Jalopnik
God only knows what else may be going on in the world because we're busy here bringing you the latest in El Camino goodness for today's Maximum El Camino Day celebrating the new 2010 Pontiac G8 "El Camino" sport truck. However there may be some dissent in the ranks on the name, or at least there's been some comments to that effect so far. So we guess the question for today is probably pretty obvious given the nature of the discussion we've seen so far on this extremely important subject.
We're obviously pushing the "El Camino" name pretty hard and there's a reason for it. We spoke with the guys over at the National El Camino Owners Association (NECOA), we spoke with Mike Levine over at PickupTruck.com, the guys at GM and we spoke with each other. I feel like the right name was chosen, but now it's time to hear from you — was the right name chosen for Jalopnik to push as the name for the new ute?
***Remember to go and vote today for "El Camino!"
Comments
Why not Boomerang or Didgeridoo?
El Camino and no other.
maybe Le Camion
haha
No matter what you decide to call it, it will always be an El Camino in my eyes.
The Road
Dear God, yes. Who gives a rat's ass if it's not a Chevy? Like there's any difference between most of their models, anyway.
El Camino all the way.
Why not just Pontiac Ute?
In Brooklyn, it'll seem like "Youth" (thanks, My Cousin Vinny) and everywhere else it'll sound like it was just named for a Native American tribe, like Comanche or Cherokee.
Damn straight
Yes and no, and this hit me last night. Calling it an El Camino, RIGHT ON. But, Pontiac El Camino (I think beercheck or UDman make this a point) almost doesn't work.
Then it hit me, why the hell don't we call it the ute like everyone else?
I'm still for EL Camino.
Or El Sexo Caliete!
While I wouldn't object to "Ute," or "Coupe Utility," (that one should go over well with the marketing geniuses that won't call anything a wagon) I'd prefer "El Camino," because that's what it is.
Wombat?
G8 El Camino works fine. Just repeat it over and over.
Thou shalt bring no other name before me.
El Camino.
Hire me.
That is all.
Hire Hardy Shen too. But yes, this car is an El Camino. Well, sort of. It is totally Aussie. So I don't know how El Camino it really is. Hmmmm. Kinda saddens me to have an import be called an El Camino, even if it is made by GM.
But WTF else will it be called?
So yeah, El Camino. The country-of-origin of everything else we treasure has been torn to shreds already.
I don't like Ute/sport truck/utility/sports activity truck or anything "corporate" like that. It's too sterile. I'm sick of cars that don't evoke anything. What the hell is a Cadillac XLR? Is that a microphone input with a Cadillac crest on it? I have no idea.
Name it the El Camino and give hoons a righteous name they can be proud of.
No, and don't get too worked up over the name because they will never apply it the car.
If that's the best they can do.
But making it a Pontiac is bass-ackwards stupid in the first place, since Chevy Trucks have so much goodwill built up in the marketplace, and Pontiac Trucks have, well, zero.
I dunno, G8 Ute works for me...
@wookie1901: Koowallalunga.
@JSmith53: See, that's my thought on it. But some folks out there are die-hard Chevy purists. Of course, being a die-hard Chevy purist must really suck every time one sees an Aveo. Unless it's an Aveo jumping in a Michael Bay commercial.
Since it will be sold at Pontiac/GMC dealers: Caballero!
I don't think I've ever heard anyone refer to an El Camino as a "Chevy" anyway. Kind of like the Corvette, the model name stands alone, no matter what dealership you buy it from.
Pontiac Liftgate
Only the car-truck obsessed and the malaised will remember the name "El Camino". For the masses, the name's history has no meaning to them. The real question is, does the name resonate with target market for this vehicle? I'd say yes.
If it doesn't get named El Camino, I only hope GM doesn't continue with the current obsession of using outdoorsy/rugged names like Tahoe, Yukon, Trailblazer, Sierra, etc. That theme is played out. Find something else, and don't go Australian either. Americans needed character voices in Mad Max to be overdubbed since it was felt the Aussie accent was too foreign. "Ute" is a horrible name since no one around here uses that nickname for anything.
El Camino G8 also is fine. Why can't there be a Pontiac El Camino ? Other companies have moved nameplates from one division to another.
Lincoln Zepher/ Mercury Zepher
Plymouth Sebring/Chrysler Sebring
Plymouth Aspen/Chrysler Aspen
AMC Concord/Chrysler Concorde
This is just off the top of my head, I'm sure there are other examples.
Yes it is a GM product but call it for what it is, why do people hate SAAB 9-7x, they hate it because it is a rebadge. This is a Holden Commodore UTE so call it a Holden.
But I love it. I really do. The name doesn't matter. It could be named
Saturn-SAAB Vogue Fromage de la Concorde
I would still love it.
It is like Carmen Electra had the name Margret Thatcher....
It doesn't matter to a horny dragon.
How about calling it the Safari Sport?
[www.chevelles.com]
Its a a Pontiac, so its not an El Camino. and its not even really a Pontiac, its a Holden Ute...
