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I've always preferred sedans over SUV's or trucks. After having purchased a house 12 years ago I have found a rather consistent (although infrequent) use for a pickup. Luckily my parents have one I can borrow and live close. The thing is, it's both inconvenient and I feel like a moocher.

I got to thinking of how great it would be to have a modern version of an El Camino. And yes, I am VERY jealous of all you Australians with your Utes, almost to the point of wanting to import one. It just makes so much sense to me. 99% of the time I like the handling and fuel economy of a sedan, and I don't go off-roading. However, every now and then I have something too large, or too gross, to put in the trunk.

I was thinking of something like a modded Chevy Impala, with a flat, vertical back glass and a 4-foot bed. Just large enough for a mid-sized appliance or furniture. With a hard bed cover on it it would still be like a trunk. Although I'd like an AWD version, I could honestly live with it remaining FWD.

I can't be the only person in North America with a need for something like this.

You mean a Subaru Baja?



They stopped making them a decade ago, but if the demand was there they would probably go back to cranking them out in a heartbeat.

In the meantime, why not just use a small truck like a Ford Ranger or a Chevy Colorado? The biggest drawback to a car with a truck bed in it is that it isn't great for hauling anything heavy or large around without modification, at which point a truck becomes cheaper.

I like the idea of a Baja, just not a huge Subaru fan.

Last year my parents had one abandoned at their self-storage facility (minus a hood and engine). They said I could have it if I wanted it for almost nothing, and I almost took them up on it. I did have a spare V-8 chevy engine I could have shoehorned into it.

Admittedly a car with a bed does have weight limitations. I'm not at all suggesting that these be used for serious work. Just for the Joe Everyman that needs to move something bulky once every couple months.

I'd love to hear experiences of Australians in this area. They have Utes, and I'd like to hear why they like them over true pickups.

I think he means a HUMMER H3T

I think there is room in the market for an ultra-utilitarian vehicle which isn't a pick-up truck outright (which are generally expensive as hell). Major companies have been considering canceling numerous "car" lines in favour of trucks and SUVs (a bizarre choice from a country which frequently complains about its own excess and lack of environmental concern, etc.).

However, I have terrible taste in vehicles and shouldn't be considered for market research. I like small cars with lots of space, cloth seats and manual transmissions...soooo...yeah.

EDIT: Regarding utes vs. trucks...if the ute can carry a reasonable load, the truck part becomes superfluous. Very few people who own trucks use the truck portion of it. They might use the carrying capacity, but the off-road ability, high ground clearance and heavier frames etc. are all but wasted. A lot of people just need to haul something that's a bit too big for the inside of their car, but don't want to a truck's size, fuel economy, and cost. I don't think the ute would catch on in the US though because of image. It's still a massive thing.

 Elbows wrote:
Major companies have been considering canceling numerous "car" lines in favour of trucks and SUVs

A small car makes no sense compared to an otherwise comparable wagon-like / hatchback thing on the same platform / chassis. This applies to probably anything midsized, short of a full size luxury car.

Ford wasn't doing particularly well in the "car" market, so this change is not a surprise. It's sensible.

Obviously the solution is simple.




I'm preemptively sorry for the song getting stuck in your head.

The Wife has a strange fascination with El Caminos. I always thought they were a poor excuse for a proper pickup.

Is it any worse of an idea than replacing very practical and useful mini-vans with useless, small SUVs? No, it is not a worse idea.

I am for it.

A small, cheap basic pickup is what you're looking for.

Do car companies still make those, or have all the pickup trucks turned into luxury off-road tow monsters that cost twice as much as the equivalent passenger-capacity car?

 Easy E wrote:
Is it any worse of an idea than replacing very practical and useful mini-vans with useless, small SUVs? No, it is not a worse idea.

I am for it.

Define small SUV first. Rogues, Tucsons, and CRVs are as small as Elantras and Mazda 3s.

Now if you are comparing equally sized vans and SUVs oh yea, I am right there with you.

