Could an SS 2-door coupe and a Sport Truck (aka El Camino) be on Chevy’s drawing board again?
With Chevrolet’s all-new SS 2-door NASCAR-model winning the Daytona 500 and the 4-door SS (in Pace Car trim), enthusiasts are clamoring for the checker-flag car to be sold in coupe form.
The classic Chevrolet marketing approach of “Race on Sunday, Sell on Monday” would seem ever so appropriate here.
And how about an El Camino version of the Chevrolet SS? A return of the beloved crossover would bring muscle car fans to rejoice.
Turns out, General Motors (GM) is already building them Down Under.
Yes, the good folks at Holden Ltd, a GM division based in Australia, seem to get all the fun toys.
Holden’s pickup/car hybrid is called Ute, and caters to a market segment that has been vacant far too long in the U.S; the El Camino was last built in 1987.
The Ute does indeed look like a 2-door Chevrolet SS... with a truck bed.
What about the return of an El Camino Super Sport? Sorry, North American drivers. Aussies already have an SS version, an option on the Z series. You can’t make this stuff up.
Remember, not too long ago the now-extinct Pontiac G8 4-door was released. While in production, GM had intended to revive the dormant El Camino nameplate, offering for the show circuit a G8 Sport Truck (ST). Originally a 2008 concept, the El-inspired vehicle was again based off the Holden Ute model from Australia at the time. There even was a public naming contest for the concept, yet GM brass still decided to keep the ST moniker.
Seemingly on the fast track to production, the whole Pontiac Division was swept under the rug in GM’s bankruptcy filing. Out went the ST concept.
Though the Chevrolet SS is a new model, it still is the heir to the G8, and an ST version would seem reasonable. Okay, a Super Sport Sport Truck (SSST) emblem looks and sounds more like Dodge Viper material…
In a bit of irony, the El Camino would be an option... on the SS. Backwards, yeah, but we’ll take it.
In recent years, the Camaro initially seemed to offer an advantageous platform for an El Camino iteration. However, a full-size model would likely be better able to accommodate a true Camino-size truck bed. The Camaro also sports an independent rear axle suspension, a bit too fancy for something so… utilitarian.
After all, utility is what the Ute, I mean, El Camino, is all about.
Chevrolet should give serious consideration to bringing a Ute version of the SS to U.S. shores.
Leave it to the official Holden website to tell Chevy fans what they're missing here: “Built to work. Designed for pleasure. The Series II Ute is everything you ever wanted.”
If only it weren't so true.
For more information on the Holden Ute, click here:
http://www.holden.com.au/vehicles/ute/exterior
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