Nearly ten years after Pontiac backed out of bringing the G8 ST to the U.S. market, I’m still annoyed. I’m not kidding in the least when I say that I would’ve spent all of the money I had saved up at the time and then some to get my hands on a 6.0L powered, six-speed hot rod pickup that drove like a late-model Pontiac GTO. But instead of getting a Pontiac-badged Holden Ute, we got to watch The Excitement Division swirl the bowl before ultimately being killed off. Not good. And it got worse when it was announced that Holden, along with just about every other last ounce of Aussie auto manufacturing, was calling it quits this year.
But all isn’t lost. If you have the cash, a company out of Northglenn, Colorado can take care of your coupe utility wants. They bring over a Ute body, convert it using a GM Zeta platform car, and work out all of the kinks so that once they are done, you are holding the key to a U.S.-legal Holden Ute that is ready to go. The cost depends on what you want, naturally, but if you’re so enamored with wanting one of these cars that you’ll go to the trouble, surely you’ll have a bit of coin saved up…otherwise, you’d have bought a Chevrolet SS and called it a day.
But is going through the hassle of getting your own ute conversion worth the effort? Doug DeMuro recently got the opportunity to find out. A fan of his loaned him the use of one of these conversions. This particular car used components from a wrecked Pontiac G8 GT to complete the build and the owner went out of their way to complete the “Holden” look, even going so far as to tracking down Holden-specific items and giving the OnStar voice an Aussie accent. We don’t know about all that, but at least it’s packing a six-speed and the V8…
I’m not feelin’ it…
Damn thing is hideous.
why not just import one from Australia? Common as muck over here….heres one under 5 grand https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/somerton-park/cars-vans-utes/2003-holden-ute-vy-s-red-4-speed-automatic-utility/1118622174
U.S. import laws suck, that’s why. The car has to be 25 years or older…OR, you have to prove that the car meets every single guideline for a vehicle, which can include crash-testing if requested.
On the want list!
“it caught on in Australia” that guy sure knows nothing about utes, Ford Australia made the first ute in the 30’s.
I really want a Falcon ute with the Barra turbo 6 in it. Gotta be 15 years for Canadian importation. Just a matter of time, money and finding an exporter from Australia.
And get all the Aussie go fast bits with it. Is this sick enough for ya.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z10Sr13_YLI
I had a 2013 FG XR6 Turbo 6 Speed ZF standard 270KW out of the box and it went like th clappers. You can make 400KW at the wheels no probs.