Ute, short for “utility vehicle,” is one of the most famous Australian inventions.
The first ute was developed by Ford Australia in 1934.
Legend has it the concept came from a farmer’s wife who wrote to Ford in 1933 asking for a vehicle that could take her to church on Sunday and carry pigs to market on Monday. Responding to this request, Lewis Bandt, a 22-year-old engineer at the Ford Geelong plant, created the first ute by modifying a coupe to include a cargo tray behind the passenger compartment. This practical and versatile vehicle with a strengthened body and suspension became popular in Australia and has since become a significant part of Australian automotive culture.
The first pick-up or ute was born as the first Ford Coupe Utility rolled off the production line in 1934. This successful original model had a five-foot by five-foot tray that could withstand a load of 550kg. Henry Ford himself was impressed by naming the new vehicle the Aussie Kangaroo Chaser.
There are, however, other claims to being the first pick-up, commercial and personal vehicle.
The USA had, some might say, a similar vehicle in the 1903 Oldsmobile, which sat two passengers with an open storage tray to the rear. The difference between the two vehicles being that a ute is designed for both personal use and carrying loads whereas the 1903 Oldsmobile is primarily used for personal transport.
In 1924 the Dodge Brothers produced a soft-top pickup that had a jeep-like body with a loading area at the rear, and the Model T Runabout also had a pickup body, but we can safely say that the 1934 innovative design of Lewis Bandt can claim evolutionary innovation of the pick-up or ute. Ever since the ute has sold consistently and has become a classic Australian icon.
Fast forward to 2016, the Toyota Hilux was the best-selling model in Australia. For the first time in Australian history, a commercial-use vehicle had outsold a passenger vehicle. The Ford Ranger was number four in the sales rank and the Mitsubishi Triton the ninth in the same year.
Besides Australia and the USA, pick-ups are hugely popular all across Asia and Europe making these all-purpose vehicles perhaps the most successful designs to have been invented.
Utility vehicles are often equipped with canopies to protect loads from theft and weather damage. Therefore, ute canopies in Brisbane and canopy suppliers in other Australian cities are developing new and improved ways to customise the classic ute into a fully functional personal and commercial vehicle.
Some Australians have customized their utes into all-terrain off-road vehicles with spectacular results.
The average Australian may no longer require the ute to deliver them to church on Sunday or to the farmer’s market on Monday morning, but the original design of the vehicle is much more popular now than could have ever been expected.
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