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Goodbye-amino? Pontiac could kill G8 ST; become one-car brand

It's been a bad month for Pontiac fans. While begging for money from Congress, GM mentioned its intentions to sacrifice the brand to aid the General's recovery and get a few billion from the feds in the process. Now comes word that GM may keep the brand around, but cut its lineup in half... or more.

Automotive News spoke with Susan Docherty, vice president of Buick-Pontiac-GMC, who said that Pontiac's Aveo-based 2010 G3 will sticker for $15,000, but says it's a short-term product for the brand. Unfortunately, Docherty also hints the G8 Sport Truck's lifespan could be even shorter. "We would be foolish if we didn't take a second look at whether or not that is the right thing to do."
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posted : 12/22/2008 @9:01:12 PM
Happy 50th Birthday, El Camino!

Yesterday was a milestone that won't be celebrated with a special edition, or a new fender badge, or some stripe package. Yesterday was the 50th Anniversary of the Chevy El Camino. As Hemmings points out in its post acknowledging the milestone, the El Camino was preceded by the Ford Ranchero by two years. But when people think of car-based pickups, it's "El Camino" that pops right to mind as a generic descriptor -- like Band-Aid and Vaseline. It's kind of a pity that GM's waiting for the '10 model year to reintroduce the concept, and as a Pontiac, no less. What a missed opportunity. 2010 Pontiac G8 ST? Sounds so generic. 2009 Chevy El Camino? Yeah. That would've been cool. Maybe even worth a 50th Anniversary Edition badge, you know?
posted : 10/17/2008 @5:43:09 PM
VIDEO: Skyline R32-amino, wait... wha?

The Nissan Skyline R32 is a legend on the track and in the eyes of tuners around the world. There are legions of fans who have tweaked their R32s to go faster and move with more agility, but we don't think many have turned their precious Skylines into a Ute to obtain optimal drifts. Following the jump is video of a race-ready R32 that looks more Ford Falcon from Down Under than it does a super-tuned Nissan from the land of the rising sun. It may look beaten with an ugly stick, but it could be the only R32 that can hot lap a track and help a friend move in the same day. And it's a hella-good drifter, too. The video after the jump is English free, so if you have any Japanese language skills, let us know what they're saying in the comments section.
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posted : 10/15/2008 @9:45:02 PM
Officially Official: Pontiac G8 ST it is

We often go poking around General Motors' media resources, so imagine our surprise when we were searching for something totally unrelated and found fresh images of Pontiac's iteration of the Holden Ute. Still warm like just-baked cookies, the images show off a great looking dark-hued modern-day El camino. And for what do we deserve a new batch of G8 ute pics? They accompany word from on high that the official name for this trucklet has been decided. Meet the Pontiac G8 ST.You may remember that GM solicited submissions, or rather suggestions, for what the G8 ST should be named. But after months of waiting and however many submissions, the best they could do was G8 ST? That's the name they started with! Now we feel all cheap and used, like GM knew what they were going to call this thing all along. Whatever, it will be holding court as the king of awesome in your local Pontiac dealer's showroom in late 2009 as a 2010 model. The 74-inch cargo bed and 3,500 lb towing capacity will allow you to haul more than just ass, though the V8 will surely facilitate that nicely.
posted : 8/31/2008 @4:53:54 PM
Spy Shots: Pontiac G8 Sport Truck snapped in Australia

Two 2010 Pontiac G8 Sport Trucks were recently spied in Australia loaded on the back of a transporter. Although seemingly dipped in camouflage decals, the profile of this not-going-to-be-named-El-Camino is easily distinguishable, even without a clear shot of the obvious Pontiac grill. Previewed at the 2008 New York Auto Show, the G8-based Sport Truck will be powered by a 6.0-liter V-8 rated at 361 horsepower. It should scoot to 60 mph in just over five seconds. Those of us in North America can expect this cargo-bedded Aussie import to arrive on our shores in late 2009.
posted : 5/23/2008 @5:53:33 PM
Pontiac El Cami-"NO"

