[1]It is hard to consider the loss of Pontiac a good thing, unless you’re strictly a Chevy fan. Historically, Pontiac was always the General’s performance brand for everyman, but with it gone Chevy has taken up the slack. Former Pontiac machines like the G8 sport sedan will likely come back to America wearing bowties, and this could hold true for another G8 derivative, the G8 ST, or “Sport Truck.”
Jalopnik [2] says they hear from three sources within GM that management is seriously considering bringing the Commodore-based Ute formerly known as the G8 ST to the US as a Chevrolet El Camino.
People, including us, were excited at the idea of a Pontiac El Camino. It was a surprisingly enduring brand of car, surviving the uproarious ‘60’s, tumultuous 70’s, and the drug-infused 80’s. Bringing it back as a LS-powered sporty half-truck seemed like a great idea, and then GM pulled the plug on Pontiac, and most Aussie imports like the G8 sedan and ute along with it.
It could come back as early as 2014 as a 2015 model, possibly based on the next-generation Alpha platform slated to underpin the 6th-gen Chevy Camaro and Cadillac ATS and CTS. GM sells Chevy-badged sport Utes across the world, including Australia, the Middle East, and South Africa, where a LupiniPower recently tuned a “SuperUte” [3] to 535 horsepower.
We’re excited at the prospect of the El Camino coming back, and the Camaro is set to outsell the Mustang for the first time in 25 years, showing that there is still a very strong interest rear-wheel drive sport vehicles. GM is working on all sorts of technology including a new 5.5 liter V8 and a turbocharged V6, either of which we’d be happy to have under the hood of a new El Camino. Bring on the rear-wheel drive, GM.