If your talking the old, fast, low Holden Commodore-HSV-Maloo or Ford Falcon XR8-Typhoon style utes, they don't make them here anymore. I wont say much on what you can buy here new now except that there all 4wd dual cabs so handle like …. May as well just get a ranger here now.

I mean, you can rent a pick up from Home Depot for like, $20 an hour. If you really only need the bed a few times a year, that's a steal.

I miss the old Toyota Tacoma's from the late 80's. Those things were perfect.

 Frazzled wrote:
The Wife has a strange fascination with El Caminos. I always thought they were a poor excuse for a proper pickup.

Why? Because you could walk up to the side of the thing and reach into the bed? Can't do that with a current Ferd Eff One Fiddy.

And don't forget that those are body on frame RWD trucks with long beds - they can fit a 4x8' sheet of plywood better than that Ferd Crew Cab!

As an actual work truck, an Elky is a far better vehicle than anything on the market today.
____

 Easy E wrote:
Is it any worse of an idea than replacing very practical and useful mini-vans with useless, small SUVs?

Let's be perfectly clear that small SUVs are replacing small cars, for which they are far more practical and useful. A subcompact SUV like the Buick Encore is vastly more practical for their typical buyers (single women, older couples, urban couples) given that they don't need 3 rows of seating when she barely needs one. It parks better and gets better mileage. Costs significantly less, to boot. And it comfortably carries everything she needs day to day.

If you have bothered to look at current mini-vans, they are currently averaging 200" long, and only the garage door requirement is what's limiting their size. For all practical purposes, a Toyota Sienna is the same size as an old (1970s) Ferd Eee-series van, just unibody instead of body on frame. There is nothing "mini" about them.

If a subcompact SUV does everything it needs to do, by what measure do you declare it "useless"?

 JohnHwangDD wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:
The Wife has a strange fascination with El Caminos. I always thought they were a poor excuse for a proper pickup.

Why? Because you could walk up to the side of the thing and reach into the bed? Can't do that with a current Ferd Eff One Fiddy.

And don't forget that those are body on frame RWD trucks with long beds - they can fit a 4x8' sheet of plywood better than that Ferd Crew Cab!

As an actual work truck, an Elky is a far better vehicle than anything on the market today.
____

 Easy E wrote:
Is it any worse of an idea than replacing very practical and useful mini-vans with useless, small SUVs?

Let's be perfectly clear that small SUVs are replacing small cars, for which they are far more practical and useful. A subcompact SUV like the Buick Encore is vastly more practical for their typical buyers (single women, older couples, urban couples) given that they don't need 3 rows of seating when she barely needs one. It parks better and gets better mileage. Costs significantly less, to boot. And it comfortably carries everything she needs day to day.

If you have bothered to look at current mini-vans, they are currently averaging 200" long, and only the garage door requirement is what's limiting their size. For all practical purposes, a Toyota Sienna is the same size as an old (1970s) Ferd Eee-series van, just unibody instead of body on frame. There is nothing "mini" about them.

If a subcompact SUV does everything it needs to do, by what measure do you declare it "useless"?

1. Parents had an El Camino. Carrying capacity was not great. It could not take weight. Quality of build was horrible. Additionally the height of a pickup allows it to take poor roads better. Now I am talking about working pickups here like what I grew up with - pipe bumpers that have never been washed, not hanger queens with lots of chrome that get washed all the time.

2. Agreed. Our minivan could take a fully assembled marumba. A crossover mini SUV really IS a car. They have car frames and builds. The only difference is that they are typically just slightly taller and the expensive ones have four wheel drive. Frankly her Rogue reminds me of a Model A in dimensions.

@Frazzled - The last Elkies were built so long ago that build quality wasn't a big deal. The doors opened and shut, right? Besides, I don't think Chevy sold the Elky as something you'd use on a farm.

The overwhelming majority of pickups here in SoCal spend 100% of their time on paved roads, so you don't need the huge tires and lifts that increase the bed and sills to something impractically high.

The big difference between that tiny Buick Encore and a car is that it's got a hatchback so it can better carry more and larger stuff compared to car. That's more practical.

