Posted by Samurai the world hasn't been the same since the El Camino died.

Look up the Holden Ute.

australia doesen't count =P

but if it did

http://www.ford.co...ame=Page&c=DFYPage

http://www.holden....entry?vehicleid=15

2 different truckcars in Australia!

And the states is getting a Pontiac version of the Holden in 2009

Posted by SoNaive australia doesen't count =P but if it did http://www.ford.co...ame=Page&c=DFYPage http://www.holden....entry?vehicleid=15 2 different truckcars in Australia! And the states is getting a Pontiac version of the Holden in 2009

Heh...they sell the Ute in South Africa as the Chevy Lumina.

Heh...they sell the Ute in South Africa as the Chevy Lumina.

I thought they only had the Sedan version.

Yeah the Lumina is just a rebadged Holden Commodore

But so is the Pontiac GTO in the states. it's a shame they used a classic name on such an ugly car

Posted by SoNaive I thought they only had the Sedan version. Yeah the Lumina is just a rebadged Holden Commodore But so is the Pontiac GTO in the states. it's a shame they used a classic name on such an ugly car

they are under a redesign as we speak, I saw some Pontiac concept drawings a while back and it looks like the 68-70 goat

Posted by Samurai to me a sporty car only has two doors. I don't care how stiff it is.

And to me a sporty car has and engine mounted in a sane, logical way. FWD is FTW in nothing but snow.

Posted by SoNaive I thought they only had the Sedan version. Yeah the Lumina is just a rebadged Holden Commodore But so is the Pontiac GTO in the states. it's a shame they used a classic name on such an ugly car

actually the GTO was a rebadged Holden Monaro and Vauxhall VXR.

Most Pontiacs in the US are rebadged Holdens. GMs too lazy to actually come up with something original. Same with the Chevy El Camino, that was a copy of the Holden Ute.

Posted by 90rock Most Pontiacs in the US are rebadged Holdens. GMs too lazy to actually come up with something original. Same with the Chevy El Camino, that was a copy of the Holden Ute.

Actually I beg to differ.
When you engineer a platform, you manufacture it for many different markets. In fact, did you know that the J-body was sold in Japan as a Toyota? Platform engineering is one the most cost effective ways to build cars. It's not laziness. It's the most effective way. Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi have all adopted this practice. And then after you come up with platform, you engineer it to have different variants, all wheel drive, sports.

Holden, as well as Vauxhall and Opel are all divisions of GM. You seeing my point? When Pontiac Division had decided to bring a 'prestige' model back, there were no RWD models in the United States. The Monaro was a logical choice to adapt. Also, Vauxhall cloned the Monaro as the VXR. Most of the heavy engineering for the Zeta platform was done in Australia and planned as a global platform. This practice cuts costs, gets rid of engineering bugs outside of your home market and shortens development time.

Did you know that the japanese companies always release their new cars in Japan first to get their engineering bugs out before they come to the United States and Canada? It was Japanese companies that taught America how to build cars like this.
The Chevy Cobalt and Pontiac Pursuit G5 were originally sold in Europe as the Opel and Vauxhall Astra. It was also sold in Australia as the Holden Astra. Go back to the Cavalier... that was sold as a Vauxhall Cadet, Toyota Cavalier...

Oh and...
The El Camino had nothing to do with anything Holden until very recently. The El Camino was premiered in 1959 sitting on the full-size GM chassis. The Ford Ranchero was also premiered around that time. The Ranchero was discontinued in the late 70's while the El Camino soldiered on until 1986-87.

Okay here's my list(in no particular order).....


1. Shelby Cobra 427SC
2. Ford GT40
3. Ford GT
4. 69-70 Ford Mustang Boss Nine (429)
5. Aston Martin (Vantage, Vanquish, whichever!)

Honourable mentions

1. 66 Shelby Mustang GT-350R
2. "Eleanor Recreation" Ford Mustang
3. 78 Ford Mustang King Cobra
4. 76 Mercury Grand Marquis Brougham 2-dr Sedan(460 baby!! Damn i miss that car)
5. 2008 Shelby Mustang (KR)

And i can go on and on and on....

Eleanor recreation? Hmmmmmmm, they build those right down the road from here.
meet Unique Performance!

