Holden Maloo sighting in SoCal
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I was absolutely going to purchase a Pontiac G8 GT ST. Sadly it became unnecessarily stillborn. I even entered the naming contest Pontiac offered for the Ute. The eventual winner had to accept a sedan.
Visually the OP’s pic presents as a VE Series ll Holden SS Ute; the sportier Maloo variant belong to the different brand-name division of HSV (Holden Special Vehicles) wherein GM-Holden was a part owner, along with Walkinshaw.
HSV Maloo R8, note the extensive factory body kit including extended sail panel cap, rear brake ducts etc
![Tire Wheel Cloud Vehicle Car]()
Apparently there are (were?) a few US-based companies importing various models of Holden from Oz and converting to L/H/D, including wagons, previous (GTO type) etc.
lefthandutes.com
Hesitant to impose a Doug video, but if you can stand him..
The best thing about Holden Utes is they drive and perform like an actual car, because essentially they are one.
Personal opinion but I consider the Holden front clip (as in the OP photo) more attractive and design-sympathetic with the VE horizontal letterbox-type grille emphasising the low & wide, rather than that narrower and taller look of the vertically oriented Pontiac G8 beaver teeth.
HSV Maloo R8, note the extensive factory body kit including extended sail panel cap, rear brake ducts etc
Apparently there are (were?) a few US-based companies importing various models of Holden from Oz and converting to L/H/D, including wagons, previous (GTO type) etc.
Left Hand Utes USA
For the last two years, Left Hand Utes have been importing Utes into the U.S. and converting them to LEFTHAND DRIVE! Our Left Hand Utes are converted by stripping the Ute to bare body. We replace the firewall and rebuild the car from components using all AMERICAN standard parts from the Pontiac...
lefthandutes.com
The best thing about Holden Utes is they drive and perform like an actual car, because essentially they are one.
Personal opinion but I consider the Holden front clip (as in the OP photo) more attractive and design-sympathetic with the VE horizontal letterbox-type grille emphasising the low & wide, rather than that narrower and taller look of the vertically oriented Pontiac G8 beaver teeth.
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/sigh The one that got away....
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Maybe if the Zeta cars had gone into serial production in North America, we would have been offered all the variants. Coupes, sedans, wagons, utes, whatever. Utes were always the least likely. When the elCamino was available, it didn't sell very well, so it's a tough sell for corporate.
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Riverside, I wanted to pull over and talk to him, but that would have been weird...haha
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Some designs get dated. Not this one....looks as good today as it did then.
I do like Holden’s VE long-door Ute, using the Coupe 60 doors plus frameless side glass
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Oh, I thought you said MAGOO at first. Seemed like an odd model name, unless it's a car for extremely nearsighted people.
mr magoo - Google Search
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Too bad they didn't see fit to give us one. Would have made a proper El Camino even... maybe.
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Blame the chicken tax for you guys not getting the ute. It made it totally uneconomic.
Remember the most publicly promoted selling point from the ‘pro FTA with the USA’ brigade was to elimination their protectionist chicken tax? Which as the headlines shouted, this would finally allow us unfettered export of our dinkum Aussie Holden Utes to the land of the free, considerably improving our balance of trade!
The timing was perfect, apparently. But we all know how it worked out for us mugs. Turns out all those Murdoch newspapers were singing the wrong tune, again! Our pre-FTA surplus quickly degenerated into another trade deficit, fancy that?
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