Holden Ute Series II SS V8 Arrives in Carscoop’s Garage

Our man Tristan has snagged the keys to a Holden Ute Series II SS V8 model for a first drive in Queensland, Australia this week, and just to make it a bit more interesting, he’ll be driving the Down Under-flavored El Camino to a classic car gathering in Brisbane.

Blurring the line between cars and trucks, the Holden Commodore-based sport pickup comes from a long line of Utes dating back to the middle of the previous century. The Ute almost made it to North America when Pontiac revealed the G8 Sport Truck at the 2008 New York Auto Show, but GM’s growing financial troubles at the time put a stop to that plan, and eventually the brand itself which was discontinued in 2009, and finally shut down in 2010.

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VIDEO: Pontiac GTO Barks up the Wrong Tree at Houston Coffee and Cars Event

You can find one at every car event – you know, the show off type that ends up getting more attention than he bargained for. At the Houston Coffee and Cars event that took place on April 2, that special someone was the owner of a red Pontiac GTO (the Holden Monaro based model). The GTO driver tried to make a cool exit out of the corner but lost control of the Goat hopping over a curb and into a tree. No word if the killer shoe heel is a suspect for this latest mishap…. Watch the crash and the aftermath in the videos after the jump. Read more »

It Came from eBay Hell: The Porsche “Carriero GT”

I swear the Fiero Owner’s Club of America is not paying my salary, it just appears that way. Here we have yet another stunning replica based on that most prestigious of U.S. motoring icons: the Pontiac Fiero. GM’s indefatigable plastic-bodied, mid-engined two seater has gone on to become the underpinning of many a dodgy European thoroughbred imitator. Today’s target is the Porsche Carrera GT, perhaps one of the greatest cars to come out of Germany in recent years.

Our seller’s “Carriero GT” features a rebuilt engine and transmission (never a good sign in this sort of car) with the car said to have covered 6,900 miles since then.

The seller will have more than enough once he sells this beautiful and quality replica for the low, low price of US$21,500. Don’t believe me? The seller himself says, “THE PICTURES SHOW THE BEAUTY AND THE QUALITY BUILT INTO THIS REPLICA.” And you can really see it too, from the awkward body mouldings, botched-together interior and Costco brand fog lights.

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Study Shows What Brands Captured the Interest of Pontiac Owners in 2010

A new survey from RL Polk & Co. suggests that most Pontiac owners who bought a new car in 2010 chose a product from General Motors. More specifically, of the 57,641 Pontiac customers looking to replace their car, GM was able to recapture 53.3% of them, with 33.5% being a Chevrolet vehicle, 11.7% a GMC, 6.7% a Buick, and 1.5% a Cadillac model.

A significant percentage of buyers defected to the Ford brand, which ranked 3rd overall with 10.5%, while the Chrysler Corporation saw the Dodge brand ranked 9th, capturing 3.2%. Jeep and Chrysler together were able to capture the interest of 1.7% of Pontiac owners looking for a new vehicle in 2010.

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Man Turns Pontiac Fiero into an Amazing Replica of Lamborghini Miura!

All too often, Pontiac Fiero-based replicas are simply horrible, to say the least. But, once in a while, a truly unique build hits the internet forums like this LS3 V8-powered Lamborghini Miura wannabe. Dreamed up by the owner of Chop Top Fiero in Machesney Park, Illinios, the so-called Fiura (no need to explain that) has been carefully developed over a period of three years and it’s the mother of all replicas using Fiero underpinnings.

Part of its awesomeness is due to the fact that Archie, the man behind the project, went to enormous lengths to make it as accurate to the original as possible, but without spending a fortune.

If you have the patience to read all 19 pages of the thread on Pennock’s Fiero Forum, you’ll learn that Miura parts aren’t exactly cheap nor abundant, so Archie did a lot of fabricating and scavenged all over the internet for suitable donor parts.

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Pontiac Fiero Goes All Ferrari F40

Is there some sort of underground movement in Germany we don’t know about devoted to converting Pontiac Fiero’s into shoddy Ferrari knockoffs? Is this a new national pastime over there or a devious ploy by Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and Audi to discredit their Italian competitors?

