Jalopnik: Pontiac El Camino

Report: 2010 Pontiac G8 ST Delayed, Possibly Cancelled?

The Auto Insider — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 13:30:00 EST

Oh noes, say it ain’t true. Automotive News reports this morning GM's reconsidering launching the Pontiac G8 ST in 2010 and may scrap our modern day El Camino all-together. More »

Pontiac G8 ST El Camino To Get Direct-Inject V6

Ben Wojdyla — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:40:00 EDT

El Camino To Get Direct-Inject V6" alt="Click here to read Pontiac G8 ST ~~El Camino~~ To Get Direct-Inject V6" src="http://cache.jalopnik.com/assets/images/12/2008/08/2010-Pontiac-G8-ST-V6.jpg"/>

Sources at GM are beginning to whisper that the ~~2010 Pontiac G8 El Camino~~ Pontiac G8 ST will be getting a version of the direct injection V6 present in the Cadillac CTS. First to tell us a two-engine plan for the new ~~El Camino~~ G8 ST was a real possibility was Pontiac marketing director Craig Bierley, who told us the option was "absolutely on the table." Now Edmunds' site always with the exclusive Inside Line on happenings at the General claims it's more than likely not just a possibility, but a reality. More »

"El Camino" Name Is Still Alive For The Pontiac G8 Sport Truck

Ray Wert — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:55:53 EDT

Despite a report from KickingTires.com two months ago that "El Camino" was officially out as a name for the new ute from Pontiac, we're now being told by Pontiac spokesman Jim Hopson the name is still very much in the mix. What reason there may have been for this change? Unknown. But all we do know is if the chance still exists to bring back the "El Cam" — to any GM brand — we're in full support of it. What we're not in support of — dropping a V6 between the rails. More on that below the jump. More »

2010 Pontiac G8 Sport Truck, Down Under

Ben Wojdyla — Fri, 23 May 2008 13:20:00 EDT

Despite the small size of the image, it appears the 2010 Pontiac G8 Sport Truck has moved on from cobbled together show car to pre-production tester. A forum member over at GM Inside News spotted these camouflaged (why?) cars around Melbourne and snapped one off before the driver made a speedy getaway. The grille on the bottom car looks Holden-like to us, but maybe the top one was the Pontiac, or maybe our eyes need to be tested. Is it wrong to want to liquefy those tires as part of the break-in procedure? [GMInsideNews] More »

El Camino Nameplate Probably Dead

Matt Hardigree — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:00:00 EDT

Friend, Romans, Cotomer Sevis Representatives, lend me your ears; I come to bury the El Camino badge, not to praise it. The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their frames; so let it be with the El Camino. The noble Bob Lutz hath told you El Camino hath instant name recognition, if it were so, it was a grievous fault, and grievously hath Lutz answer'd it. Here, under leave of Lutz and the rest — for Lutz is an honorable man. So they are all honorable men. More »

The Problem With The Pontiac G8 El Camino

Ben Wojdyla — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:30:00 EDT

We love the idea of the 2010 Pontiac G8 El Camino, this much goes without saying, but there's been a lot of hemming and hawing about the long term viability of the product from a business perspective. Motor City Blog Man Todd Lassa has a theory on the General's strategy and it kind of makes sense to us. Remember when we all went a little batty at the prospect of a G8 Wagon and then it got canned — kind of? Well Todd got to thinking about the wagon and the El Camino, and mixed in a little marketing strategy from GM's cross town rivals at Ford and came up with an idea: More »

Wards Ignores Jalopnik At Epicenter Of El Camino Campaign

Ben Wojdyla — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:45:00 EDT

Seems Wards Auto noticed our little campaign to resurrect the El Camino moniker for the 2010 Pontiac G8 sport truck, even going to far as to quote Bob Lutz's response to our question at the New York Auto Show. But when it came time to assign a location from which the hootin', hollerin' and shoutin' was emanating from, the best they could come up with was a vague pointing in a direction other than them. Although they were able to see the tens of dozens of press walking through the show wearing our "Vote El Camino Today!" pins, they apparently missed the name Jalopnik printed right underneath it. But at the very least they think our campaign has been "skillful": More »

50 Cent Thinks "El Camino" Isn't Cool, Will Cheat To Elect Pontiac G8 "Curtis"

Mark Arnold — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 18:15:00 EDT

Continuing our coverage of the Pontiac G8 Sport Truck ~~ballot bowl~~ naming contest, 50 Cent has announced that he is officially endorsing his own name, "Curtis," for the name of the new ute. This comes as no surprise to our ~~best political team on television~~ hack team of — well, hacks — despite Bob Lutz's unofficial endorsement of "El Camino." Remember, if you haven't already, vote "El Camino" today! More »

Commenter Of The Day: Page Six Edition

Matthew DeBord — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 18:00:00 EDT

They say you haven't really arrived in New York until you've made it into a certain tabloid. Which sells for less than a buck. And was founded by Alexander Hamilton. And is at least glanced at by just about everyone in town. And likes big headlines. Big loud headlines. This publication is fun, more fun much of the time that the Big Apple's more reputable "paper of record." The Jalopnik commentariat knows this. Which brings us to our COTD. More »

New York Times Goes Negative On Jalopnik El Camino Campaign

Ray Wert — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 12:00:00 EDT

The New York Times's Lawrence "Lars" Ulrich took a swing at pithy commentary on the 2010 Pontiac G8 "El Camino" sport truck today, deciding to heap the bed full of liver-lilied liberalism and haterade. To wit:

"Who exactly was clamoring for a two-seat, gas-guzzling pickup with the cheapest-looking interior this side of a Motel 6?"

