Transcript of Module 35 – The Aussie Ute

So, today we’re going to talk about the history of utes in Australia. So, what’s a ute? A ute it’s a slang term in Australian English and a ute (1) is just short for the phrase a ‘utility vehicle’ or what they would call ‘a pickup’ or ‘a pickup truck’ in the U.S. That’s how they refer to it there. But we call it a ute.

These cars are designed to travel over rough terrain (2) and they have a tray (3) on the back that can carry cargo (4), equipment, tools, materials, quite often used by tradies (5) in Australia. So, today the stereotype of a ute owner is a young male tradie in Australia and they’re found far and wide (6) all across the land Down Under.

So, how, where and why was the ute invented? As with most things, in America is where the concept of a two-door vehicle with a tray at the rear began and it was back in the 1920s with the Roadster utility (7) models a.k.a. Roadster pickup (8) or light delivery (9) where the first ute can sort of trace its ancestry to (10).

In comparison to today’s hard-top fixed-steel roof utes (11), which you find in Australia and in America, these cars were soft-top convertibles (12) back in the early days. However, Ford Australia is claimed to be the very first company to produce an Australian-style ute, which was first released in the year 1934.

That’s right! Any Holden ute fans out there who despise (13) Ford utes, know that Ford beat Holden to the punch (14) in terms of creating the Aussie car icon.

So, the reason for the creation came from a letter from an unnamed wife of an Australian farmer in the year 1932, who asked for “a vehicle to go to church on Sunday and which can carry the pigs to market on Monday.”

Instantly inspired and seeing the appeal and selling strength of the idea, Ford designer Lew Brandt set to work designing a two-door body with a tray at the rear for the American Ford Model A chassis and the model was named the ‘Coupe Utility’. When the model made its way to American soil, Henry Ford affectionately nicknamed it the ‘Kangaroo Chaser’ (15).

Holden was a little slow on the draw (16) and only released their first ute model 16 years after Ford in the year 1951. From that moment when Holden utes first put rubber to the bitumen (17), first hit the road, the longstanding Ford-Holden rivalry kicked off.

Once the 50s rolled by, it was on for young and old with numerous other car manufacturers having noticed the appeal of the ute and putting their own takes on it (18) into production. Chrysler, British Leyland and Hillman all started releasing their own models in the 1950s. And in later years, Asian car companies such as Nissan, Proton, Subaru, Suzuki, and even Toyota also got in on the action (19). However, none of the other brands stood the test of time (20) and achieved the same level of fame and notoriety of the Ford and Holden models.

So, the cultural impact of the ute in Australia.

For the past 80 odd years or more, the ute has embedded itself further and further into Australian culture, particularly in more rural (21) parts of the continent.

A common occurrence today are ute musters (22), which are Aussie festivals that bring together large numbers of utes and their owners, and these farm parties usually include competitions and other side events, taking place annually and normally lasting several days. You know, they are a real festival and are held all throughout rural and regional (23) parts of Australia and even New Zealand.

Quite often, attendees have heavily customised their utes with bull bars (24), spotlights (25), oversized mud flaps (26), exhaust pipes (27), and UHF aerials (28). Since the year 1998, the ute muster held in Deniliquin, more affectionately known as the ‘Deni Ute Muster’ (29), has become a major attraction for the region.

And don’t worry, if you’re not located in a regional or rural area, there are high-performance street utes (30) including Ford’s FPV F6 and Holden’s HSV Maloo, each of which are ridiculously high-powered six-litre V8s (31) producing up to 425 kilowatts or 570 horsepower. You can get these, and you can hoon around (32) the cities in them.

And if you’re a bit more of an old school (33) rev head at heart, there are plenty of older Ford and Holden models from the 50s, 60s, 70s, and onwards that you can lash out on (34) and buy, albeit for a pretty penny (35) as ones in good nick (36) are few and far between these days. You’ll often see convoys of these cars out and about (37) on weekends as club members get together and go on road trips or attend meet-ups.