Whatever you may think, the Fiero-based Ferrari replica is here to stay. And, much like David Hasslehoff, there’s nowhere these things are more popular than in Germany. At least, that’s the impression that I get. Presumably built in Belgium (as it is registered there), this replica has 71,000 km (44,154 miles) on the clock, a manual transmission and a whopping 123 hp. That’s only 349 hp short of a real F40!

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It Came from eBay Hell: V6 Powered Ferrari Fiero-rossa auf Deustchland zukommt*

Suppose you are a used car buyer in Germany, with €9,990 (US$13,199) to spend on some new wheels. Would you - even in your darkest, most masochistic hour - consider buying this...this thing? Let’s run down the list of why you shouldn’t buy this car:

1. It’s a Pontiac Fiero. Yes, it’s mid-engined and built in the good ol’ U.S.A., but it was built in the good ol’ U.S.A. in the 1980s and has a body made of plastic. That’s like saying, “She’s Latino and has a great body, but she has rotten teeth and herpes.”

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New Rumors of the Pontiac G8 Returning to North America as a Chevrolet

The demise of the Pontiac brand in 2009 also brought about the death of the G8, the Americanized derivative of the Australian-built Holden Commodore SS. It was a sad day for Pontiac and Holden fans alike, the loss of the G8 export contract costing Holden millions of dollars and putting the future of its Elizabeth, South Australia plant - and the brand itself - in jeopardy.

When the Holden-derived Chevy Caprice Police Car was revealed for the North American market twelve months ago, rumors of a reborn G8 in the form of a Chevrolet were rife. Now, Aussie motoring website Drive is reporting that U.S. exports of the Holden Commodore SS are "imminent", with a launch expected before the end of the current model's lifespan.

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LupiniPower's Chevrolet SportUte is a wild one; Packs 535HP from Supercharged V8

The Holden Commodore Ute may not have been given the chance for a career in the States as the G8 ST sport truck after the demise of Pontiac, but GM's modern-day El-Camino from Down-Under continues to be offered in markets outside Australia including South Africa were it is sold as the Chevy Ute SS.

LupiniPower, a local tuner from South Africa, has taken upon itself to introduce a hotted-up version sporting a 6.0-liter supercharged V8 with 535-hp and a massive 590 lb-ft (799 Nm) of torque. That's an increase of 173-hp and 200 lb-ft over the stock Ute with the naturally aspirated V8 engine.

Thanks to the added power, LupiniPower's SportUte completes the 0 to 60 mph (96km/h) sprint in 4.4 seconds instead of 6.0 seconds, while 0-100 mph (160km/h) goes by in 9.9 seconds, close to 4 seconds faster than the standard Ute.

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GM's Pontiac Brand is Dead at the Age of 84

After 84 years, Pontiac, the once proud maker of American icons such as the Trans Am and GTO, breathed its last breath on Monday with the sale of the last remaining new cars. The closure comes one year after General Motors announced that it would terminate the brand as part of a restructuring plan.

Even though production of the last Pontiac, the Vibe, ended in August 2009, there were many new cars left in stock, so a deal was struck with dealers who received official backing to sell them. The agreement ended on Sunday, so Pontiac fans didn't actually get any treats for Halloween, only the confirmation that their favorite manufacturer is really dead.

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SEMA: HPP Comes up with its own Trans-Am Camaro kit

The last time we heard from Heide Performance Products (HPP), the Michigan-based tuner showcased a Daytona conversion for Dodge's Challenger. Keeping with the vintage theme, HPP is now ready to show its next pony car conversion - a Camaro-based Trans-Am kit - at this year's SEMA show in Vegas.

As with all the other Firebird body kits out there (Lingenfelter's, ASC's, etc), HPP's version does its best to bring back the good-ol' days of the screaming chicken. The results, as with any "we're selling you memories" conversion, vary.

Regarding the proposition of selling this conversion (for anything other than the collectability factor), I don't see a point. Pontiac is D-E-A-D, it's not coming back, and that means anyone's "new" Trans-Am will forever be a Chevy wearing a costume. It's similar to having a Plymouth nameplate on a modern Chrysler or Dodge; the vintage naming works for the Daytona, but not for the Superbird.

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Speed Ticket Survey: Mercedes-Benz SL and Toyota Solara Drivers Top the List

We recently told you about how the angriest drivers in Britain tend to be behind the wheel of a BMW. Now we have some speeding/insurance info from the States, and it's a bit surprising.

