Utes are mostly gone from Australia now too, we have heaps of dual cab "utes" that are no longer the sedan-front type. Today's utes available in Australia are a weird balance of not quite a truck but not quite a car.
@@skylovescars69420 And the Toyota Hilux, Isuze D-Max, and some chinese rust buckets. Ford stopped producing the Falcon in 2016. As or Holden utes, the VF was the last of the bunch to even have the ute bodystyle, before being replaced by the ZB which nobody cares about. Yes, this is also for the Americans
@@IAreBean Holden ceased operations in 2020 due to GM, so we can't get Colorados here in Australia anymore, although there are still plenty on the road.
Some of your info might be a little bit outdated. In Australia, we haven't had a real sedan based ute since the death of Local Ford and Holden manufacturing in 2016/17. All we have now is what you'd call "half-ton pickup trucks," like the Chevy colorado and the new ford ranger you also get in the states. Love you content ❤ no hate
@@IAreBean America has one now call the Ford Maverick. It's not a proper pickup truck, just a crossover ute based on the Escape and "Bronco" Sport fake truck.
as a New Zealander, I love utes and every country should have them, but here in New Zealand often people refer to pickup trucks as utes as well, and is more an umbrella term for vehicles that tow the line between truck and car, but that's just coming from me
Speaking as a 'Murican auto enthusiast, it pains me to see what happened to Holden most of all over the years. Was hoping to somehow import a shiny new Maloo someday. Those are probably one of my all time favorite vehicles in the world, and stand as the top tier "worker's daily driver" vehicle.
fun fact you can import a modern ute (doesn't have to be 25 years old) to the states, soon ill hopefully be able to get a VF ute imported here to build up, the trick with it from my understanding is that the engine/trans and whatever non-conforming to the epa stuff must be removed before its shipped to the states, there are people around the US (few of them) that can do this and ill be getting with someone soon to get a rolling chassis VF ute shipped over for me to tinker with and show off
Yeah! FIAT Strada, VW Saveiro, FIAT Toro, Chevrolet Montana, Renault Duster, Ford Courier, FIAT Fiorino, Chevrolet Corsa Pickup, Peugeot Hoggar, and the new RAM Rampage, all can be found here, but we don't call them utes, just pickups. And they're mostly based on compact Hatchbacks instead of sedans.
UTE's, not. SUV's, yes. Light pickups like these said "UTES" werent a thing in brazil. Look at the trucks in the videos, an Pickup Astra, we never had that
We almost got the Ute back. I remember in 2008 reading about the upcoming Pontiac G8 ST (Sport Truck); a Holden Ute rebadged and shipped to the US just like the G8 sedan. But when GM killed Pontiac, the project died with it. Very unfortunate
Car guys used to kid that if the Pontiac Division made an El Camino clone [with a GTO nose] it would be an ,, El Cabron'' [Sp for Goat.] GMC's Elco was called the Sprint.
It was supposed to come to the US as a Pontiac like the GTO and g8. When GM killed off Pontiac our hope of getting a ute died with it. All we can do to get one is import a holden as parts with no driveline. Then use it to modify a pontiac G8 into a ute.
We(Australia) used to have Utes but then GM ran Holden into the ground before shuttering it entirely and their failure falsely convinced other manufacturers that nobody wants them. What we have now are unnecessarily large inefficient lumbering facsimiles of a Ute. If you’re a tradesperson or someone who has to transport things regularly it is roughly the same cost and much easier to buy a van these days. It’s a shame. When I was growing up my dad had a four-door. I have a lot of fond memories of ‘em…
A open box seems like a bad idea in a country where it rains so fucking much. Better to have a van so you can have your tools in a dry air conditioned location. Also Utes have terrible fucking clearance compared to vans or trucks.
my stepdad drove a ba falcon xr6 for many years, and it was an awesome car, now all i seem to see are suv's and massive trucks that are double the size of a hilux. and whats funny about that is that almost noone ever actually uses them as a "utility vehicle"
When GM was thinking of bringing the Holden Ute over in 2008, one of the car magazines ran an article that said they'd need to come up with a different name because "you can't say Ute in the US without sounding like Joe Pesci in My Cousin Vinny" 😂😂😂
I would love them. My first car was a 1997 Ranger. While not a ute it was a small economical truck. I don't tow anything and it had more bedspace than a lot of new full size trucks.
Ranger is probably my favorite truck design of all time. People think I'm crazy when I tell em it one of the funnest vehicles to drive. I used to off road in my father's ranger sometimes and was pretty impressed at its ability to bounce around while still being tight to maneuver. And it was pretty damn quick too for a little guy. Thing would have made one hell of a technical on the battlefield.
Because they used to be made for actual work, not just dick-measuring contests. "But I need it for my boat (that I use maybe twice a year at best) and hauling lumber (which I've never done, and the bed is too small for it anyways)" Honestly, vans are better value these days, more space and it's all under cover. More likely to be able to see a kid standing in front of you too
i had a 96 s10 i miss that truck. it was stick and so easy to drive. i currently drive a toyota IM corolla its clutch SUCKS it has all that force but its grab is so bad
I have a 2002 silverado 1500, and while it's not the fun, small hard working ranger (not to say the 02 silverado is not hard working or fun, in fact it's very much both of those combined nicely into a small yet capable 5.3l v8) I agree with you about the ranger, my buddy has a 2000 manual rwd ranger and he loves it, it's sad that trucks and utes aren't what they used to be
Another body style not shown in this video is the stell/aluminium tray style ute. Maybe not as pretty to American viewers or anyone not used to seeing them, but in Australia they're really common and I think much cooler than the 'tub' style since they're rugged and really designed for utility. It's definitely more of what I think of when I think of an Australian ute, whereas the Ford Ranger or Toyota Hilux type feels more American in style since they're monstrous and designed for both work and recreation (towing campers, off-roading, 4wd, harassing smaller cars). Look up the Hilux 'Workmate' for an example.
