How to register an illegal Holden Ute in the US - American Reacts 

Love the rear plate “CRKEY M8”. Brilliant!

I reckon a good old Aussie panel van would turn heads there too.

There plenty of 25 years and older V8 Ute's in Australia and they were built for easy conversion to LHD if required.

15:00 I love his licsense plate “CRKY M8” lol legend. It’s cool he titled it as a Holden Ute aswell respecting its origins.

Being a proud Aussie....So happy you guys love this car, which is a 'staple' in Australia :)

What a clever bugger, the way he went about getting it done is genius

A station wagon is a station wagon in Aus, it's the UK that call it an estate car.

A mate of mine had a 2010 HSV Maloo back when it was released, it had everything on it, fully optioned by Walkinshaw. It was great. I now get around in a second hand 2012 VE Sportwagon, just a V6 but it's good, all these years later and it runs like a charm, I've only had it since June after I got retrenched and had to scramble quick for a car after years with various company cars (mostly Ford Falcons).

It's like what Ford did, they had a Sedan Falcon, Ute Falcon & a Territory which was a "4WD" but they were basically the same car just a different body on top.

I love that "Is that the new El Camino?" Line, sounds like Hank Hill 😝

The same thing can be done with the fifth generation Pontiac GTO and the VT to VZ Holden Ute being also built side by side on the assembly lines, or if you want a four door version, use the Holden Crewman!

Ian, one way to get them to listen to you is Boycott their product until they hurt enough to listen to the public. Holden and Ford here in Australia used to have the Lion's share of the market over here, after the last Locally made Holden rolled off the production line, GM-H And Ford are now scrabbling for the crumbs of the market, they cannot compete with better made Asian cars at cheaper prices, The Korean Brands have really taken off, as well as most of the Japanese makers who use Indonesian and Malaysian factories to produce their products. An example is in my home town, we had a dealer who exclusively sold Holdens, the dealership was handed down from father to son to grandson, unfortunately with the demise of Holden, they went bust. That dealership was bought by the guy who sold Toyota's and that's all you can get now if you want a new vehicle there is Toyota.

We have 2 types of write offs, stat write off is NEVER to be driven on the road again. Repairable write off is the same as your salvage title and can be registered after repair.

Don't forget it's Bathurst week dude!

As an Australian that is proud of our ute heritage ford Holden and Chrysler I hope that that fellow enjoys many driving hours well done mate 👍 You should do a 70s muscle car comparison between USA and AUS

Holden, Ford and Chrysler all made ute's in Australia for the local market and export. Something you probably didn't know is that Holden played a big part of designing the Chev Zeta platform. Holden design stayed open for a number of year after the production facilities. The Zeta platform was the base for the Holden Commodore, Holden Monaro, Pontiac GTS, Caprice, Pontiac G8, HSV, Vauxhall VXR8 Chev Lumina, Chev Omega, Daewoo Veritas, Holden Ute and Chev Camaro. The Camaro (2010 on) was a concept car design by Holden. at the time it was suggest it might become the next Monaro. Chev took it added a few minor tweaks and called it a Comoro and the rest is history. Holden introduced the reimagined Monaro as a concept at (I think, so don't quote me) the Melbourne Car show in 2000. The car buffs loved it and a campaign was started to put it into production. Holden saw it was popular but wasn't interested, so they put some ridicules sales numbers on it. They hit the numbers with in a couple of months so had to put it into production. The moral of the story is; car buyers sometimes get there own way and marketers are idiots.

We've got Mustangs coming out of every orifice here in Australia. And now and then some big old tank Thunderbird will cruise past. Saw a sweet late 60s early 70s Comaro the other day. I watched a video of yours from 3 years ago talking about the lift kit in your truck. It was bizzare not hearing you mention Australia. 😂

Hey mate, love the vid. I have to clear up one thing though. A stat write-off can not be re-registed ever again in australia. Those cars are used for parts or destroyed. (i guess they could be used for racing too). However we have repairable write-offs and inspected write-offs that can be repaired and registed (inspected just means it's done and on the road again.

Welcome back IWrocker. Ian mate now this is why I subscribed, car content Yes. You have great knowledge, experienced enthusiastic and just awesome in this area whereas others don’t. It shows mate. I remember watching this, and thinking woah definitely not a one man job, definitely one man paying for it all. 😎 Great content again Ian, more of it please thanks man, rock on. 🤘🏼

For reference. In Australia, Statutory Write Off is where the cost of repair outweighs the value of the vehicle, so the insurance company will instead "write off" the vehicle and payout the value, rather than attempt repair. It used to be that a Statutory Write Off was a vehicle that was so severely damaged, that it would not be allowed to be repaired to be re-registered, however, there are exceptions, such as flooded vehicles. Structurally, a flooded vehicle is no less safe, but the repair costs are astronomical. Electrical harnesses alone (with computers) can cost over 1/3 of the value of the vehicle, so it is very easy for the costs to outweigh the value.

