From Autoblog:"Report: Pontiac G8 will spawn wagon, sport truck"

How cool is that! Load up the kids, cat and S.O. and give em a ride of thier lives in the V8 G8. Or roll out the green astroturf in the back of the G8 Ute for a roll in the hay with good ol Betty Mae. And if they stick sticks in these things too, wow!

Ford, you REALLY gotta get on the ball here. While the 500, err, sorry, Taurus and Fusion are oh-so sensible and competent, they are oh-so boring when it really comes down to it. The G8 wagon and ute just ooze way more cool for those hot foots with spawn or hay bales to lug around too.

 

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/11/19/r...n-sport-truck/

Another example of Ford dropping the ball (by not giving us the Australian Falcon) and GM running with it. Here's what to expect from a possible G8 Wagon and G8 Ute:
http://www.holden.com.au/www-holden/...y?vehicleid=15
http://www.holdencampaign.com.au/calendar/

Alan Mulally better be taking notes from Maximum Bob here. Give customers what they want, and everything will take care of itself. What's the holdup???

 

Since Chrysler recently cancelled the Magnum due to slow sales, you have to wonder if there's really a market for a V8 sport wagon. Perhaps GM will be more successful. As to the ute, it's hard to say. It's been a number of years since a vehicle of this type has been sold in the US. I will say that it doesn't make sense as a Pontiac. It seems more appropriate as a Chevy.

 

The return of the El Camino!

 

UTE!!!! WOOT!!!!

Wagon will be awesome too :P

 

Ford. Listen to us!

WE WANT THE FALCON!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Everyone raved about the idea of a GTO based ona RWD Australian platform, but it didn't translate to sales when time came for the same people to open their wallets instead of their mouths.

Will the G8 variants be a different case?

 

Other than it being RWD, why would I want that? It looks like any number of other cars already here.
The Ute is interesting but reminds me of an older Japanese Mini truck

 

I dunno about that I think the Falcon is hands down a better looking car inside and out compaired to the Taurus/500. Plus I like the retro name "Falcon" It kinda reminds me of the 80s-90s T-Bird but more refined, powerful and a couple extra doors.

 

That falcon is sweet as hell. RWD, looks with attitude and then some. based on the looks alone it could do very well against the G8 if not *hides from the GM spys* better. I'll not hold my breath on the ute/el Camino actually comming here. Would be nice but it would need to be a chevy or GMC to bring that label back.

 

which reminds me, isnt the g8 a rebadged Holden/Vauxhall Commodore

 

This just in: "El Camino Heritage" package to be available. Features include:

Tassells hanging from the top of the windows!
Body panels featuring no less than 3 mis-matched colors!
Dedicated oil-drip line poistioned directly over exhaust manifold!
Your choice of CDs featuring the top 25 artists of Guadalajara's famous cantinas!
15-inch Chrome Rims!

 

I agree against a G8 it would do well. Assuming the G8 will do well itself.

Why your last comment? Does everyone forget the Ranchero, which predates the El Camino? Another Ford GM followed into the market.

 

The GTO was generally an excellent car that had styling that was about half a decade past its sell-by date. Not that it was a bad looking car, but a bit been-there, seen-that when parked next to a Chevy Cobalt. On the other hand, it was a very fast, very capable thinking man's GT car (handled and braked too well and just too competent to be considered a wallowing muscle car?).

While some whined and griped about the GTO, the only other real option was that there would never would have been a neo GTO if it weren't that Maximum Bob Lutz pushed hard for it. Any criticisms aside, it did revive the badge and presumably the next GTO will have fully up-to-date styling to match its performance. Hopefully they won't go all goofy with some overblown "Judge"-like design effluvia to overcompensate for the previous version's restrained looks, but given Pontiac's recent exceedingly well done, sophisticated yet exciting, and adult styling exercises, I am positive on that front.

Hopefully the G8, in sedan, wagon and ute versions, will do well. They seem to be well styled, well developed and to have excellent dynamics, so it wouldn't be for lack of qualities and capability. $90/barrel oil prices might trickle down to the gas pump might put a big crimp on big thirsty V8 full sized vehicles, but barring that, I think it will do well.

The Chrysler 300/Dodge Charger and Magnums did pretty well, if many didn't know quite what to make of the Magnum. The SRT-8 versions were real rockets and GM certainly has the armaments on the shelves to take G8 performance up as many notches as they care to go. Can anyone say LS-7 G8 Ute to harken back memories of certain stonking 454 El Caminos of similar designation?

Chrysler will be refreshing thier LX-chassis cars, so that will make for interesting competition, though Chrysler's styling game seems to be faltering a bit from its lofty heights lately of a few years ago.

And Ford will be releasing its fire-breathing, well, errr, nevermind....

 

And how might a honking V8 G8 wagon can redefine the station wagon genre away from being bland mommy-mobiles:

"Making Babies" vs "Baby on Board"
"Pony Kegs" vs "Going to pony-riding lessons"
"Surf boards" vs "Chair rail molding boards"
"Extreme Sports Gear" vs "Merit Badge Gear"
"Smoking Rubber" vs "Smoked Salmon Pate"
"Road Trip to Lodi" vs "Trip to Lowe's Home and Garden"
"Bag of hooch" vs "Bag of mulch"
"I'll never do that again, officer" vs "Which way to the elementary school, officer?"
"Doing donuts in the parking lot" vs "Eating donuts in the parking lot"
"Of course she's 18 years old" vs "She just stopped teething at 18 months"
"Black Sabbath blasting on the stereo" vs "23rd repeat of the Barney CD"

 

 

Isn't that what the Magnum was supposed to do?

 

Yes but Chrysler refused to call it a Station Wagon

 

Because "station wagon" brings up visions of mom and pop loading up the brood for a cross country trip to Wallyworld....

 

Yeah, uh did you happen to catch my handle on this site....

I can say the same about most Ford Trucks I've been around especially in AZ.



This conversation is going on over in the GM forums too. Personally I don't believe the UTE would work out too well since it doesn't really have a market. If it did Ford would already be building one, selling at least 75K of them a year and GM wouuld be rushing to get on the bandwagon just like they did with the 59 El Camino and 67 Camaro.

I love when people talk about the "payload" of the UTE. It ain't much bigger than the SSR from the pics. Anyway it may show up on our shores but I doubt it will last more than a couple of years simply because most people are happy with the small truck choices they have now. I think it will be relegated to a novelty in fairly short order just because GM won't promote it right and it won't sell those dazzling numbers that keep GM execs in ecstasy. Think GTO and SSR if it gets here as far as longevity in the market goes. The original El Camino and Ranchero for that matter worked because for most of it's life it was pretty much the only game in town for someone who wanted a truck but didn't want a full sized pickup. Japanese small pickups plus the beginning of the smaller domestic pickups spelled the end for El Caminos and Rancheros in 87 and 79 respectively.