing popularity of GM’s SUVs during the mid-1990s sidelined the El Camino.
It’s only now that gas has become so expensive and SUV and big truck buyers started looking for more wallet-friendly options has the sedan-pickup idea has turned into a reality. Funny how things work out that way.

There have been a lot of surprises at the Melbourne Motor Show, and one of the biggest has been Holden’s Coupe 60 project. Holden has been in Australia for 60 years now and the car was unveiled at the show in celebration of the company’s anniversary. In keeping with the spirit of the occasion, Holden strove to get as many 60′s as it could into this concept: it’s 60 mm shorter than the current VE Commodore sedan it’s based on, its color is "Diamond Silver" in reference to the diamond anniversary, and it’s powered by a 6.0 litre V8. The flex-fuel powerplant can run on 85% ethanol and produce 300 kw (402 hp). Sporting 21" wheels, and a dual-tip side-dump exhaust, it’s a real head-turner of a performance car sure to draw away some of the attention from competitor Ford’s equally impressive domestic line-up. Go below the jump for a front view.

Take a close look at this photo–do you notice anything odd? Yep, it’s a four-door ute, but Ford sure didn’t make them like this at the factory. My father built this car himself. It started life as a standard Ford XY station wagon till he decided to convert it to a ute. It was a great car: it had three-speed stick shift with the big six-cylinder motor, though it ran cheaply on LPG (Propane). I always hoped someday to get ahold of it and bring it up to Aussie GT specs, but unfortunately, my dad had to sell it in a hurry so he could buy an ambulance. (Never let it be said that the Honig men don’t have interesting cars in their garages!) While he certainly wasn’t the first person to do this particular conversion, what amazes me is how long it can take the car-makers to cotton onto a good idea. Take the four-door Holden Crewman, the modern rendition of my dad’s home-made ute, which didn’t hit the Australian market until very recently. It kind of makes you wonder, what else are they missing?  Do you have or know of any innovative car ideas that the automakers should pick up on? 

By Jen

Editor

For quite some time now, you guys have been screamin’ for the Holden Ute to come to the US. Well, guess what: it has. Or at least, it’s come to the SEMA show anyway, which we feel is a big step in the right direction. Disc Brakes Australia has one on display, and yes, it’s the SS, with the 5.7L LS2 and 6-speed manual. And the left-hand-drive conversion means that some lucky bastard will be able to legally register and drive it in the States!

The Ute absolutely murdered the JT in our recent match up. Oh well. And yes, Veronica, I saw that Motor Trend article. That’s old news! The most up to date info can be found at insideboblutzsbrain.com.