AnthonyHSV

One thing that confuses me and I'm generalising based on previous comments. You guys prefer a 2 door coupe over a 4 door sedan, yet want 4 doors on a ute over a 2 door ute.

guionM

With the plan appearing to offer them as fully optioned, I'd say your numbers are likely pretty close. But although I'll freely admit my 5K number is a bit optimistic, I have no doubt that the market is there for a 30-35K annually if it is sold as a 3 level vehicle as the G8 was.

Here ya go. El Camino production numbers:

http://www.chevelles.com/elcamino/ec_total.htm

Trivia:

The first coupe-pickup was done by Ford of Australia back in 1932. Holden followed suit in 1935. Ford beat GM here in the US as well, bringing out the 1st Ranchero in 1957

The smaller downsized El Camino of 1978 actually had a higher load capacity than the bigger previous El Caminos.

El Camino production stopped in 1960 and resumed with GM's new lower cost intermediate body cars in 1964.

In 1985, the El Camino was moved to Mexico and continued to be sold in the US till 1987 (though the Malibu stopped production years earlier),

The B-body Caprice was to serve as the basis of a new El Camino in the late 90s (there was a production intent concept car making the rounds around '95), but the idea was scrapped when plans to move B-body production from Arlington Texas to Mexico were cancelled and the B-body was killed off.

Chevrolet was quite serious in bringing back the El Camino for some time. In the early 90s, they looked at creating one off of the midsized FWD platform, using the new Monte Carlo as the basis.

If it wasn't for the tarriffs on imported trucks, GM would have almost certainly imported the VT Ute soon after the turn of the century. While Holden was developing the VT, GM-NA had a small group of people there with the intention of creating spinoffs of the new Holdens for Buick and Chevrolet. They even looked into creating the 5th gen F-body off that chassis.

guionM

Don't worry, they confuse me too.

And I live here.

My understanding is that is more a combination of marketing dollars and focusing the public's attention.

In short, Chevrolet has a budget for marketing to divvy up amoung it's vehicles, and Chevy already has a lot of new models coming in a relatively compressed timeframe.

Assuming GM does give final approval and they start loading them on boats, an El Camino would be useful during a lull in new products in keeping the public's attention and excitement on Chevrolet.

But as long as you have Camaros, Volts, Cruzes, Malibus, (a short gap), Impalas, Corvettes, & Silverados all immediately after one another, who knows when Chevrolet might think they have a chance to fit something likely to make news and steal attention like "The Return of the El Camino" might make.








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guionM

Couple more Avalanche pictures.

Z28Wilson

I think it's because of the utility aspect of the Ute/El Camino. A lot of the utility that is gained by the bed is then lost when you can only carry two people.

I know a lot of people here still prefer sports coupes to sedans, but Ute is more like a sporty truck than anything - and even enthusiasts see a limited market for regular cab pickups.

AnthonyHSV

Still don't get it, you're more likely to take more then one passenger around in a sedan over a ute.

It's not really a truck. Especially the V8 SS model it's lowered and can't carry as much as the work models. It's a sports car that you can also take to the Electronics store and put your new Big Screen Plamsa TV in the back off.

OutsiderIROC-Z

I think this thing looks hideous...

ImportedRoomate

Not me. Above all, I want a V8 manual RWD "something", but I'm all about functionality. My dream car is a CTS-V wagon.

Your observation might also be the case because a coupe can still have a back seat, while the Ute doesn't.

Buttercup

Coupes are nice if you aren't constantly hauling people around but on occasion you need to. The ute would be nice if you aren't constantly hauling stuff around but occasionally you need to. An avalanche style ute would be great if you aren't constantly hauling people or things around but occasionally need to.

Ugly or not, I would buy an Avalanche type El Camino. It would be perfect for me. It would also have to have a manual transmission which is probably even less likely I won't buy a truck because I don't need the utility enough to put up with the cons and I won't buy a 2 seater for a DD because I do need the ability to haul people. Seems logical and straight forward

Tokuzumi

The belt line on the body and the bed do not match. For some reason, the 2 seater does not have that problem. I wonder why they couldn't use the same bed for the avalanche, as they used on the 2 Ute? Granted, that avalanche is from a previous generation.....

jg95z28

You are confused. I want a 2 door ute that seats four... just like a 2 door coupe does.

ImportedRoomate

Here it is without the previous gen Avalanche accessories. Its called the Crewman:

Buttercup

I'd consider that too, or suicide doors. The seats are what's important.

30thZ286speed

I remember the B-Body based (Impala SS) El Camino concept from the 90s. I also remember a Lumina Z34 based El Camino concept.




Of all the internet this is the only pic. I could come up with on the Lumina El Camino Concept.


Anybody remember the Chevrolet XT-2 Concept from the late 80s?

91_z28_4me

Let's not forget the recent GMC Denali XT concept was clearly zeta influenced and had 4 doors.