You live down the road from Unique Performance?!?!? I'm coming to visit!! **drool**

Posted by chromehorse Honourable mentions 1. 66 Shelby Mustang GT-350R 2. "Eleanor Recreation" Ford Mustang 3. 78 Ford Mustang King Cobra 4. 76 Mercury Grand Marquis Brougham 2-dr Sedan(460 baby!! Damn i miss that car) 5. 2008 Shelby Mustang (KR) And i can go on and on and on....

i have a 78 Mustang II that is going to have a 428 CJ under the hood.
My father and brother love those big, mid-70's gangster barges... they built a hybrid 78-79 Thunderbird with a 429 CJ under the hood...

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The 80 Pinto I took to school with me in 1991:
The 78 Bobcat I had before that!

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The 84 Capri RS 5.0L that almost killed me:

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That's way cool! My first engine swap i did was installing a 302 into a Bobcat! Man, that thing surprised a lot of people!! lol! That was eons ago, i was 15 at the time! I love the old barges too. I have had four 75 to 78 Ltd/Marquis'. My baby was the 76 Grand Marquis Brougham. From the factory it had a 460, 4 bbl, dual exhaust, and four wheel disk brakes. It had every option except moonroof and telescoping wheel. There was enough leather in that car to outfit a biker gang!! I will try to post a pic once i get home this afternoon. But my true love has been mustangs. I haven't been without one for the last 22 years. Usually the second gen cars, ...basically because they aren't very common. Stuffing a 428 into one should be interesting. I'm assuming you are framing it? I shoe horned a 4V 351 Cleveland into a 78 Cobra II i once owned. That was one wild ride. I didn't use subframe connectors (i know, stupid move) and ended up breaking the welds in the rear quarters at the seams!!! I couldn't afford headers for it ($873 at the time) so i had a fabrication shop reroute the outlets on the cast manifolds, Now that's hotroddin'! lol! My Father had a T-bird similar to your Brothers. It was a 78 with a plain jane 302, old man beige paint and porno red interior!! God it was ugly!!! lol!

Posted by chromehorse You live down the road from Unique Performance?!?!? I'm coming to visit!! **drool**

come with it man! Hell yeah, only thing is they wont let you take pics of the shop. It is one of the nicer performance shops I have seen, its really like a production line. They have another property somewhere that has more project camaros mustangs and cudas than you have ever seen.

In a way it sucks cause they are grabbing every project they can get hold of and thus driving the prices up.

Posted by chromehorse That's way cool! My first engine swap i did was installing a 302 into a Bobcat! Man, that thing surprised a lot of people!! lol! That was eons ago, i was 15 at the time! I love the old barges too. I have had four 75 to 78 Ltd/Marquis'. My baby was the 76 Grand Marquis Brougham. From the factory it had a 460, 4 bbl, dual exhaust, and four wheel disk brakes. It had every option except moonroof and telescoping wheel. There was enough leather in that car to outfit a biker gang!! I will try to post a pic once i get home this afternoon. But my true love has been mustangs. I haven't been without one for the last 22 years. Usually the second gen cars, ...basically because they aren't very common. Stuffing a 428 into one should be interesting. I'm assuming you are framing it? I shoe horned a 4V 351 Cleveland into a 78 Cobra II i once owned. That was one wild ride. I didn't use subframe connectors (i know, stupid move) and ended up breaking the welds in the rear quarters at the seams!!! I couldn't afford headers for it ($873 at the time) so i had a fabrication shop reroute the outlets on the cast manifolds, Now that's hotroddin'! lol! My Father had a T-bird similar to your Brothers. It was a 78 with a plain jane 302, old man beige paint and porno red interior!! God it was ugly!!! lol!

My father has been a Ford guy since he was old enough to say Ford. In my life, my parents have owned a 69 Torino Talladega, 72 Torino Gran Sport, 77 LTD II coupe, 79 Thunderbird, 69 Mustang Mach 1, 83 Mustang GT, 84 Mustang GT 20th Anniversary Edition, 84 Capri RS 5.0L, 89 Mustang GT convertible, 78 Thunderbird, and a mint 64 Galaxie 500 convertible wiht 63,000 miles. My brother has a 67 Itasca Ford Mustang coupe with an FE 390, 3speed standard. For me, the Ford road ended at an 86 Merkur XR4Ti.... I've had a 71 Bronco halftop 4x4, 78 Mercury Bobcat, 78 F150 4x2 long box, 80 Ford Pinto, 80 Mercury Zephyr Z7 coupe, 84 Capri RS 5.0L and an 86 Merkur XR4Ti.