It comes as little surprise, but Cars.com has all but confirmed that the "El Camino" moniker has been nixed as a potential name of the new G8 Sport Truck. The site reports from a recent media event that a Pontiac spokesperson said that there was internal strife regarding use of the Chevy-associated nameplate on a Pontiac vehicle. Frankly, we agree with this decision. If GM wanted a legit El Camino, it would have simply handed the Ute to the Chevy division. GM has mismanaged its vehicle naming process enough as is -- one needn't look any further than Pontiac, where it's nuthin' but a "G" thang, baby... unless you're talking Vibe or Solstice. Way to be consistent, guys. Like everyone else, we're curious to learn what the badge applied to the G8 truck's tailgate will read, and it sounds like we should hear something fairly soon. Now, can we have another contest to give the G8 sedan a real name, too? Bonneville sounds nice to us...
posted : 5/9/2008 @5:29:10 PM
Pontoon Boat burning a hole in your pocket? Trade it for a JaguaRanger

Boats are typically thought of as a hole in the water into which you hurl money. It looks like this Craigslist seller realized that he was really after a boat only after sinking considerable time and money into an extensive automotive gene-splicing experiment gone horribly wrong. Take one Jaguar XJ, add half a Ford Ranger Splash, season with a carbureted 305 and stir in a steering wheel cover that's vaguely reminiscent of calimari. Bake only halfway, frost with black, and serve. In all fairness, the small, limited resolution shots on the listing show a vehicle that actually looks better turned out than the recipe for confusion stew might suggest. Whether it's truly nice, or just another 50/50 curiosity would be interesting to find out. At least you won't have to pay to dock it – and with the GM powertrain, it'll likely be far cheaper to maintain than the Evinrude on your pontoon boat.
posted : 4/10/2008 @1:26:46 PM
Rendered Speculation: The El Camaro

We're relatively certain that General Motors has no intention of reviving the El Camino nameplate. Fans of car-based trucklets should be happy that the General has given the green light to produce the Pontiac G8 ST and leave it at that. Of course, the mind wanders regardless and comes up with such interesting ideas as this, the El Camaro. While these renderings provided by Autoblog reader Bo Z are a bit stylized, we imagine that developing such a vehicle wouldn't require a large investment. Much like the G8 ST is simply the front end of a G8 sedan grafted onto the body of Holden Ute, the El Camero could be produced by doing the same thing with the front end of the new Camaro. We know, we know... new, more stringent CAFE regulations are right around the corner, the truck market is shrinking, etc. This is not the time to be dreaming of a Camaro with a bed. At least we've got Photoshop to help express our fanciful whims.
posted : 2/14/2008 @6:22:35 PM
ebay find of the day kaisercamino
While Ford was first with launching on the market with Ranchero of collection-cum-car, and EL Camino reached the universal statute of descriptor, like Kleenex, resembles to him Kaiser predicted the idea in 1954 with this single. Kaiser was one of many smaller independent which had to still die in far at the beginning of the Fifties. The independent ones were often more creators that large the three, pushing the innovation with the limited resources. This vehicle Special-based additional-special fôlatre badges of “Barris Kustom” on the B-Pillars, painting yellow-clearly frozen on the sides, and a continental underhood of L-head 6 of iron-irrific. You cannot set fire to the broad white in addition to wire of Kelsey Hayes with the 118 powers in horses, but it is certainly proportioned, even on the roads of today. The current offers amount to $7.300 for what resembles traditional a driveable. It' D is a vehicle interesting to push around with and to discover the source, and the history would be manner more amusing which “it is descended the line with Arlington one day. ”
posted : 9/9/2007 @4:57:34 PM
pontiac G8 ute a distinct possibility
Holden projects on proving to be the full capacity of 147.000 vehicles Zéta-based with his factory of Elizabeth in Australia of the south. Part of the increase in production can be allotted on imminent arrival of Pontiac G8, but there were references careful to import the VE Ute, which divides the platform of VE with G8. Bob Lutz mentioned desire to report to Ute in the USA per moment, and maintaining President Pacifique Nick Reilly of Asia of the GM made a couple of the careful references to GoAuto, filling of fuel the suspicion which we will see a VE with a bed outside behind here in the USA. more ...
posted : 9/7/2007 @8:18:40 PM
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