PickupTruck.com drives the Holden VE Ute

Alex Nunez — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 11:33:00 EST

Filed under: Performance, Truck, Holden, Australia

Our friends at PickupTruck.com have posted a "first drive" report on the new Holden VE Ute, and from the sounds of things, we really, really want Bob Lutz's GMC Caballero idea to come to fruition. The wheelman for PickupTruck.com was Aussie scribe James Stanford of GoAuto, and in addition to giving us the particulars about the slick, car-based pickup, he also gives us a quick backgrounder on Australian utes in general. It's interesting. For example, while Utes cost less and seat fewer humans than the sedans they're based on, they actually have better resale values. Where many people use the El Camino as a punchline here in the US, in the land of Oz, that's simply not the case. The Ute is a desirable vehicle Down Under, and it can be infused with a healthy dollop of badassedness.

The VE Ute makes no bones about its light-duty nature, with the SS boasting a peak cargo capacity of just a smidge over 1,300 pounds (less still if you go for the killer-looking 19" wheels). This isn't a shortcoming, however, as three-fourths of Holden Utes sold are sport-oriented, anyway. In this department, the VE Ute brings the goods, pumping out 362 horses in V8-powered SS trim via a six speed transmission (manual or automatic). Rear tires can be incinerated at will if that's your flavor, but the suspension is tuned so that attacking the curvy stuff's as fun as testing the Ute's straight-line capabilities. We won't steal the PickupTruck.com's thunder, beyond that. For the nitty gritty, you need to check out the review for yourself. Then, cross your fingers and hope that this Aussie beast follows its sedan cousin over here sometime in the future.

[Source: PickupTruck.com]

PickupTruck.com drives the Holden VE Ute originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 25 Sep 2007 11:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ute's da man! More Holdens in Michigan

Alex Nunez — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 14:07:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Misc. Auto Shows

Reader Patrick McCarron sent us a link to the LS1GTO.com Forums, where one of the posters there uploaded a few shots of a pair of Holden VZ Utes that took part in the fun at the Woodward Dream Cruise. The Ute shown above appears to be the hot-rodded HSV Maloo R8 version, and the one you'll see after the jump is is the regular SS Ute.

All we can think if is how cool they'd look with El Camino badging. Do the pics mean anything? Nope. There's no plan at all to bring this thing over. Still, the Ute is mighty cool. Imagine the sheer badassedness of it all if both it and its Aussie-market rival, the Ford Falcon Ute, were to come here and rekindle ElCo vs. Ranchero...

Thanks for the link, Partick!

[Source: LS1GTO.com forums]

Continue reading Ute's da man! More Holdens in Michigan

Ute's da man! More Holdens in Michigan originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 27 Aug 2006 14:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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