Saw this coming a mile away, but I’m happy about it.

The more Zeta-platforms and Holden imports, the better for GM North America. Personally, the Pontiac G8 is mine.

It could work, but I’d rather see for what it is versus a rebadge. Besides, when GM goes out of business it will be less disconcerting for owners if it just stays a Holden that way Holden can move in and take care of business.

ghey.

——–>I personally think that a new El Camino will be off tha chain and will be welcomed with open arms by the american market……and a new El Camino “SS”??yyyeeeahhh………..it’l be 500 times better than the SSR………….

Good Lord, I hope not! The El Camino was awful. This idea is as absurd as changing the name of the Ford 500 to the Taurus. Can’t polish a turd no matter how hard you try.

hillbillies unite the camaro and elcamino are back, i feel like growing a mullett.

Bring it on! I loved the El Camino back in the day. the thought of a new El Camino SS…..oh yeah!

James
http://www.CarTV.com

its a truck…no, it’s a car? A cartruck? What??

Pretty much what CTS said. Too funny.

It’s no wonder GM and Ford are stuck in a rut. They continue to dig up old names in hopes of bringing in new sales. dont’ they understand that there is a fair bit of negative stereotypes associated with many of their nameplates? Cavalier, Malibu, Monte Carlo, Impala…all redneck american trash. They have the ability and means to bring out great new vehicles, as evident with some of their latest offerings. But stop the madness of putting these crappy nameplates on them! Move on from the past and build on future models! Sure, Honda and Toyota can do it, but they actually have positive associations with their nameplates (in terms of reliability, resale etc.)

You people are idiots. Impala, Camaro, Corvette, El Camino, Bel Air, Monte Carlo are all named that have a heritage. BMW and Mercedes use their heritage, mostly being from Nazi Germany, but they do have heritage. Just because the Japanese dont have any, doesnt mean that American Heritage is for rednecks. The 300C is a car with a history, coming from the original Chrysler 300…you dont see rednecks driving it around. Biased opinions towards Japanese cars are unjustified.

Spare yourselves the embarassment. How many of these did you see at Barrett Jackson vs. Mustangs – if that’s a guage of digging up the dead.

6ix, I’ve got a few questions. First, is the Cavalier still in production? Second, have you heard the rumor about the Monte Carlo being cut? Third, does Honda/Toyota have a rich design history here in The States where they can add subtle retro cues on their new cars to allude to past historical, timeless models? If GM takes cues from the late ’60s Impalas and applies it to the upcoming Zeta Impala, why would they not call it Impala? It’s completely stupid to come up with a new model name every few years. GM is in the midst of once again proving that it is capable of producing some of the world’s best vehicles, and it looks to me like they’re doing a fine job. Watch GM through next year and into 2009 and ‘10. They’re going to prove to be everything you think they aren’t.

Also, I in no way see the Malibu, Monte, or Impala as “redneck trash;” I’m not seeing where you get that from.

90Z, how is this polishing a turd? The Holden Ute is not a turd. If you’re calling the old El Camino a turd, that’s ludicrous in terms of what you stated. “Polishing a turd” means taking a piece of **** model and trying to change it a little to make it seem to be better. The El Camino will enter an all new life here if it’s brought back. It’s been dead for years. Now, if GM resurrects the last model of El Camino produced and changes it a little for production today, that’s polishing a turd, and I’d agree with your accusation. But, as is, I wouldn’t count on GM making that move.

It would have made more sense to seriously rework a p/u than this Much like FORD did for the Lightning.

As to using older names on new cars…

The nameplates are not crappy, the cars they were attached to were crappy. When those news were great are the way the cars should have always been. Detroit is finally remembering and acting on it. Besides… Do you know just how hard it is to come up with a good name for a car that is original and isn’t owned by some weak-ass ad agency? It’s no wonder the Europeans went alphanumeric naming their cars.

They got the names and the they know what those names are supposed to be attached to. While some things should never come back, like the El Camino and the El Rancho, some should as long as they are what they were meant to be.

Example: The Monte Carlo comes back it should be a RWD, V8, street legal NASCAR racecar. Screw redundancy against the Camaro! If you are going to use the name, make proud!

gm took what was nice in the ssr (completely unique in all ways) and blew it by putting it at a price that could never sell to the masses, are they seriously trying to bring this ute to us instead? i for one really like gm and would love to see it back in the black,but come on already this thing is hideous, at least the camaro looks bad ass. Blakkarr has made an excellent point, if gm is going to bring back some old names then make them proud (remember what they did to the nova? puke), dont make us afraid for another gto embarassment.