So weird seeing my car with the wheel on the left... amazing!

Cool, thats the exact video i suggested mate. Glad you could find it 👍🏾

I live about 10 minutes from the Holden factory (Elizabeth) quite often saw trucks with left hand drive vehicles heading off to the wharves

Ford Australia ceased production in 2016, followed by Holden in2017. It was a sad time, the end of an era.

Great video, many of us here in Australia have the reverse problem, drooling over modern American cars. Going back as far as the fifties, we only got 4 door sedan and wagons. No convertibles and no 2 door hardtops. One of the first cars I fell for was a 56 Ford Victoria. I ended up with a 56 Ford Ute. Called " Mainline" in Australia

That was great m8. I'd love to see you in your ute, lol. Rock on!

I'm surprised the winshield didn't pass DOT? Most ADRs(Australian Design Rules) are the strictest vehicle standards in the world.

Bathurst 1000 is nearly here..!

A think a series of you building one of these Holden G8 creatures would be awesome fun to follow

I love the old Holden Utes of the 70's much more than the newer ones.

As someone who worked as a HSV tech from vy through ve I can say you will be surprised at just how modular those cars are especially VE era stuff

rocker there is a whole bunch of different commodore packages you havent seen yet as well,mine vz sv6,190kw v6 same year as ve 2006.glad you like our rides,our car culture is alive and well where i live in south aussie.

We do not call the hard cover a tray, it's a hard cover. Looks like they do a mint job

Mate I used to work in the pilot room within the body shop, plant 4 at Holden Elizabeth on all types of commodores/cars It was an amazing line, every 1:38 seconds a commodore body was made, you would have a wagon then a sedan then a ute then a grange, it was all random, it was rather incredible to watch tbh. Just as Holden started to produce quality Holden commodore’s it all got canned. ( people moving to cheaper to run SUV’s and small cars or the Hilix/ 4WD). It’s an absolute travesty HOLDEN in Elizabeth South Australia is no longer. To find the want to know the body number, it is stamped on the body under the drivers seat. I know as I made everything involved in stamping every single car. Now they are made in Germany front wheel drive and a V8 is not offered,......that is not a commodore, yet badged as one True blue Aussies consider a V8 in a Commodore a Holden Commodore 😞🇦🇺

I live in Canada, but the info on this process is still useful to me. So awesome!! Our law is similar but it’s only 15 years, not as bad but still shitty. There’s so many cool/handy vehicles out there that our domestic market will never make.

I don't normally watch reaction vids, but... nice reaction vid mate. I remember enjoying this vinwiki video when it came out. Agree the old El Camino is fuckin cool. The key point is always referring to this body style as a Ute, not a pickup. That's a good thing, it means we don't have to send out the SAS to have someone killed. The phenomenon you were referring to at the start of the video is known as "market cannibalisation", when a new product steals/fights for market share with the incumbent product. Have a sub, cheers.

Hoonigan bought a VZ ute and swapped the fire wall out of a damaged pontiac GTO to convert it to LHD they have videos on it.

In New Zealand you can import and register any lhd 20 years and older, but there are loopholes that allow more modern lhd cars in here.

Even those cars you call a full sized truck over there, they are still called utes here

Wow, thanks so much for this one..., so interesting!!

Utes are crazy popular in Australia. So big infact that when my grandfather used to run a volvo mechanic garage in western australia he had a custom made volvo ute. That thing turned heads even here in aus.

The long wheel base Statesman/Caprice was sold to several US Police Forces as an alternative to the Ford Crown Victoria.

Back in the early eighties a local business who put kits on cars(spoilers flares) sent us a Holden commodore VB that they had fitted European rear quarters b pillar and doors to this four door changing it to a coupe. When we got the first VB's here they came in a 4 /6 or V8. The four cylinders had a locally produced "Star Fire" engine known locally as a misfire four. The six cylinder was a carry over from the H series Holden sedans and wagon/ute series. The V8 was from the same donor vehicles. The next model the VC continued the trend including the HSV vehicles. At this point in time Ford dropped the V8 in local production due to the world oil crisis.