According to Quality Planning, a division of Verisk Analytics Inc., American Mercedes SL drivers are at least four times more likely to get ticketed than a run-of-the-mill motorist who presumably drives a Camry Solara or...no, wait, the Camry Solara/Coupe and Scion tC come in at second and third.

Oddly, the Pontiac Grand Prix is still on the list and making waves (scroll down for the full list with stats).

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Walkinshaw Performance Series II Commodore eats Ferraris for Breakfast

For the Australian car buff, Tom Walkinshaw needs no introduction. Here is the man who founded HSV and was responsible for the epic VL Commodore based HSV SS Group A in late '80s. Though no longer working for Holden, 'Walky' continues to turn out some of the most powerful and ballsiest vehicles Australia has ever seen through the performance company named after him.

At the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney, Walkinshaw Performance took the wraps off its latest model: the WP Series II Supercar. The Holden Commodore Series II SS derived super saloon is fitted with an Edelbrock WP 230 supercharger, boosting power to 617-horsepower (460 kw) and torque to 780 Nm (575 lb ft).

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One-of-One 1969 Pontiac GTO Judge drop-top set to cross the auction block

Car auctions always have some interesting product to show off. Hell, I'm going to have to pick up my Boss '9 at one somewhere down the road, but that's beside the point. The one-of-one Pontiac GTO Judge convertible seen here is about to hit the block in a few weeks at Mecum's St. Charles Auction and here's a little something about it.

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Pontiac Firebird-based 308 Ferrari Replica kills two nameplates with one stone

What's the deal with cheesy Pontiac-based replicas? Every time I see one, I ask myself how anyone in their right mind would ever think it's a good idea (unless purely testing one's kit building and car chopping talents). This ebay-situated Firebird-based 308 replica can be yours for the low-low price of $6,500; if you'd like to try your luck with the auction, feel free. We won't judge either way (sinner!).

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FAIL: The General Lee's got nothing on this Flying Pontiac Firebird [VIDEO]

Words cannot describe how mega this crash is. If you haven't seen it yet, do it...DO IT NOW. It must be seen. Even if you have seen it, check it out again. The victim was a 19-year old who was speeding, tried to pass on the left, ended up in the median...then something CRAZY happened, he got ejected from his Firebird, somehow survived, and is now in critical condition.

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Classic Design Concepts' Pontiac-esque FireBreather Available for Order

While Classic Design Concepts (CDC) deliberately avoids the use of the word 'Pontiac', the first thought that comes to mind upon seeing the FireBreather is a modern iteration of General Motor's Firebird Trans-Am pony car.

The 2011 Camaro-based special was originally created as a one-off movie car for Exxodus Pictures' new sci-fi flick, Jinn, but the company decided to build a limited series for sale. And now, the order book has opened with the maker planning to manufacturer a total of 50 exact replicas of the FireBreather, priced at $60,000 a piece.

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Knight Rider KITT Replica up for Auction on eBay

Found for sale on eBay is a reproduction -and a quite convincing one at that- of one of the biggest icons of our childhood: the Knight Industries Two Thousand, or as most of you know it, K.I.T.T.

Like the original car used in the Knight Rider series during the '80s, this here replica is based on a 1982 Pontiac Trans Am and comes with all the cosmetic bells and whistles of the TV car including the cool to look at, but far from practical, cut steering wheel and electronic displays on the dashboard that lights up like a Christmas tree.

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VIDEO: 2011 Camaro-Based Pontiac Firebreather Meets the Shelby GT500

The folks from 'The Smoking Tire' decided to bid farewell to the 2011 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Convertible they had for this year's Bullrun by bringing on Classic Design Concepts' Pontiac Firebreather for a brief tet-a-tet.

For those unfamiliar with the Firebreather, the Pontiac Firebird-ized 2011 Camaro was originally created by Classic Design Concepts as a one off movie car for Exxodus Pictures' new sci-fi film, Jinn, but the company took the decision to build a limited series for sale to the public.

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Rare Find of the Day: Mid-Engined 1987 Zimmer Quicksilver

Here's another rare oddity found for sale on eBay Motors. The long-nose Zimmer Quicksilver is a custom made coupe with a mid-mounted V6 engine. And yes, as you may have already guessed, it's based on GM's Pontiac Fiero. The car's retro styling takes its inspiration from glitzy Lincoln and Cadillac models of the 1970s.

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