Wife's in Oz... and she sends me this:

She knows how much I desperately want a Ute.

I still do not know why Ford and GM won't bring them up. I can only guess they think they won't sell against SUVs

I would probably buy enough of them to make it profitable :)

mad_machine wrote: I still do not know why Ford and GM won't bring them up. I can only guess they think they won't sell against SUVs

No, it's because selling a Camaro/Mustang and a Pickup makes you more money than one vehicle that's both.

And because they're mean.

I think that instead of using government money to just keep them afloat, I think GM should have borrowed just enough to certify the Ute for the states and that would have kept them alive. Seriously.

We already have so many rebadged Holdens over here, the parts are sitting on the shelf for left-hand drive, why not?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2004-Pontiac-GTO-Holden-Ute-ElCamino-SS-Ute-/200646171091?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item2eb77199d3#ht_500wt_1182

aggravator wrote: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2004-Pontiac-GTO-Holden-Ute-ElCamino-SS-Ute-/200646171091?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item2eb77199d3#ht_500wt_1182

Look for my new thread, "please donate to the United Transcontinental Education (or UTE) Fund"

Must... resist... buy-it-now... button...

What's the legality of converting your own car to a ute?

Taiden wrote: What's the legality of converting your own car to a ute?

good question. I remember reading a jalopnik post about some country that made it very expesive to own American muscle cars...so camero owners converted them to utes and registered them as commercial vehicles

In reply to JoeyM:

I think it's one of the Scandinavian countries.

I've had similar day dreams - not of a Ute but of an E36 M3 touring. My idea would be to buy the rear half and roof of an E36 touring in Europe (easily shipped over as parts) and graft it on to the rear of an M3 4 dr, thus retaining the VIN of the US M3. In theory, something similar could be done with a Ute and a GTO. At best it wouldn't change at all. At worst, you might have to register it as a reconstructed vehicle.

The things keeping the Aussie Utes out are a combination of CAFE standards that keep the V8 from coming here registered as cars and the Chicken Tax which keeps keeps them from coming here as trucks.

The Chicken Tax:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax
Started by LBJ, places a 25% tariff on light duty trucks manufactured outside of the US. The real goal was to keep out the VW Transporter from being sold in the US as anything other than a people hauling passenger vehicle. This is also why we do not get the diesel small trucks that even Ford sells in Europe, Asia and South America. This is why every truck sold in the US by Toyota and Nissan is manufactured in the US.
It is also why, strangely, every Ford Transit Connect that arrives at the US port has a back seat and full windows which are promptly removed and recycled.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125357990638429655.html
The weirdest thing about the Transit Connect is that it is harder to find a full window and back seat version of a TC at a Ford dealership but they all arrive in the country this way.
Was also the reason that Subaru Brats had seats in the truck bed.

That's awesome. I wish my wife would go to Australia.

Woody wrote: That's awesome. I wish my wife would go to Australia.

Sometimes I wish my wife would just go over to her mother's for the evening leaving me home......

There are days my wife wishes I would go back to Australia

Find one over 25 years old and ship it up.

Ok, I gotsta axe. What is the draw? You don't have the utility of a real truck, it's waay longer than any 2-seater should be, and it's ugly.
I'm not knocking anyone here, God knows my vehicular taste are odd, but I just never understood the draw of the Ranchero, El Camino, Mullet-mobile, etc.
I understand those have a potent drivetrain, but that potent drivetrain comes wrapped in a much more usefull, and much, much better looking package.
I'm just saying.....

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, to me a Ute is built in of course.

They are purposeful, tough and believe it or not, very practical, they are the tradesman's truck from downunder. Remember we do not/or did not get F150s and similar trucks there.

This is an example of when they became tough as nails

So, maybe I should keep this? Would I be a player??? V8 4speed survivor.

David, that is awesome, if you ever get rid of it....DIBS

I love me some 'Ute! That Purple GTO conversion is just

SWMBO saw me eying it from across the room and yelled out, "No!".

aussiesmg wrote: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, to me a Ute is built in of course. They are purposeful, tough and believe it or not, very practical, they are the tradesman's truck from downunder. Remember we do not/or did not get F150s and similar trucks there. This is an example of when they became tough as nails

That picture is so full of want it ain't funny.

DavidinDurango wrote: So, maybe I should keep this? Would I be a player??? V8 4speed survivor.

Niiiiccceee! If memory serves, doesn't it use the same chassis set up as the Mustangs of the era? If so, maybe put all the Shelby bits underneath her and go hunting?

When you make a ute, you essentially rip out the c-pillars. How do you convince inspection stations that it's still structurally sound?

Taiden wrote: When you make a ute, you essentially rip out the c-pillars. How do you convince inspection stations that it's still structurally sound?

Well, presumably you are replacing them with the factory Ute stampings, which are designed to be structurally sound, so...