Er, there’s a 25% tariff on pickups built ouside of the US!? (I’m almost certain that’s still in effect!) And I’d say that up there is pickup truck enough for the tariff. No one’s paying 25% extra for that ****.

hey i thought the GTO did pretty good for what they had to work with, i mean christ, sorry it wasnt the most aggressive car around visually, but it had a better price-to-power ratio than the Corvette Z06 does for christs sake. I say bring it on GM, the more niche markets the better, and maybe itll make Ford bring theirs on over from Austrailia… haha no wait, it wont.
Still, id be happy to see a new el camino ss on our shores.

Mullet? Check.
Bushy mustache? Check.
Chrome-mirrored sunglasses? Check
Black Sabbath t-shirt? Check.
Acid-washed jeans and red Chuck Taylor hightops? Check.
Cheap Trick cassettes? Check

The new El-Co, da bich’nest ride evah? Check!

the gto was a great performance car that just didnt excite enough buyers, heck now is probably the best time to go get one. they had the right idea, huge horsepower in a relatively inexpensive platform, i only called it an embarassment for gm because it probably cost more to market and bring over than it was worth at the time plus i dont think they should have killed it off again it looks like they are running away from it. sometimes they should slow down a little, if it came to us a year or 2 later in name with a different platform the public would have been just as excited initially.

Does anyone else remember the Subaru Brat?

so pontiac is bringing over holdens, it looks like chevy is too… then saturn is bringing over opels…. so GM isn’t making anything new, they’re just using import models and then rebadging them as domestics? can’t they just make something new?

Heck yea!

I’d like to see more holden in the US

This was going to happen eventually. I hope they do well, I’ve always had a thing for old car/trucks. Falcon Rancheros with a 289 for me. I think GM will move alot of these in the US.

Now Chevy doesn’t have to waste any $ on replacing the SSR. With out all that models excess crap they might be able to price it at the +/- 26K it should have been all along. And give it the right name.

I think you mean Darth Maul t-shirt instead of Black Sabbath.

Just another GM rebadge import. I wonder why GM cannot get a quality car designed and built here in the US. But, honestly, I think importing holdens will only boost overall vehicle quality out of GM.

You know the Mexican population increases by over 15% a year in the U.S…this may not be a bad move for GM. At least the POS 25 year-old Camino with 9 Mexicans in it will be replaced with 9 Mexicans in a new POS.

The Crewman would be a better import. Without 4-doors, Americans aren’t interested.

Hideous. I hope they don’t.

And ironpony43, agreed that GM should be doing more design and manufacturing here in the states, but they still do plenty, look at the Vette, the Solstice/Sky, and the CTS. None perfect, but pretty good, and home-grown.

Why? Is the Subaru Baja doing that good ?

How long will it last? remember the pontiac GTO? essentually a rebadged holden monaro with less aggressive suspension, only put that back into production for like 2 years and now they scrapped it, i mean, it was an awesome car, why doesnt holden sell them over in the usa? I’d rather see a Holden badge rather than a “Pontiac” badge on a sweet car like that was.

WAIT! what about the chevy pickup/convertible pickup i forgot the name to!! no need to have that, they already have it anyway…

There is nothing wrong with this idea. It’s not everyone’s bag, sure. Who cares? Sell some of them here. Anything like this is better than fleets of Pontiac G6’s and other FWD cars from GM.

looks like GTO’s wheels dumb on a truck

Replace the Monte Carlo with this and it’ll be fine. They both look similar anyway.

this will be the end of GM as we no it

Wow, lots of hate. I think this is worth a shot. It’s a nice model, and it also opens the doors for other Holden models to possibly come over. Oh, and fixitfixitstop, nice blind generalization there. You know that we don’t all drive crew cab dually pickups and live in Texas, right?

I think GM realizes they will be losing $$ on every Opel-built Saturn Astra and Holden-built Pontiac G8 they import, but they don’t mind swallowing the import costs in the short run because it’s cheaper than designing an all-new car from the ground up for this fickle US market that doesn’t seem to care for American cars anymore. Once they have production lines available for these platforms in North America, only then do I expect to see lower-volume coupe (Camaro, GTO) and pickup (El Camino, Caballero) variants added.

just don’t think there is a market for it if you ask me

yet another car to decrease gm sales. by the rate that they are adding duds to the market i say gm lasts for another 5 better yet 3 years

Why not just market it as a Holden, that way Chevrolet can avoid the negative implications that a hick wagon will have on whatever sophistication their brand is clinging to.
I reckon there is a strong enough redneck market for this to have some buyers, but it sure is ugly. Doesn’t it look a bit too soft-edged? I would have thought something like this should be aggressive, maybe they could put that ugly Pontiac front end on and add some body cladding, more chrome and some white letter tyres.

