[1]America doesn’t have much to be envious of, even now during times of economic hardship. We’re still the most prosperous country in the world, and Detroit has rebounded in a big way, especially when it comes to muscle cars. But there is one country that has muscle cars that make even us Americans look on with envy, and that is Australia. One of their most cherished automotive traditions is the muscle truck, also known as a ute. We can’t get them here in America… unless you have the right connections.
Up on eBay [3], you wouldn’t expect to see a Holden Ute for sale in America. Yet there is one, and it has even been converted to left hand drive.
[4]
The Holden Ute actually has a lot in common with the now-deceased Pontiac G8, and there was even briefly talk of bringing over a Pontiac-badged Ute to America. But then GM declared bankruptcy, shed a bunch of brands, and that was that. While the rumor of a return of the El Camino has cropped up again, we aren’t going to hold our breathe waiting for it.
However, this eBay auction represents a unique chance to buy a car that pretty much nobody else has over here. This is an older model, from 2004, and it is equipped with an automatic and an LS1, so it’s not exactly the most modern muscle truck out there. But you aren’t likely to run into another one anytime soon either. The left hand drive conversion was done using authentic parts from the factory LHD Ute (sold in countries other than Australia.) It has even passed 50 state emissions requirements according to the seller, so you could take this bad boy anywhere. Exclusivity isn’t cheap, but we’d say in this case, it’s well worth it.
[5]