Is it time to bring back the El Camino?

"tama Z71" over at the GM fansite Cheers & Gears makes a solid argument for bringing back something along the lines of Chevrolet's classic El Camino, which of course was a midsize RWD car with a pickup bed where the trunk normally resided (GMC had a much lesser-known version called the Sprint). Such a vehicle already exists in Holden's line-up as the Ute, and there was talk to bring that model into the US (that died down with the GTO's lack of showroom success). Personally, I'm not interested the whole car-pickup concept, and it's already possible to get a compact truck that outhandles most cars, but it's clear to most in the industry that niche-market vehicles are the future of the industry. Such a vehicle might stand a chance of attracting maybe 25,000 dedicated buyers every year. It could be said that in everything but price, such a vehicle is already offered as the Chevy SSR, and that vehicle might have performed much better if it was priced and marketed towards this segment (or at least offered in an inexpensive version without the folding hardtop).

Share This Photo X