REUTNR OF THE MINI TRUCKER MULLETS!! LOOKOUT!!

I just got a that perfect mullett and a case of acid washed jeans, this El Camino coming just in time.

I like these more than the trucks that dominate the road

El camino was the ****! Please build it GM!

I think this will sell well, I’ve seen a ton of these Holden Utes and Ford Falcon Utes on the road Australia/New Zealand…they look more appealing since they have a race car quality to it.

Please don’t build this, I think that the Holden Ute is actually incredibly hideous, and that it won’t sell here, and that it would be a mistake.

anderson_b76: Your stereotypical and prejudiced post only further reinforces you coming across as a total and complete jackass. Let’s stick to cars, not bull**** about races.

sweet bring it on gm!

This was bound to happen. Good move, but it all depends on the motors they put in.

There have been rumors about this for years, aways speculation, but it appears now that they might actually do it, I am not really sure whether Im happy or dissapointed, either way I know im getting the new Camaro which will smoke this thing for sure!

It’s a coin toss really. As much as I’d love to see both the Holden and Aussie Ford Utes sold stateside as reborn El Caminos/Caballeros and Rancheros respectively I just don’t see it happening for several reasons.

1. I don’t think there’s enough of a market for either car here to justify selling them in the states. In Oz they’re basically marketed as light trucks which is fine for Oz, but as we all know ladder frame, leaf spring sporting light/medium trucks from both Japan and the Big 3 are what killed the Elky here in the US to begin with.

2. The Subaru Baja didn’t exactly sell too well which doesn’t help the Ute’s case (although the Baja was poorly marketed and underpowered from the get go).

3. While it was stupid for GM brass to think that there was a market for it in the first place, the SSR despite being more expensive than the Ute was a flop and a half. While there’s a pretty big price difference between that of the Ute and the SSR the latter’s lack of sales still doesn’t do much to help the former’s chances of being sold here.

4. While there are a lot of poseurs out there who buy trucks because they demand RWD and because for a long time GMs car lineup looked like **** it might seem like there’s room for the Ute here at first. However consider that folks who might consider buying a 362hp Ute will also have the option of a similarly powered RWD Impala, possibly a new Monte Carlo, a 400hp Camaro, the G8, the GTO and a new RWD Buick. To me I think GM is better off deuglyfying the Colorado and shoving an LS2 under the hood of that thing for people who want the function of a bed and the power of a small block.

The only way I can possibly see GM selling the Ute here is

1. by discontinuing the Monte Carlo and making room in Chevy’s lineup for another RWD 2 door vehicle. To me the biggest competition for a reborn Elky with a 362hp V8 that drives like a car is a reborn Monte Carlo with the same engine and seating for 4-5. The Colorado is a midsizer now so there is room beneath it for an affordable light car/truck but I think buyers would shy away from the El Camino if they could just get a Monte Carlo with similar performance for around the same price.

2. sell the 2 door Ute out of GMC dealerships as a halo vehicle. GMC has always been a Chevy trucks copycat anyway. Give the brand something to distinguish itself from the rest of GMs makes. Yes the Caballero is not as well remembered as the Elky but if that’s the case then come up with a new name. Honestly I think GMC would be the perfect place to sell the Ute here in the states. Chevy is getting the Camaro and possibly a new Monte. Pontiac has a new GTO in the pipe and the smaller FWD G6 Coupe. 2 Coupes on one lot is more than enough these days. The Ute would be a Niche market product if it were sold here being that it’s a strict two seater so why not give the only brand that doesn’t have a 2 seater (besides Buick) a toy of their own?

3. sell the more practical 4 door Holden Crewman out of Chevy or GMC dealerships. However if GM goes with the 4 door Crewman, now the competition for the car/truck crossover becomes the midsize Colorado/Canyon.

This is old news. They’ve been talking about this for about two years now, and I think it would’ve happened already if it was going to. I really don’t think this car will sell in the States…

This would be awesome. My dad has one of the old EL Caminos and if he bought a new one… That would be weird but whatever this is cool.

Is it deisel?

Sell the El Cam in both!

Sweet Jesus NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Stop now don’t do it!!