Photo: budgetdirect.com.au
Australian carmaker Holden survived several economic depressions, but it could not survive changes in how and why people bought cars. Earlier this year, owner General Motors announced that it was closing shop for good, leaving just enough behind to take care of its old customers.
The writing was already on the wall. Many other automakers pulled out of Australian manufacturing, most famously Ford and the big Japanese companies. What was left of Holden already looked like a shell of the old company, selling re-badged versions of European-style compacts.
The legendary utes that made Holden a household name were long gone. We're talking about things like the HSV Maloo, built by Holden's skunkworks division. It cost no more than your average family sedan yet still holds the world record for the fastest stock utility vehicle.
The Maloo is named after the aboriginal word for thunder, which is appropriate considering that's what the V8 sounds like. Today, the Australian website Budget Direct sent us their story about eight renderings of utes that eco the spirit of Holden, and we're only too glad to share.
Some of these make a lot of sense, as is the case with the Chevy Ute. Who can forget that America's version of the utility car is the El Camino? A Camaro with a truck bed probably wouldn't be very useful, but it might get the job done on a drywall project or delivering car parts.
Next, we have the Dodge Ute that immediately reminds us of the design challenge going on right now. Putting a truck bed on a Charger isn't very original, but at least you can dream about a Hellcat engine.
After that, things get a little crazy with exotic cars from Ferrari or Rolls-Royce being chosen for the ute transformation. Renault and Honda are two very popular brands with young Australian buyers, and they too are targeted. Finally, we have a Tesla pickup that's not so cyber but still quite exciting.
The legendary utes that made Holden a household name were long gone. We're talking about things like the HSV Maloo, built by Holden's skunkworks division. It cost no more than your average family sedan yet still holds the world record for the fastest stock utility vehicle.
The Maloo is named after the aboriginal word for thunder, which is appropriate considering that's what the V8 sounds like. Today, the Australian website Budget Direct sent us their story about eight renderings of utes that eco the spirit of Holden, and we're only too glad to share.
Some of these make a lot of sense, as is the case with the Chevy Ute. Who can forget that America's version of the utility car is the El Camino? A Camaro with a truck bed probably wouldn't be very useful, but it might get the job done on a drywall project or delivering car parts.
Next, we have the Dodge Ute that immediately reminds us of the design challenge going on right now. Putting a truck bed on a Charger isn't very original, but at least you can dream about a Hellcat engine.
After that, things get a little crazy with exotic cars from Ferrari or Rolls-Royce being chosen for the ute transformation. Renault and Honda are two very popular brands with young Australian buyers, and they too are targeted. Finally, we have a Tesla pickup that's not so cyber but still quite exciting.
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