Want to buy or sell something? Check the classifieds
  • The Fedora Lounge is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

Vintage Australian Utes

RBH

Bartender
I have a Ford Sport Trac, and a search in that direction on utility vehicles lead me to this.

http://www.fastlane.com.au/Features/First_ute.htm

Does anyone else have any info on these cool looking ''trucks?''


world2007.1201586640.1934-ford-utex-one-of-the-first-official-utes.jpg
 
Messages
10,621
Location
My mother's basement
Oh man, why'd you have to go and post that, Rusty? Now I gotta have one.

I'm pencilled in for babysitting a four-year-old for a few hours this Friday. How 'bout you come on by licking an ice-cream cone?
 

Stearmen

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,202
I have a Ford Sport Trac, and a search in that direction on utility vehicles lead me to this.

http://www.fastlane.com.au/Features/First_ute.htm

Does anyone else have any info on these cool looking ''trucks?''


world2007.1201586640.1934-ford-utex-one-of-the-first-official-utes.jpg
Oh man, it's got every thing you could want in a vintage truck! Suicide doors, running boards, separate lights, integrated bed, wire wheels and to top it off, the steering is on the wrong side, or is that right side?
 

Story

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,056
Location
Home
In 1933, A Gippsland farmer's wife wrote a letter to Ford, and she said, "Can you build me a vehicle that we can go to church in on Sunday without getting wet, and my husband can use it to take the pigs to market on Monday?"

So the idea of combining a car and a truck together was something that Lew Bandt, who then was the young designer of Geelong, came up with. He took the 1933 model coupe and built the back on it and strengthened the chassis so that it would carry the load, and it was approved, and they went into production in 1934.
http://www.abc.net.au/dimensions/dimensions_future/Transcripts/s779287.htm

http://www.redbubble.com/explore/australia+ute+vintage
 

Stearmen

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,202
Whats In A Name

When I first heard of the word UTE in the 70s, I thought they were named after our own Ute Indians, sadly no! Still love the ones right through the 50s, and I always had a soft spot for the 60s Falcon Rancheros. Glad to see the Falcon name lives on in OZ. Sadly, most of my fellow Yanks know the Falcon only as the donner of the underpinnings of the Mustang! They know nothing of the rally wins that gave young Henry II his first taste of international victories that would lead to the Cobra and GT40.
 
Last edited:

Forum statistics

Threads
107,377
Messages
3,035,495
Members
52,806
Latest member
DPR
Top