1989 Chevy Caprice Side-Step Proves Cute Utes Can Still Be Cool

Okay, you got me. “Cute utes” are not really my thing. I’m more of a Dodge Ram SRT-10 or an HSV Maloo man myself. Yes, they’re affordable and sure if you’re on a budget and need a reliable vehicle that can carry a whole lot of work gear and tools there’s really nothing better.

So here’s a “step-side” style ute pickup based on a 1989 Chevrolet Caprice. Step-side pickups have a step moulded into the body, typically between the passenger doors and rear wheel arch. They were popular in the 1950s though are somewhat rarer these days.

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BMW M5 Ute Conversion Completed – Full Image Gallery

Nearly two years ago, in December 2006 we told you about an Australian fella that had just begun transforming a previous generation BMW M5 sedan (E95) into the ultimate V8-powered Ute (see here). Now the proud owner of the Down-Under El-Camino, Stuart Appleby from New South Wales, Australia announced that the BMW M5 Ute project has finally been completed. -Continued

While the vehicle has yet to be dyno-tested, the builders are saying that the M5’s tuned 4.9-liter V8 could make as much as 460 HP. Even though the conversion of an M5 into a Ute will certainly seem like sacrilege to many gearheads, we must admit that it is a very well executed one.

Via: Jalopnik , Source: M5Boards

BMW M5 Ute – Down Under Chop

We know a lot of you boyz out there will call this chop a blasphemy and you’ll probably be right. Still though, having lived the first years of my life in Australia -and while I might disagree with the choice of a modern classic like the BMW M5 E39, I understand what motivated this bloke from down under.

See, Australians just love big, brassy, V8 muscle cars. While Americans dropped out of the muscle car game in the mid 70’s, Australians kept going on and on, not only with coupes and 4door saloons but also with Utes and Panel Vans. Since the project’s not finished yet, we’ll keep an eye on this one and return with the final pics. Till then check out the photos and read what the owner has to say about it.

BMW M5 UTE OWNER: "I grew up in Australia for my first 20 years of my life and the "ute" had always been an Aussie icon to a boy from the bush, a way of life for many Australians. I've been lucky enough to have owned in the US one of the best sedans the automotive industry has ever produced in the BMW E39 M5.

I wanted to create a special combination of a cross over M5 ute concept not long after I purchased my M5 in Florida in 2000. This ute idea came to me many years ago when I looked at a picture I took of my M5 and thought that it would make a great ute....what was I thinking?

Years pass by, and I decide I needed to follow through with this concept a bit more. Five years pass and I find a very suitable donor car from a friend in Queeensland that probably had the finest 2003 M5 in Australia. He was happy to have his pride and joy "chopped up" for an undertaking of this magnitude. The car had many mods that I was going to put on a lesser car but he had done all the hard yards for me.

Trying to find a shop that had the skills for this sort of work was going to be difficult and time consuming, but in a flash I bumped in to Shane from Southern Rod and Custom in southern New South Wales Australia. His reputation in the hot rod game is held very highly. A quick visit to his work shop that was only one hour from my home as a boy. I could see in the 3 hours I spent with him that he was very capable to create my vision. Ryan from Stylemasters created the sketches you see here, that look great. The time line for a job like this is about 9 - 12 months. I'm looking forward to watching this world first get started and one day a finished product"

Technorati: BMW+M5, E95, Ute, Autos, auto+news, car+news, automobile, cars, automotive, vehicles, Carscoop, blogs, 2007, pictures, images, tuning+news, bodykit, car+accessories, performance

Via: Jalopnik

Smart Fortwo – Proposals for future US versions

I wonder what our fellow “Camino” lovers at Jalopnik think about this one. We for once, like the idea but we really doubt that a Smart Pick-Up would have any success in the American market. But let’s start from the beginning. Automotorundsport had a nice chitty-chat with American designer, Mark Stehrenberger of MSD, a design research and development group based in Santa Barbara, California that specializes in automotive / transportation and product design.

AMS asked MSD’s opinion on how Smart should evolve its car range in the USA. Stehrenberger believes that despite the fact that the new Fortwo is 200 mm longer than its predecessor, it still remains small for your average American consumer, mainly cause people are “bigger” (..??) and there’s more parking space than in Europe.

So what does Stehrenberger propose? Well for starters, the Fortwo should grow in size and reach 3,7 m in length (from 2,7 m). He also believes that Smart should add 4x4 Crossover and Pick-Up versions of the larger Fortwo. Via: Automotorundsport & MSD

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Pic of the Day: Porsche 928 Kitsch Up Truck

During their daily quest for weird pick ups -aka El Caminos, our friends over at Jalopnik discovered this one of a kind -I hope, 928 Pick up that was put up, and eventually sold, on E-Bay. Now tell me why the heck would someone want to destroy a Porsche 928 and more importantly, why would someone want to buy a 928 transformed into a pick up truck?

Speaking of which did you know that the 928 won the 1978 Car of the Year award being the only car of its kind to have accomplished this feat? Via: Jalopnik

Technorati: Porsche+928, Pick-Up, Pic+of+the+Day, autos, auto+news, car+news, automobile, cars, automotive, vehicles, images, pictures, Carscoop,