Icons of the road: The Aussie ute | Drive Flashback

Australia didn’t quite invent the ute, but we sure as hell perfected it and made it our very own.

Original story by Peter McKay published in Drive on 21 August, 1999

The ute is said to be a uniquely Australian invention (as compared to the American pick-up). However, the argument continues to rage in pubs and at backyard barbecues across the country about who invented it – Ford or Holden.

So, to the pitiful sounds of Holden wrists being slashed across the nation, the truth is that the launch of Ford’s 1934 Coupe was the birth of our national icon, a fact recognised by Aussie Post and honoured by a commemorative stamp in 1997.

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With its sweeping flared guards and gleaming chrome features, the Ford ute was an attractive vehicle by anyone’s standards.

Based upon the legendary 1932 US ‘Deuce Coupe’, it was the only model in its field to boast a V8 engine (much to the anguish of its Dodge and Chevy competitors).

With power to burn, it was the ideal rural vehicle – gutsy, reliable and perfect to cover yourself in the muck and manure of a typical day on the land. Farmers were as happy as a pig in the proverbial.

Sixty-five years on (Ed: Almost 90 years now), the original ’34 Ford can take pride in having spawned millions of utes nationwide.

Despite its legendary status, however, recent evidence suggests that the real reason Australia needed the ute had little to do with transporting farm produce.

The truth is, a keg of beer wouldn’t fit into the back of the sedan. Peter McKay

So, what happened next?

From humble beginnings, Australia’s love affair with the ute has grown to what would seem like unimaginable proportions to its original designer, Louis ‘Lew’ Bandt (pictured below, with his beloved Ford Coupe Utility).

Long a mainstay on worksites and in driveways around Australia, today the utility is the number one-selling vehicle of any kind in the country.

Fittingly, it’s the modern iteration of that 1934 progenitor that currently holds the mantle as Australia’s best-selling car – the Ford Ranger.

Increasingly pressed into service as a ‘lifestyle’ vehicle – workhorses during the week and go-anywhere adventure utes on weekends – today’s utilities bear little resemblance to the original 1934 Ford Coupe Utility. But its philosophy remains the same – providing a comfortable and weather-protected cabin with space in the back to “take the pigs to market on Monday” as per Bandt’s original brief.

It’s worth pointing out, the utility isn’t a uniquely Australian invention. Plenty of carmakers around the world were adding trays and utility bodies on to the back of passenger car chassis. Even Ford in the US had its own Model T-based pick-up truck (pictured below).

But, where the Australian design differed – and was uniquely first in the automotive landscape – was in adding a utility body to an existing car with an enclosed cabin, bringing unparalleled levels of comfort to what was otherwise a rudimentary segment.

Pour one out for Lew Bandt, then, whose idea was copied the world over. The ute, as we fondly think of it, was born.

Before I finish, a note on the term ‘ute’ and ‘utility’. Today’s ‘utes’ are, strictly speaking, not so. As a uniquely Australian term, a ‘ute’, by definition is “usually two-wheel-drive, traditionally passenger vehicles with a cargo tray in the rear integrated with the passenger body”. And that sounds about right when considering Australia’s long history with the utility.

Today’s iterations are, strictly speaking, “pick-ups” based as they are on America’s beloved vehicle of choice where Ford’s F-Series pick-ups continue to dominate the market in the same way our Ford Ranger ute does here. See what I did there?

Whatever your preferred vernacular, the Aussie ute holds a special place in our heart, a true icon of the road. RM

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What are your memories of the humble Aussie ute? Let us know in the comments below.

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