Holden Ute spotted in Mt. Clemens!!!

[Merzbow]

Well, every Wednesday evening there is a car show in the city of Mt. Clemens enar my house. It is so much fun and a great atmosphere. The muscle cars go on the main stretch and the tuners bikes, and lowriders go on the end by a bank and parking lot. The best of both worlds.Anyways, today I was there with about 7 friends and we were lookin at the msucle cars.I turn my head to see this goofy looking red car coming at me...I notice it is a four door car size but with a truck bed in the back?!?! Then it dawns on me. It's a Holden!!! It drives by and yes, there is the Holden logo on the grill. This one is debadged and is right hand drive right from Australia. I was waiting for him to park so I could talk to him about it and how he got it here in the states but by the time I got there he was long gone and there was about 20-30 people crowding around the car in amazement. Even the people driving by in there '65 Blown Chevy II's were looking at it like "Woah what the hell is that thing...is it right hand drive?!!??!?!"So since no one knew what it was, I took it upon myself to show off this guys car lol. I spoke up and said "yeah this is a Holden Ute! They are only made in Australia". They all looked at me with amazment. Then they asked whats under the hood. This one was the SS so I told them it had the GTO 5.7 liter Hemi in it. They couldn't believe a Hemi in that weird looking right hand drive car. Anyways, Only one other kid knew what the car was, other than that I felt pretty cool tellin everyone the specs of this car. I bet the driver just ran away and sat back to watch everyone staring at his car.Here is a pic of the Ute...the one I saw though was a four door and looked slightly different. It was also the SS, had aluminum wheels and looked more aggressive. If he is there again next Wednesday I will take a picture of it and post on here. Actually I'm not even sure if it's an Ute because it had four doors and I think the Ute only comes in 2? None the less it was a Holden.http://www.exfoleyation.co.uk/...G.jpg

[Pablo1669]

we had a manaro a few years back when they were first converting them to the GTO. I had to take it from Milford to Warren, then back again for a show for all the big guys at the tech center.You should see all the confused looks you get when you pull up next to someone and you're sitting right next to them but in the other lane. Plus, it was hard to shift with my left hand.

[damronjr]

Man, I love Holdens and I wish GM would start selling them here, especially the Ute's, and in their original form, not redone with smaller engines! I want to move to Australia just so I can work at Holden!!!

[michaelgt]

The Holden 4-door Ute is called the Crewman.See the picture. It is in the background.

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[Nervous_Dog]

That is sweet Merz! I wish I could have been there. My wife likes El Caminos and would love to have a Ute. I hope they bring it over here. Not to bust your chops, but the 5.7 liter isn't a Hemi. Hemi is a Chrysler thing. The 5.7 liter is GM's LS1 small block V8, same as in the 2004 GTO, SSR, and Corvette.

[DaddyVibeMI]

Very interested looking truck... They look sweet and cooler! What model chevy and oldmobile made look like that in late 70's and in 80's?? Something start with "e"....

[Pablo1669]

el camino

[Merzbow]

Yeah, you're right Nervous, it's not the Hemi. I forgot Holden is part of GM MichealGT, that is definately the right one, thanks for clarifying that for me

[redlava]

Ute's are bad (removed) cars. Got to ride in one when i went to Australia a few years ago. Let me tell you they get up and haul!!! Holden makes some great looking cars. Too bad some of there style doesn't make it over to the US very often. GM could use it in my opinion.

[ColonelPanic]

The Ute rocks man... I'd LOVE to see GM bring them over here, heck I may even be interested in buying one... Provided the price wasn't too steep. They'll never do it though, I bet... GM's half car/half pickup idea for us here in North America probably died along with the El Camino back in the late 80's, I'm afraid...

[redlava]

It might do pretty well over here if you think about it. You have the hauling room of a truck and the fuel economy of a midsized car. Like the Vibe you get the best of both worlds. That and it looks freaking sweet too.

[Raven]

The GTO is a Holden and it seems to have pretty much bombed in the US so I don't think they'll be too inclined to try it again. Mind you if the GTO had the old muscle car styling of the Ute it could have been a success story. If the GTO or Ute were available in Canada, I would jump on one and sell the Vibe in a heartbeat.

[Merzbow]

Hmmm, GTOs are everywhere around my town.