While I like the idea of a New truck car, I am upset that Chevy didn't take some time to heritage style a new El Camino, like they did for the Camaro. This is another example of GM slapping a vintage badge on a car to sell it based on nostalgia feelings that name invokes.
No different than the Monte Carlo, Malibu, and Impala...
A Pontiac shouldn't be named "El Camino" it just doesn't fit... If they make an El Camino, it has to be Chevy.
Name G8 Ute, or something different.
el camino belongs elsewhere.
El Camino makes sense, but why would GM give this car a name when every other car is devolving into an impossible to remember soup of letters and numbers?
"G8 SUT" would be in keeping with the pickup hybrid nomenclature used elswhere in the GM lineup. But, then again, the "T" is for "Truck," I think, and this is a car.
So, unfortunately and with a heavy heart, I am forced to recommend G8 SUC. I wish GM had left me with some other choice.
Wait--I was wrong! In the Hummer and Escalade, the "T" is for the bed, and the "SU" is for the Sport Utility front end. So, this would be the G8 CAT. Much better.
What about the GMC Camino clones from back in the day? How about Sprint or Caballero?
@Paul Y. Rocks: I see one problem with that. Coupe Utility= C-Ute. Cute. No thank you.
How about just The Clinton?*
*Free Astroturf bedliner through April 30th!
Well now, they can hardly call it "Ranchero," can they?
@JantheMan: Yeah, too bad it can't be called a Holden. But that's obviously not going to happen.
@wkiernan: Put some truck nuts on it and call it Huevos Rancheros (or Pontiac HR)
Just as I had explained in the reveal post this morning....
El Camino
The Way
I am in favor of the Pontiac El Camino, for I do not just look at the name El Camino as a Chevrolet identity, but as a representative of what the El Camino was. El Camino is a household name for the car/truck in North America.
The best way I can clarify this is with another household name, Hulk Hogan. Now if his doofy son Nick were to insist on being referred to as Nick Bollea, the average person would say, "Nick who?" It's what's in that name "Hogan" that carries the weight of the fame, the legacy, and the identity of Rasslin's biggest name.
Hulk Hogan was the El Camino of his "sport" whether he was in the WWF or the WCW, the name stuck! Wrestling fan or not, someone asks you to name a professional wrestler, the number one answer guaranteed, Hulk Hogan. Car fan or not, someone asks you to name that car/truck thingy that was big in the 60's through to the 80's, the number one answer guaranteed,
Ute? Nope!
Caballero? Huh?
Ranchero? Not quite!
El Camino? O yeah, now I know what you're talking about!
GM needs people to identify with the product. Not Chev! Not Pontiac!
GM.
@Uncle_Bo:
[rant]
1- The El Camino is SO NOT FORGOTTEN, this is coming from a 17 year old, with 17 (+/-)year old friends. We all fuckin' love El Caminos! When a classic one is still around, the sucker turns heads. It's annoying to see you older gents think that use youngin's don't know about the El Camino. My friends who are up in their 20s (prime demographic for the thing) know perfectly well what El Camino is as well.
[/rant]
2-Tahoe, Yukon, Trailblazer, Sierra, all have their names tracing back to the 60s and 70s with the GM Trucks.
It's from Australia so give it an Australian name.
El Dingo
Seriously though, it should be called the G8 Ute.
SO, after we are beaten mercilessly with pickup-cars for a day or so, do we get a reprive? Will we not have to see any of these stupid creations for at least a week?
Pretty Please?!
@TexanIdiot25: by use, I mean US. Forgive El-Typo in the EL Camino rant. I'm Fresh outta bed!
Waltzing Matilda?
GM will NEVER call it the El Camino.
They will find some way to fuck up this car and kill it. Well, they already are.
I'd like it better with a chevy grill, I'm just not thrilled with the pontiac grill. But really can it be anything other than an el camino.?
CONTEST CLARIFICATION.....
the car will be called "The G8 _______________"
so if that name is El Camino....
it'll be The Pontiac G8 El Camino.
doesn't quite roll off the tongue as well.
plus, do you think there's a chance in hell that Chevy will give up the rights to THEIR name?
I still want them to just call it what it really is... The Mullet.
Business in the front, party in the back.
In all honesty, when I first saw the shots of it on here... the phrase "horrified" doesn't really describe my thoughts.
After discussing it with a few friends...
We all want one.
Seriously.
Really.
Me personally, I'd want it to make a new "Bubba Drift" car... and because you know it'll sell like shite when it hits the market and be a cult favorite in a decade or so.
Hoonamino
@PolishDon:
Hillman Avenger/Dodge Avenger
Edsel Villager/Mercury Village
Edsel Ranger/Ford Ranger
Edsel Corsair/Ford Corsair
Plymouth Voyager/Chrysler Voyager
Pretty solid argument as far as Ford and Chrysler moving names is concerned, but no real precedent for GM. If anything, Caballero would make more sense as Pontiac and GMC are now essentially the same division.
Leaving the El Camino nameplate free for a future Chevy might be a good idea in case the G8 version really takes off and inspires a round of profit-maximizing badge engineering.