Rumour has it that Ford is bring back the Ranger if you want a small, lower pick up.
And those pics above are Sedans with open trunks, not proper pick up trucks.

The overwhelming majority of pickups here in SoCal spend 100% of their time on paved roads, so you don't need the huge tires and lifts that increase the bed and sills to something impractically high.

Yes I know the type. I am older than old school and find those offensive.

While I'd like a "small" pickup there is one problem. I'm 6'5" tall and 300 pounds. I tried a Colorado and it's a bit tight. My current car (first I ever bought new) is a 2005 Impala and it fits me great.

Eh. El Caminos are hideous and well relegated to the dustbin of history.

What America really needs is the Toyota Hilux.

Assuming that you could get a cover for the rear bed of the El Camino, the only other drawback I can see of the general design is that it's only a 2-seater (or is it three? I can't quite tell from the Wiki article). Slightly better styling and better visibility than something like a car-derived van, which would be the UK equivalent, I suppose.

The problem with the El Camino was it started as a car chassis and they never "beefed it up". It still had the weight capacity of a car so it wasn't really good for the type of things you'd need a truck for.

The Elky was a BoF car, so it could carry the same as a full size station wagon: 1,200 lbs (V-6) and RWD, so it could tow. Perfectly reasonable as a "light duty" vehicle.

For reference, a 1977 Ford F-150 was only rated for 2,300 lbs, but the directly comparable light F-100 base pickup was only rated for 1,060 lbs (regular cab).

Note that modern F-150 has since moved to medium duty+.

 JohnHwangDD wrote:

The overwhelming majority of pickups here in SoCal spend 100% of their time on paved roads, so you don't need the huge tires and lifts that increase the bed and sills to something impractically high.
.

This is true in the Tacoma WA area as well. . . hell, there's an entire cottage industry around lifting these things and putting stupid arse "pavement princess" wheel/tire combos on them. And the worst part is, they are being sold NEW, and they are being sold AT THE DEALERSHIP! One of the Chevy dealers near me has banners all around the edge of their property saying "100s of vehicles, and lifted trucks!"

Hitch up a trailer for the gross/large load (no way to talk about your mother in law, btw).

 helgrenze wrote:
The problem with the El Camino was it started as a car chassis and they never "beefed it up". It still had the weight capacity of a car so it wasn't really good for the type of things you'd need a truck for.

I'm genuinely curious; what sort of loads are those? I aske because car-derived vans have been acceptable for independent tradesmen, the Royal Mail, energy and water utilities and many other businesses for decades; often the only difference between one of those and an estate car is that the van has no back seats and sheet metal instead of windows.

In America you'll find people abuse even the strongest and biggest truck beds (look up YouTube videos of people putting 2,000 lb. snowmobiles into truck beds and them collapsing, etc.). Lots of companies use them for hauling dozens of bags of concrete, thousands of bricks, etc. If the bed can carry 1750 lbs...they'll put 1750 lbs. into it (or 850 kilos for you folks).

An average car (probably more for the wagon and smaller van types) can carry around 600-700 lbs internally (including passengers). In fact some cars are not rated for more than two fat people (around 500 lbs). We use loads of small vans and car-based vehicles for business needs as well, but many companies use large pick-up trucks as actual heavy movers (often beyond their limitations).

I know I've carried a full pallet of quickcrete (65 bags) from Lowes in the bed of my truck.

Of course I also picked up 16 50-pound bags of feed in our minivan today.

 AndrewGPaul wrote:

 helgrenze wrote:
The problem with the El Camino was it started as a car chassis and they never "beefed it up". It still had the weight capacity of a car so it wasn't really good for the type of things you'd need a truck for.

I'm genuinely curious; what sort of loads are those? I aske because car-derived vans have been acceptable for independent tradesmen, the Royal Mail, energy and water utilities and many other businesses for decades; often the only difference between one of those and an estate car is that the van has no back seats and sheet metal instead of windows.

Out side the answers above, Most car based light vans and trucks have their suspensions worked on to enable them to carry heavier loads than a normal car. Without 'beefing up' the suspension the back of the vehicle would drag on, or close to, the ground.