What is the Holden UTE comparable to in the US

[barrym]

I live in the US near Washington DC and only recently seen my first picture of the Holden Ute and it was the Camaro conversion. I thought it looked great. Looked like a musclecar. A Camaro pickup, seemed like a great idea. Looked a bit smaller than the Chevy El Camino and had a sexy roofline.
Ive seen some of the other Ute pictures on the Galleries and some even have Chevrolet emblems on them. Then I found out it could be had with an LS engine. Wow! That should make quite a Hot Rod.

Ive known about Holden for years and I know GM has some part in it but thats about all I know.
Can somebody give me some idea of what size a Ute is and where I can find out more about them. Im trying to get some idea what Im looking at and how to compare it to what I see in the States.
Thanks
I look forward to your reply.
Barrym

[bozodos]

a ute is about the same size as a regular Commodore ;)

have a look here in regards to the VF model http://www.holden.com.au/cars/ute

The HSV Maloo is generally regarded as the ultimate iteration of the ute - what were you trying to find out in particular?

AFAIK there isn't any direct equivalent in the US, you guys all have the more commercial style 'pick up trucks'.

[XUV]

size wise the Chevrolet SSR might be the closest .

[CLUBRED]

Skip to about 5:15 if you can't wait.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC6LAGFm4d8

[VH-COM]

Ute is built on long wheelbase - same as Caprice ... but body length is shorter than Caprice.

Ute and Caprice wheelbase = 3009mm
Commodore Sedan wheelbase = 2915mm

[csv rulz]

Ute is built on long wheelbase - same as Caprice ... but body length is shorter than Caprice.

Ute and Caprice wheelbase = 3009mm
Commodore Sedan wheelbase = 2915mm

Wasn't that only pre VE?? I was under the impression since VE it was based on the Commodore SWB & not the Caprice LWB

[VH-COM]

^There were rumours to that effect before the VE ute release ... but it came out LWB. :)
Sportwagon is based on SWB.

http://www.caradvice.com.au/compare-specs/pc413e-holden-commodore-evoke/pcs13e-holden-ute-/

[Jag530G]

Wasn't that only pre VE?? I was under the impression since VE it was based on the Commodore SWB & not the Caprice LWB

No, the ute is LWB, wagon is now SWB with the VE.

To the original poster Pontiac did look at importing the Ute as the G8 ST (IIRC) but it got canned in the death spiral of GM in 2009.

Think of the ute as a modern day El Camino, a sedan based pick up.

Cheers, Matthew

[csv rulz]

There you go, always something new to learn. For some reason I thought it and wagon were both swb after VE.

[Troutman]

There is a guy who imports commodore ute bodies and re-bodies Pontiac G8s including LHD conversion. I can do some further digging around if you're interested.