The Pinto was special because after college, I dusted the transmission in it and lunched the camshaft. It kept blowing #4 spark plug right out of the engine! I was going to order just another bread and butter cam, but got looking at the SVO catalog (back when it was SVO) and ordered a high lift-long duration circle track cam (I don't remember the specs on it, though). I also ordered a Holley 550cfm 2bbl, Accel distributor, MSD ignition box, Pacesetter header. Thrush glasspack, Ram racing clutch and changed it over to a 4speed manual I yanked out of a wrecked Pinto race car. The rear end was also changed for a 3.40:1 final drive out of a Pinto wagon... Added some Mustang wheels and GT emblems, and VOILA! Instant Pinto GT. And that little fucker would go! If I had kept it, I was going to go full out and install the powertrain out of an 86-88 Turbo Coupe.
That little Pinto surprised more than a couple 305 Camaros in it's time.

Remember the 255cid Mustangs in the early 80's? those little weak-kneed 4.2L V8's that Ford tried passing off in the stead of the 302?

Sam///////is it Chevrolet or is it Ford. Cant be both, lol j/k.

My mother's first car was a pinto. She used to drive it back and forth to Texas Tech. That is, until she got rear ended and it burned to the ground.

And what is the difference between a Bobcat and a Pinto. You got me, I have never even heard of a Bobcat.

Yeah, i remember the anemic 255! Used in 79 and 80 i believe. They are a bitch to try and get parts for. Kind of a repeat of history...64 1/2 Mustang originally had the 260 before it became the 289. You guys have had some nice friggin cars, man! I like the Torinos, although i've never had one myself. Did you happen to catch the ones on Barret-Jackson on Thursday? A Torino went for big money, then a Talledaga damn near was given away!! I just don't understand it sometimes. Lol! I can see how the Merkur stopped your attraction to Ford!! lol! You either love them or hate them. Although the XR4Ti can be a blast to drive. Your Pinto sounds like it was a nice car. Actually, i'm thinking of doing the Turbo Coupe conversion on a Mustang II for my daughters.

Busted, The difference between the Bobcat and Pinto was the Pinto was a Ford and the Bobcat was a Mercury, some cosmetic differences, but that was about it!

Here's some of the cars i have been telling you about....


This is my Marquis, street cam, aluminium holley intake, Holley 850 DP, Stainless dual exhaust, nice classic aluminium Slot rims.

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This is my 78 Custom 500, i started to do a street version of a classic Stock Car look for it, but ended up selling it.

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My 78 CobraII that i eventually stuffed the 351 Cleveland into.



My 78 Mustang II (which i still have in pieces), started as a 2.8l, swapped a stock 5.0 and then went to a built 306 and now converting to F.I.

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And this one i thought i would just throw in, my old 86 Daytona Turbo Z, Hybrid t3/t4, "direct connection" engine management, bunch of suspension mods. This thing cornered like it was on rails, although just don't hit a damn pothole!!lol

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Sorry for the quality of the pics, most of this stuff is older and pre-digital cam for me!!

I started out with Ford and realized the error of my ways and went to the GM camp! :P
I did have a dubious flirtation with Dodge, however. :P

I had an 86 Dodge Daytona Turbo Z... this car was possessed by satan. it was definitely a love-hate thing.

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and when I moved back from Tennessee, I bought an 86 Dodge 600 coupe for $300. That little car is still running to this very day.

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After that, I bought an 89 Dodge Shadow ES Turbo sedan for $100... it was too rotten to drive. I sold the car for scrap for $100. I don't have any pictures of that, but that car would move!

The Talladega my father had was sold about 10 years ago in pieces for $17,000. He had torn it down in 1980-81 to do a restoration and never finished it. I know he had gotten the very last actual Ford trunk lid and bumper for that car in the country!!! After those, its repro-city.