Left Hand Utes in Colorado...

This probably belongs in the "ohmygoodgoshalmighty" thread, but I'll post it here:

Look at what I just found!

http://www.lefthandutes.com/home.html

So many cars in this world, so little money...

I'm still flabergasted as to why these haven't been brought to America at Chevy and Ford dealers. They would sell. And I want one.

why bother with the LHD conversion costs? just learn to shift with your left hand.

wonder if they would just import one for you or they require the conversion be done. still though, 50k is a bunch of cash.

In reply to patgizz:

I'd much rather a RHD.

What's killing me at the moment is the fact that the blinker and windshield wiper stalks are switched (in Brisbane at the moment). Every time I go to signal for a turn I switch my wipers on.

Where did you see $50k? I've been looking for a pricing sheet, but have failed miserably. I wonder if they would take a kidney in trade...

Pretty sure that they LHD conversion is just a by-product of them re-using a US firewall. The only way I can see that these would be legal (and even then it requires a lot of squinting) is if you took a legal GTO, "removed the rest of the car from the firewall", and "replaced the rest of the car with a UTE body".

Now, where does "replacing everything but the firewall" stop and VIN swapping begin? I guess that depends on how good your lawyer is.

a Jalopnik article said they are getting by using kit car registration.

Hungary Bill wrote: In reply to patgizz: I'd much rather a RHD. What's killing me at the moment is the fact that the blinker and windshield wiper stalks are switched (in Brisbane at the moment). Every time I go to signal for a turn I switch my wipers on. Where did you see $50k? I've been looking for a pricing sheet, but have failed miserably. I wonder if they would take a kidney in trade...

Just think of the fun you could have importing it!

In reply to DILYSI Dave:

I imagine the tub at least up to the B pillar is identical. You'd just have to import a whole illegal ute, take a GTO, cut the back half off, weld the ute half on, and transfer the doors and the whole front clip. Remaining steel goes to the scrapyard. Pretty simple job for a shady body shop.

Kenny_McCormic said: I imagine the tub at least up to the B pillar is identical. You'd just have to import a whole illegal ute, take a GTO, cut the back half off, weld the ute half on, and transfer the doors and the whole front clip. Remaining steel goes to the scrapyard. Pretty simple job for a shady body shop.

Their website said: Our Left Hand Utes are converted by stripping the Ute to bare body. We replace the firewall and rebuild the car from components using all AMERICAN standard parts from the Pontiac GTO, G8, or Chevy Caprice. We DO NOT CHOP the front end of the Ute and replace it with another car. We feel there are serious structural issues in doing this and we do not want the liability in case of failure when welding 2 cars to make one car.

Very cool but not 50-75K cool For that much I'll go buy a used corvette and a pickup.

2010 HSV Maloo 6.2 LS3 6 Speed Manual Available: $75,000.00

errr??

For that sort of coin you could have some serious hardware. Used GT3 Porsche, Used R8, Used aston..

They are cool, but isn't it just a tarted up elcamino?

No, it's a Pontiac G8 6-speed with a big trunk.

Keith Tanner wrote: No, it's a Pontiac G8 6-speed with a big trunk.

or

Fueled by Caffeine wrote:

2010 HSV Maloo 6.2 LS3 6 Speed Manual Available: $75,000.00

errr?? For that sort of coin you could have some serious hardware. Used GT3 Porsche, Used R8, Used aston..

But what if somebody doesn't want a used GT3, Porsche, R8, etc... (or more likely - already HAS one or more of them) and does want a Ute.

None of these cars is really "logical" yet we keep trying to apply logic to illogical purchases whenever a thread like this come up. Would I buy one? Probably not. But it's still really freakin cool.

They are very cool, but that price tag is insane.

Depends on your perspective. To us, $75K is a lot of money. To some, it's pocket-change...

Ian F wrote: Depends on your perspective. To us, $75K is a lot of money. To some, it's pocket-change...

Yes. Saturday I watched a guy vintage race a 1962 Ferarri 250 GT\L.. That's a $1M+ race car?

Fueled by Caffeine wrote: Yes. Saturday I watched a guy vintage race a 1962 Ferarri 250 GT\L.. That's a $1M+ race car?

Yes, but I'm glad there's guys like that who will run those cars for what they were built for, damage risk be damned. It's not like many of them are original anyway... Didn't someone here post a pic of one of the Wally-world folks and his wrecked 1-of-6 Daytonas?

But we digress...

Utes in the US is a good thing, regardless of price.

Lancer007 wrote: I'm still flabergasted as to why these haven't been brought to America at Chevy and Ford dealers. They would sell. And I want one.

Truck crowd all want lifted trucks with monster stickers on them.

In reply to kanaric:

Damn flatbillers.

I've met him down at the local cars and coffee, real nice guy, and the ute that he brought with him looked fantastic. Nice to see something that wasn't a P-Car (the local club started the C&C originally).

it sounds eerily like vin swapping to me. cut off firewall with tag, weld in car, etc...

i'll just have to wait until the ls2/ls3 utes are 25 years old like everyone else i guess.

patgizz wrote: it sounds eerily like vin swapping to me. cut off firewall with tag, weld in car, etc... i'll just have to wait until the ls2/ls3 utes are 25 years old like everyone else i guess.

A bit, but they're registering them as kit-cars and in most states, a kit car will get a new VIN, so it's not like they're trying to fool anyone or skirt registration requirements, which is typically what a VIN swap does. The fire-wall conversion sounds like it's as much for doing the LHD conversion. Personally, if I were getting one, I'd ask to keep it RHD.

Ian F wrote: ...so it's not like they're trying to fool anyone or skirt registration requirements...

I don't follow how registering these as "kit cars" is any less of an attempt to skirt regulations (or shady) than the "legal" R34 GTR importers that were busted for doing essentially the same thing. They might be additionally VIN swapping a bit of the firewall with a USDM variant of the chassis. But when it comes to vehicle importation, does two wrongs actually make it right?

Saw one on the Power Tour as it rolled through town.

Do want.