Camino LS6

I can think of quite a few "reasons" for this travesty. GMC dealers crying the blues about not having unique product. Chevy dealers crying the blues about lot space. Pontiac dealers screaming that they can't sell a truck. Some interdivisional squabble between Chevy and Holden. I get the feeling that it is something at least as stupid as these, and for that, the El Camino will remain dead forever. I'm a bit annoyed.

Well mark another dream off the list. This news has gone straight to $h! in a big hurry.

I wonder how soon I can order VE Ute fascias and badges...

I'm guessing that it is too late to change the terrible choice that seems to have already been made. GMC Caballero = The worst possible name they could have picked. Hope I'm wrong about it being too late.

I don't know. The response does seem a bit thin.

If they call it a Caballero, it will sell like a Caballero. And it will kill the chances for an El Camino ever returning. I'd rather it stay down under than have that happen.

Man, It'll kill me if GM dumps this car into the GMC dustbin with the Canyon. I guess I'd better pray for a Pontiac.

Uncle Bob responds quickly! He says that I make "excellent points" but that Chevy has "more stuff than they can focus on right now" Hmmm.

Some side notes (EC/Sprint and Cab) El CaminoSS = Sprint SP El Camino Royal Knight/Black Knight = Caballero Diablo Conquista = Amarillo

One correction,BP, the Conquista was an El Camino, the Amarillo was the Caballero version.

Thanks. Would it surprise you to know that I agree with nearly everything in this post? In fact, if GM doesn't do the right thing, giving the Ute to Pontiac would be the least wrong move that they could make while still bringing it here. Pontiac (and even some dealers) have built their own versions of the El Camino on quite a few occasions over the years, including the EC's debut year of 1959.

El Camino/ Caballero sales 1978-81 EC/CAB 54,286 vs. 6,609 (1978) 58,008 vs. 6,952 (1979) 40,932 vs. 4,742 (1980) 36,711 vs. 4,380 (1981)

Caballero wasn't a good name in 1978, and it still isn't.

I would love to be able to do that!

Except for that last bit , we agree.

Seems to me that BP was pointing out the limited success of the SSR and its mild resemblence to an El Camino while tacitly endorsing the idea of making the Ute a Pontiac. :AH-HA_wink: But I could be mistaken.

:AH-HA_wink:

You have to consider too, who the first, nearly automatic sales will be made to. They will be El Camino fans, and there will be less of them to put these on the streets if it is marketed as a GMC or Pontiac. Really, this should be a no-brainer. GM is overthinking the issue and ignoring the obvious if they make it a GMC.

The SSR really has no bearing here, most Camino fans don't care for it. It was a limited -production, overly complex, low-utility toy. The El Camino would trounce it in sales and profit quite easily.

Absolutely! And once the Camino paves the way, a GMC Cross8 would be a fine expansion of the platform - even in Denali guise.

If it is called Denali and equipped in the soft manner of that nameplate, I won't buy one. If it's called Caballero and is produced largely unchanged from the Holden version, I'll rip off the emblems and live with it. Sorry, but Centaur kind of ruins it for me.

OK, I decided not to sleep on it after all - so sue me. I just sent Bob Lutz the following e-mail: Mr. Lutz, Two decades ago I purchased my first new vehicle, a 1987 El Camino SS. Ever since, I have been hoping to be able to do that again. In the 20 years since, I have purchased five new vehicles all of which have been either Chevrolets or Pontiacs. I was overjoyed to learn of the release of the Holden VE Ute, and its likely export to North America. However, I am distressed at rumors of GM's intent to offer it as something other than a Chevrolet El Camino. I must urge you, in the strongest terms, to reconsider such a move. While I can see a certain amount of logic in offering the vehicle as a sibling of the Pontiac G8, or as a GMC Sprint/Caballero, I feel certain that this would be an awful mistake. As a Pontiac, the advantages of commonality with the G8 would lend a sense of brand identity so desperately needed by that division. In addition, training of sales and service staff would be built-in. The VE Ute is a performer, and as such dovetails nicely with the intent of the Pontiac brand. As a GMC the Ute certainly fits, owing simply to its status as a truck and the history of the Sprint/Caballero. At GMC dealerships which also offer Pontiac, the commonality advantages would also apply, of course. However, I fear that as a Pontiac or GMC, the stunning VE Ute would only be a short-lived novelty product without staying power. Such a fine product deserves better. The obvious alternative, of course, is to market the Ute as the Chevrolet El Camino we have all been anticipating for years now. 2009 marks the 50th anniversary of the El Camino, and a perfect opportunity to introduce a new model. No new Pontiac, nor re-issued GMC Caballero could hope to match the buzz a 50th anniversary El Camino could. Imagine, if you would, the one-two punch as the new 2009 Camaro and El Camino grace the covers of magazines and the homepages of websites side-by-side. You can't buy that sort of exposure, it has to be part of your legacy. I'm asking that such an opportunity not be squandered, and that the VE Ute come to the US exclusively as the 2009 El Camino. Respectfully, Bob McQuiston (Camino LS6 on the boards) Staff member: Cheers and Gears .com

Thanks for clarifying your point.

I'm going to sleep on this one before I respond.

I'd like to see those chops, I'll reserve comment on the rest.