Is it a car or a truck? Ford’s first 1934 Coupe Utility was both. Photo: Supplied.
This week, as I attempted to exit a carpark and was forced to take a leap of blind faith due to the enormous ‘Yank-Tank’ that was obscuring my view of oncoming traffic, I lamented the demise of the iconic Aussie ute.
Sure, many people refer to these oversized open-back behemoths as ‘utes’, but as we count down to the Deni Ute Muster, I fear that the true form of this iconic Aussie vehicle is fading into history.
Country music legend Lee Kernaghan predicted the problem and summed up the dilemma in his 1993 hit, She’s My Ute.
“Kickin’ past the dealers on the edge of town
Saw a lot of pretty pickups
Not a ute to be found”
The story of the great Australian utility vehicle – ute for short – goes back to the Great Depression and the need for a uniquely versatile vehicle that was part car, part truck.
The American pickup truck had been around since Henry Ford launched the 1925 Model T Roadster. An example of this early innovation remains a familiar sight on the streets of Wagga as John ‘Nugget’ Rice regularly pops to the shops in his beautifully original 1927 model.
But while the pickup was a fabulous tool for farmers and tradesmen, it’s leaky convertible top and lack of surrounding windows made it less useful as a family car.
The idea of blending the coupe – a two doored car with a fixed hardtop roof – with a pickup, dates back to a letter written to Ford by a Gippsland farmer’s wife in the 1930s. She wondered whether they could create something that could carry the family to church on Sunday and pigs to market on Monday.
Automobile designer Lewis Bandt ran with the concept and created the first Ford Coupe Utility that was released in 1934. It’s distinctive feature was the integrated tray back that was attached in a single piece of sheet metal to the cabin like an extended boot.
While Henry Ford was underwhelmed by the concept, it proved a hit Down Under.
Ford and Holden dominated the Australian market through the 20th century along with honourable mentions for later Japanese entries like the original Toyota Hilux models, the Subaru Brumby and the tiny Suzuki Mighty Boy, that made a small and amusing impression in the 80s.
Along with live music and a family focus, the Deni Ute Muster promises lots of utes. Photo: Supplied.
In 1999, as the Riverina was suffering through another devastating drought, residents in Deniliquin launched a new rural-themed festival to give the local economy a boost. The fateful decision to include a ute parade saw 2839 vehicles set a Guinness World Record and establish Deni as “Ute Capital of the World”.
Sadly in the 2000s, Australian car manufacturing began to decline and the market was flooded with larger, four-wheel drive vehicles that steadily blurred the line between the traditional coupe and the pickup.
Ford and Holden stopped manufacturing their iconic passenger-car utes in 2016 and 2017, respectively and over the last decade, these sleek Aussie vehicles have been replaced by the mutated Tonka Truck varieties that loom over traffic today.
Will we ever get back to the smaller, low-profile utes of yesterday? Hard to say. In the meantime, let’s celebrate the classic farm utes that survive and we’ll give Lee Kernaghan the final word.
“You can see them blow-ins
In their four by fours
Jumpin’ up and down ’bout a scratch on the door
But I’ve got a yarn for every dent
A big red roo, pig or two
A hole in the roof that Col shot through
“She’s got holes in the muffler
And a gear-box clunk
I’ve cursed her and called her a piece of old junk
When the work’s been done at the end of the day
She’s my ute, I’ll keep it that way
She’s my ute and she’s here to stay”
Original Article published by Chris Roe on Region Riverina.