Who? Well, us for one. But we wouldn't expect Ulrich to understand anything about a vehicle... More »

Bob Lutz Is On Our Side! Thinks 'Pontiac G8 El Camino' Name Is Great Idea

Ben Wojdyla — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:21:05 EDT

As you know we were just present for the live reveal of the 2010 Pontiac G8 El Camino here at the New York Auto Show. After diving into the press scrum that surrounded Bob Lutz after the unveil, we managed to ask him the most important question of the day - What do you think about naming the the car the "El Camino". After handing out dozens and dozens of "Vote El Camino" buttons today, including to the live band the "Young Lords", various press and peeps, and to Mr. Lutz himself, we just had to know the answer. Maximum Bob's response both surprised and delighted us. More »

2010 Pontiac G8 El Camino, Revealed Live!

Ben Wojdyla — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 11:45:43 EDT

We had a caminogasm over the weekend when we dropped pics and press on the More »

2001 Holden VU S Completely Roo Proof, Possibly Dekotora Inspired

Ben Wojdyla — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 18:00:00 EDT

If you want a peek into the end-of-life future of the Pontiac G8 Utes to come, here's a good idea what kids in the heartland will be doing with the almost El Camino after it does the 1 lap of depreciation. This example for sale in Oz is going for approximately $21,954 USD, but it's still redneck-tastic. We'd be lying if we said in our younger days, half our friends didn't have aftermarket bumpers like this on their trucks, so we know the motivation for installing guards like this - primarily deer, or in this case kangaroos. More »

926 HP Holden Ute: Blueprint For An Epic Pontiac G8 El Camino

Ben Wojdyla — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:45:00 EDT

Considering everything under the skin of the new Pontiac G8 El Camino sport truck is basically a Holden Ute, it stands to reason all the modifications done to this truck-car could be done to our sport truck. How would you feel about a 926 HP El Camino? We would feel pretty good about it, all seven seconds we drove it before planting it into a wall somewhere. The mega-hoons at C.A.P.A. Performance who build this baby really understand the idea of Maximum El Camino Day - it's every day of their lives.
More »

Does "El Camino" Work For The New Pontiac G8 Sport Truck?

Ray Wert — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 11:40:00 EDT

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. More »

First Driving Video Of The Pontiac G8 El Camino Sport Truck...Sort Of

Mark Arnold — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 11:00:00 EDT

What's that? You're wondering if the production version of the newly-revealed Pontiac G8 El Camino is functional? Well here's the proof: exclusive, raw, uncut video of the G8 sport truck in action from our exclusive, raw, uncut photo shoot with the new ute. We suggested they do a nice smoky burnout for the photo shoot, but seeing as they'd literally just attached the hood to the production prototype for the first time mere hours ago, they were having none of that. Maybe they're saving the rubber for doing donuts on the New York Auto Show floor? Our guess is probably not, but it sure is nice seeing a prototype that isn't being pushed around by men in white gloves. Just listen to that 6.0-liter V8 purr. More »

Maximum El Camino Day: We Celebrate The Pontiac G8 Sport Truck, Return Of The "El Camino"

Ben Wojdyla — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:30:00 EDT

If you happened to be under a rock all weekend, you may have missed our official unveil of the Pontiac G8 sport truck (soon to be the Pontiac G8 El Camino - remember to get over and Vote El Camino!) for all the world to see. If you're a site regular, you know this is kind of a big deal. Given that, we decided one measly midnight post on a Saturday wouldn't cut it for a site like Jalopnik, so we're going nuts and declaring it Maximum El Camino Day today. We had so much fun with Maximum Wagon Day that this seemed like the only logical way to celebrate the greatest thing to ever happen to our world of car-truck-crazy enthusiasts. Stay tuned for the rest of the day for all manner of -camino, -chero, -ampage, or other suffix-style truck-car delights. Just follow along at the Maximum El Camino Day tag for all the fun before we see the official in-person reveal of the new 'merican-Mex hybrid later this week at the New York Auto Show. More »

2010 Pontiac G8 Sport Truck: The El Camino Is Back!

Ben Wojdyla — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 00:01:01 EDT

A few weeks ago we, along with our friends at PickupTruck.com, were given exclusive access to a vehicle whose return we've been anticipating for what seems like forever. Today our prayers to the General have been answered — the El Camino is back! In January we reported this re-bodied Holden Ute would be called the 2010 Pontiac G8 ST, and like a Phoenix rising screamin' from the ashes of a bygone era of car-platformed trucks, this new heir to the truck-car throne would emerge from the over-built and over-spec'd world of modern haulers. Just like the Phoenix, this business-up-front and party-in-the-back sport truck looks a little younger, a little more refreshed and has a bit more hawkish figure, but don't be fooled by the disguise. If we play our cards right, it may end up retaining the legendary king of truck-car names, El Camino. That's right, more important even than the return of the truck-car to the General's fleet, is the news that this car will not be called the 2010 Pontiac G8 ST. In fact, they don't have a name. Instead, you are going to be able to help choose what GM calls it. That's right, enthusiasts across the country can have a hand in giving this sport truck back the name it so rightfully deserves - a name which still dances on the breeze and lives in the heart of every red blooded hoon — "El Camino". With this in mind, we're beginning our campaign here and now to call this wondrous segment-bender the 2010 Pontiac G8 El Camino sport truck. Hit the jump for more on the Pontiac El Camino.
More »