Bruce bows out

The Chevrolet Lumina SS Ute, or Bruce as it�s become commonly known around here and in just about every column we�ve written about it, may be one of the few Australians we actually like; along with their cricket team who let us thrash them down under, but that�s still debateable.

We�ll willingly admit that this is one of our absolute favourite cars, notwithstanding the fact it�s not actually a car — it�s a bakkie. Watching the keys go back to Chev was like having your pet Jack Russell put down in front of you. Well maybe that�s a bit melodramatic but still you get the vibe.

Bruce is full of surprises actually and to cement that fact, he pitched up at our �Performance Car of the Year� test and snatched victory over some pretty noteworthy competition such as the Aston Martin V8 Vantage N400 and BMW M3 to name just two.

What�s great about Bruce is that if you�re not doing 2m11 around Kyalami or 0-100 in 6.5 seconds, it�s actually one of the most versatile vehicles you�ll ever drive. It�s a bakkie that will tow a boat, caravan and with its 6.0-litre V8 that puts out 530Nm of torque, probably your private jet if you�re lucky enough to have one.

Just in case your high roller lifestyle isn�t complete, that loading bay is a big enough to host an MX bike or a quad bike depending on your fancy. More than that though, it�s a car as well, more nimble and manoeuvrable than any other bakkie around and with a lot less body roll to boot.

The seating position is pretty low as well, just like a car and with the release of this 2008 model came a substantial upgrade to the interior that now allows for climate control, automatic headlamps and a trip computer, which makes this Aussie offspring a pretty attractive offer, as all of this convenience costs around R400 000 (or around R360 000 once you�ve claimed your VAT back) - not bad when you weigh up the alternatives.

That�s what makes this a special vehicle, the amount you get for what you pay is incomparable, try find something that has the versatility along with the power and fun factor and the list comes up pretty short. Maybe you could add in the Subaru Forester, but even that has some limitations in comparison.

So now down to the reason this article exists, what is Bruce like to live with on a day-to-day basis? Well the first worry for most looking at this car is the amount of petrol stations the 6.0-litre V8 will randomly swerve into, and to be honest, with combined figures of around 14.0l/100km, there won�t be too many filling stations you bypass, however if you find yourself on a long distance cruise, rolling in sixth gear at about 2000rpm you can drop the consumption sufficiently to around 10.0l/100km, which is surprisingly good for a powerful V8.

Enough with fuel problems though, that�s not really what this car is about, what it is about is driving around with a smile on your face, it�s basically a muscle car with a really big boot.

The fact that you can be cruising along in sixth gear at low speeds and put your foot down and still get adequate response does nothing but make that inner child chuckle his little ass off. Another ability this car has is the utter chuckable-ness of the chassis, being able to turn in, play with the pedal on the right, power slide for what seems like forever and have little fear of ending up backwards through someone else�s electric fence.

There is a downside to all this cool, powersliding, playstation fun though, in that as soon as Bruce goes off-road he becomes a little more hostile. Honestly this isn�t a vehicle that you would want to take on a long run down a dirt road, just look at the front bumper; it�s hardly going to clear this magazine let alone a rock or Meerkat that might be obstructing the path on a dirt road.

At least if you keep it on the tarmac you won�t have to worry about scratching the paintwork and demolishing the reputation this car gives you.

It does strike a great pose on the road though. This muscle car with a bakkie skeleton catches everyone�s eye and will never be mistaken for anything else � especially in our long-termer�s burnt orange hue. Of course, if you want a more radical colour, GM also offers it in some kind of luminous puke green and Barney-the-Dinosaur purple.

To sum it up, we�re sad to see this �mate� go, even if our commander in chief had almost permanent shotgun on the keys.

This is one of those vehicles that has to be driven to be believed, when you think of bargain buys and bang for buck, this doesn�t really come up during conversation, not because it�s not worthy, it�s just not well known to Joe Public and once you�ve driven it your perspective of it is somehow inverted. It goes from being an underdog to an absolute legend in an instant.

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