I'm glad he skidded it in the end. It's mandatory for ute owners to skid them.

That’s like mine… VE series II Thunder 2012 6.0l 6 speed manual and I love it to bits… currently going up in value over here too :)

A commodore build series by Ian would be insane

I have owned a couple of Holden utes, a Rodeo, Cross 8 Crewman Storm, and a Hilux - I know what I prefer to throw a bag of cement into - it's that extra foot higher on a 4WD. Cross 8 for towing. Rodeo for paddock bashing. And Hilux for anything. Had an old HZ one tonner with Statesman front end, shiny checkerplate tray that never saw a day of work too. Love my utes.

Great video Ian, this has been very interesting 👍👍🇦🇺

I got the first ve 2007 357 Chevy black with red interior ....luv it .

(Left hand drive utes)was the company out of Colorado that converted right hand drive utes to left hand drive

I have a 2016 HSV Maloo R8 LSA from Left Hand Utes in Denver. Prior to that I had a 2010 Holden Ute SSV in Poison Ivy green also from Left Hand Utes. IMO Randy with LHU is far and above the best at what he does. LHU doesn't cut up a G8 subframe or structure and mate it with part of a Ute body like others have done. Travis essentially got to fib on his title to call his a "truck" Josh's Car corner did a video on Randy's shop a few years back. They are far and above the best option to go with. They aren't cutting structure and aren't cutting corners. I say this having owned 2 Utes from Left Hand Utes, and having seen a few of the "others" in question that have made their way to Washington and bar none the attention to detail and end result quality just isn't there with anyone else in my opinion. Much love and mad respect for Travis, I just strongly disagree with the methodology on the route he chose. I picked up My VE for 45k titled with the original VIN My Maloo LSA was just around 100k, also from LHU.

How to make the Holden Ute look even cooler. "HOLDEN UTE WITH STATESMAN FRONT" Now your talking awesome.

l live in New Zealand andl own a 2004 HSV Clubsport. I've long understood why Americans drooled over Hsv's and the utes in particular. There are a lot of Holden utes in New Zealand but the Maloo's aren't as common. Personally l believe the best deal New Zealand got out of Australia were HSV's and AC/DC. Having any HSV is a step up from owning any other Holden. Those Maloo's are just something else again but dammmmm...that is just a cool story. Thanks for sharing.

I'd love to see Chevy Tahoe's in Aus. I love the look of them especially the earlier models.

The guy in the video seemed to know a fair bit about australian cars he really must be a fan haha

My uncle served in Vietnam and he got an american army jeep over here by mailing it piece by piece. He had to put a label on the back stating left hand drive. But he registered it and drove it around town.

From OZ, wish we could get the 2022 corvette. Mid engine, flat plane crank etc. what a beast.

Camaros sold in australia are imported into Australia as left hand drive and then converted to right hand drive before sale. You can tell because the drivers display screen is at an odd angle in the right hand drive, although you only notice that if you know what you’re looking at. Used to be a company out at eastern creek Sydney that would cut rangerovers in half and make them longer for Arab sheikhs. Cos the Arab guys need more room for their falcon cages (I’m not making that up). They used to also instal bespoke gun racks on some (one was solid gold - that caused some security issues during production).

Legend! I've got a 2008 Ute Ian. Never will sell it. Got it all sorted with aftermarket go fast bits. It's so fast it even scares me. Next thing I'm working on is a roll cage. Street ute with a roll cage? That's how we roll in Straya mate.

God dammit send this man a ute I've already said I'll throw in $1,000 but $2 from each of you may make a man's dream

Yes as he said the sedan (stateman in Holden's case), ute and wagons are infact the same to the A pillar, however the ute and wagon have a lot more in common apart from the obvious rear doors etc.

Love he kept the badge. You get a lot of commodores here with their badges replaced with chevy ones. I get why with the engine and all. Still prefer that roaring lion any day.

Yeah I am binge watching nearly all your videos.💖💖🇦🇺🙋‍♀️ round 2

I wish Chevy would build some rhd Corvettes and send them over here!

Imagine what Americans will think when they find out we have Ford versions as well.

Let's ship this man a Holden

if you guys got the pontiac gto coupe over there, the similar aged utes are based on mostly the same year utes and wagons running gear. i had the 2008 ford bf xr8 mk11 Craig Lowndes edition

watching the UTEs run around Bathurts right now on TV :). part of the bathurts 1000 coming this weekend.

I do see the occasional El Camino getting around in South Australia. I absolutely love them it’s a shame there isn’t a American market for them.

