New Pontiac (?) El Camino
 

It does look pretty cool.

http://www.motortrend.com/features/a...rt_truck_look/

Somebody please kill that thing. I'll put that right up there with the Aztec, and I'll bet sales will be about the same.

Mike

i will never cease to be amazed. they actually did design something dumber looking than the aztec. hooray for them!

Another "truck" for someone who doesn't need a truck. I don't think they will sell many because it doesn't have a back seat. A "standard cab" pretender will have a limited market.

Driven one? ;)

Doesn't matter, if I don't like the way it looks, I won't buy it.

It's like the new Tundra, gobs of power, and interior room. Sat in one, and didn't like it and hate the looks. Doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with it, but it I don't like the way it looks, then there is no way I'm buying it.

Mike

In Detroit....
 

...I would guess that over 50% of the people who drive pickup trucks do not need a truck, instead using them as apparel like an Eddie Bauer jacket with hiking boots at the mall. Next few years will see this number come way down, with gas prices as they are. Tell me really how many people who have a Lincoln pickup really need to carry a load of really expensive manure around with them....

I bought a Ford pickup new in 1978 and although I used frequently it for carrying bicycles, found that a van suits my purposes way better.

Crossovers like this new Pontiac will take over a part of that "apparel" pickup market, for sure, especially for those guys who like fast vehicles. Sort of like the Chevy SSR, except at about 2/3 the price and 2/3 of the weight.

George

People bought the HHR. This will probably be more affordable.

Ford didn't toss anything in the ring to answer the HHR. I wonder if anything is on the boards for this? Fred?

Personally, I wouldn't want a two seater....unless it was just an extra vehicle.

Well they have this here:
http://www.pickuptruck.com/IMAGES/20...on/falcon2.jpg
But that won't make it stateside... I can tell you categorically there won't be an answer from Ford until at least 2013 (thats if they want to answer).

The HHR is the 4 cyl PT Cruiser thing; the SSR is the 3-ton Trailblazer wearing the vintage hotrod costume...I do know a guy with the SSR; he drives it in bad weather when he doesn't want to take his Viper out.

Yep...my bad. Their alphabet messes me up....I knew it didn't look right when I typed it.

:-X15

I agree. That is why about 60% of the truck sales are 4 door. A 2 door "truck" won't carry the groceries in the dry or carry the kids to soccer practice. I found it difficult to find a standard cab opioned out the way I wanted it. The standard cabs I found were usually plain Janes intended for work. I wanted to look at a standard cab of the big 3 and Toyota. I had to drive 150 miles to the next state to find the nearest standard cab Toyota SR5.

i wonder if car people complain of people driving cars "who do not need a car".

4 door trucks are great because if a family is going to buy one thing, which is all many can afford, why not buy something that can do everything? sure they may use it mostly for daily driving, but they can also safely haul people, things, tow, go off road in a park, etc... something that an overpriced camry won't do. plus it will last longer doing it and most of all, have real resale value when reselling it.

they gained popularity because the market was screaming for a shortbed heavy duty truck that was extended or crew cab. not everyone needs an 8 foot bed, but they may need some inside room. i know i could have used some inside room plenty of times when i owned my 1995 f350 reg cab.

Ummm....seems to me that the answer all along, aside from the "looks macho" factor, has a type of truck called a "van". For most families, a minivan is the ideal vehicle. For those that need to tow, the old Astro/Safari vans were about right--RWD minivans. My own needs have been taken care of for the last 22 years by full-size vans, which haul people, things, tow, go off-road in a park, etc. just great.

The only real use for a pickup truck instead of a van is carrying gravel or manure, neither of which I need to do. And I have used a big van as a commuter vehicle for a lot of years, although I've now got a small car (a little station wagon) for when I don't need to burn quite so much gas....

Of course, the whole "soccer mom" bad rap thing on minivans has forced people into things like Expeditions, which have less room inside than a Freestar and which use 50% more gasoline. But, like the locomotive-sized huge pickups that people drive empty most of the time, the Expeditions "look cool."

For what it's worth, have you checked the resale prices on Camrys compared to big trucks lately? Not that I'm into Camrys...

yea, i have checked and think they (camry) are way overpriced as i stated before and trucks hold their value just fine, i am glad i got my explorer for cheap from idiots freaking over gas prices.

vans are ugly, that is why suvs took the market by storm. call it macho factor or whatever, americans like nice looking cars. van for the most part are not.

this whole dogma around people driving trucks is ridiculous. no one in this country needs to justify anything they buy. it is laughable in such a consumer driven society that now people would need to justify the purchase of a car.

not that people can't question it, but to even compare an suv or truck to a van is ridiculous. you may be fine with a van, i wouldn't be caught dead in one. most people's needs can be handled by a corrolla or fiesta given what type of car most of the rest of the world drives.

trucks are cool, trucks can do many things, people never know what they will be doing 5 years from now. i went from towing with my truck in construction, to daily driving when i joined the Navy, to off-roading and towing my jeep years later in the Navy. i could not imagine swapping cars all the time as my interest change.

and again, minvans are ugly, thats why they are not popular, americans like good looking cars. if it was all about point A to point B driving, then people would not car about looks at all and we would have one style, like the ugly ass russian lada. which by the way seems to fit millions of people's needs just fine.