I spent 16 years working in Holden's Elizabeth plant. Actually built from the VX to VF series. Got opportunity to drive the pontiac G8s b4 leaving the plant. Funny how some people worship almost these vehicles, but to me, they r just another car

Very nicely done!!!!

I m an aussie and i m a hoden fan . Its so sad they dont make them anymore. This is a cool video. I love the V8 SS MALOO HOLDEN UTE

I own a VF reissue Holden Sandman with the 6 litre V8. Limited edition and I'll put you in my Will to have if I go arse up. Rock On.

Gday Ian, something you might like to check out is the Holden Efijy, Retro FJ made as a one off.

I've seen a car in melbourne once with california plates! guessing it was going to get new plates, but was cool to see

Since Holden and Ford ceased production in Australia, Dodge have been selling Ram trucks like hotcakes here. Chev and Ford also gaining a foothold. They are pretty expensive because they have to swap the steering from left to right. They are becoming pretty common .

I live in Western Australia, Daughter has a 2012 VE Holden Thunder ute. 6lt V8 awesome car and still worth around $30,000 AU.

Great story. They are some cool lookin utes. Cheers.

Ian you should check out the good old 70s model Panelvans , like the Valiant Drifter , Holden Sandman or the Ford Sundowner.

There is a modle called maloo that has a elongated roof line that would be more worthy of the name el Camino, gm looked at the early vp/vn commodore ute as a possibility for the US , but had some issues with Californian rules , this was fixed for later series but was not exported

I like the guy with the VR ute he imported lol

Some Holden Ute's were sent to south Africa as LeCamino. And Falcon's badged as Ranchero's

40k US? you might pay more than that for a smicko Holden Ute in Australia!

You see a pontiac ute driving over here and it's like just get a Holden damn. And this is from a Ford man🤣🤣

Bathurst is on this weekend ... the utes race usually on the Sunday

Super interesting video Mr. Rocker. Never thought about importing an Aussie car to the states and what u’d have to go thru. Keep the great vids coming!! 😁👍

I've seen a few videos of right hand drive Holden Commodores and a Monaro registered in the US. I'm sure if you searched you'd find them

This is a magnificent conversion. If for any reason he wanted to sell it he'd lose zero $.

Where I live in Aus almost everyone has a 1 tone ute.... either a Ford, Holden or Nissan ( the Hilux is the most common) ... but I'm in a mining town. There's More mustangs around than anything else drivenon our days off... goto the pub & see 30 brand new mustangs outside.

Go for it Ian, you know you want to :)

Statutory write off means can never be registered in Australia again. have repairable write off, means can be repaired and registered again. yea is a lot to replace to be registered in u.s.a to meet road rules. Is a lot of little things to change Holden models to Pontiacs or Chevy ss. why is a argument saying the pontiacs are just a holden it is not just badges.. been looking at bringing these over to u.s.a for awhile. things need changing like. firewall, brake lines, seat belts, front windscreen, air bags, sedan needs fuel tank removed and relocated. think fuel lines too. If bringing older model of ute vu to vz you need a pontic gto coupe to change parts from. because they are the same model.

GM's marking for Chevy SS: ............

If you really want something special holden did five panel vans with station wagon interiors in the late 60s early 70s i can't remember if they were the ht ,hg or hj model but they were awesome the ultimate trade's family car and perfect for travelling.i saw one of them in the early 90s in the north west of west oz .they would sell very well if brought back out today and modernised

Super Cool Dude🤘

40 Grand is dirt cheap as a final price for all that work..! I paid 27 grand in February 2017 for my 2014 Series 1 VF Sportswagon. It only had 44,000ks on it at the time, and is 'only' a 6, but still has almost the same power as my '02 VU II SS V8 Ute, (amazing the advancement of tech in 12 years).. I am so happy I have 2 Holden's, I doubt I'll ever sell them..

50 cent bout how much a Daewoo cruze is worth

Swapped my black 2009 VE SS ute for a 2006 6.0 VZ SS with some change my way. HATED the VE look, the VZ is stunning.

you make me very proud to be an australian, cheers mate,

If only you could get either an ford xr8 or an xr6 turbo Ute there in the US. they’re amazing

You said, " An Americans don't wants small trucks in the US ". Americans don't wants 2 doors in small trucks anymore. Now, Americans buying 4 doors in small trucks. Also now, Ford and Hyundai making 4 doors trucks are Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz in the US. The Holden Crewman it's underrated because it's rare in Australia.