The Ford Falcon introduced a chassis ute in the AU Falcon. They sold like hotcakes - some dealers reckon it was one of the best decisions Ford Made. They sold because they had the same capability as a hilux (which was known to be very uncomfortable), with the comfort of a large sedan, with lots of leg room, width, ac as standard, as well as autos standard - all for the same price. I know this, because my dad was in the market for a work ute at the time, and chose an AU Falcon Ute, which we still have today. You still see AU chassis utes today, hauling a tonne. And Ford continued this all the way until their demise with the FGX Falcon.
Considering how many of the newer small "pickups" are unibody construction, I can see the "ute" coming back to the US, if American buyers would just realize that you don't need extra ground clearance to drive on groomed gravel roads and paved streets.
It prolly won't as Holden stopped production in 2020 Although small size pickup trucks are coming back with the launch of the Ford Maverick and the Hyundai Santa Cruz tho
@@hkbthen00bSanta Cruz is more of a Ute than a truck imo. Sure it’s not sedan based, but it’s not a body on frame SUV. Plus the styling up front screams crossover, which is the de facto modern sedan.
one of my favorite trucks we had growing up was a jeep Comanche (technically a 1/4 ton truck). you could put that thing through hell and it would ask for more. not only that but it had i think an 8' bed so plenty of space for whatever you needed to haul. i hate how massive trucks have become. my 2011 F-150 is almost twice the size of a 1985 model with a shorter bed that is harder to use because its so high up not to mention getting likely the same gas mileage.
Yes the new half ton trucks are taller than my 27 year old Chevy one ton, and the new crew cab shorties are almost as long as my truck (which is a crew cab long bed, 21') but with much less actual usable space for a load with the short beds.
As a Canadian I have only seen UTE’s as the ranchero and el Camino and I love the body style and there purpose but we will probably never see another one in America being sold unless Subaru brings back the baja.
Here in brazil we don't call those types of trucks "ute" just small truck, but we have a lot of them The most sold car for a few years is a ute named fiat Strada (fiat is not a shitty company here😂)
Oddly South Africa also had the Ford Bantam from 2000 to 2009, a mk4 Fiesta (post production) built as a 'backie'. They look awesome and are specific only to SA
Dacia, the Romanian car manufacturer, used to make utes. The Dacia Papuc (literally means "slipper") was the literal workhorse of any small business, mostly in construction. Dacia also made a limited amount of Dacia Logan utes (The Logan was a sedan) which looked pretty cool and were named Dacia Logan Pick-up. Sadly, these were discontinued.
This is a poorly researched video. I'm Australian and they haven't been making these for a few years because of the stupid yank tanks everyone keeps buying. Second hand ones are super expensive as well
But with the closing down of Holden and Ford Australia utes don't get made anymore, there are still plenty on the road but I'm not sure how long thats gonna last. I've noticed that even in my home town massive pickup trucks are starting to get disturbingly common, our roads just aren't built for them. I wish the ute would come back, AU Falcon my beloved.
As an AU Falcon Ute owner, I love seeing fellow AU Falcon utes on the road - doing proper work - hauling things. I see them somewhat often, at least once a week in Sydney.
My pride and joy is my 1970 VG Valiant ute. It'll be on the road as long as I will. Funny thing is, our 'little' car based utes, up until the XG one tonne option, could carry 3/4 ton, but the US small trucks (F100, D100) were only a half ton.
I’d argue the Santa Cruz and Maverick are modern utes. They aren’t sport car hybrids anymore, but crossover hybrids, since the crossover replaced the sedan. The Santa Cruz is especially Ute-like, still looking more like a car than a truck. Maverick is a little bit too trucky, but is essentially still just a crossover with a bed than an actual truck.
as some else said since Holden and Ford shutdown in Australia, the ute body has become a fading legacy and are no longer common in Australia and often sell for a lot higher as collection pieces not to mention aggressive advertising has made utes not only undesirable but look like terrible cars plus there's the whole phenomena that being in a larger vehicle makes you feel safer
I would much rather have one of these than current trucks available in America. There is no current year options for small trucks anymore either. Which is disappointing.
In my area a few people have taking subaru wagons, usually 90s legecy's. Chopping the back roof off, sealing/reinforcing the front seat area and making a bed out of the back part
I visited New Zealand last year and I was honestly surprised at the variety of different trucks they have there. Not only utes but also trucks from brands that don’t produce trucks for the US, like Mercedes, as well as cars from brands that don’t exist. Wish utes caught on as much here, honestly I like the idea of them a lot
In Brazil there's plenty of UTEs driving around. FIAT Strada, VW Saveiro, FIAT Toro, Chevrolet Montana, Renault Duster, Ford Courier, FIAT Fiorino, Chevrolet Corsa Pickup, Peugeot Hoggar, and the new RAM Rampage, all can be found here, but we don't call them utes, just pickups. Most of them based on little compact Hatchbacks, to make 'em cheaper.
I'm jealous. I would love a third series first gen Fiat Strada but everyone who owns them coves them jealousy while FIAT has completely abandoned it for the Italian market.
I'm surprised South American/Africa coupe utilities aren't mentioned at all. With Australia long losing manufacturers that specialize in utes, these regions are the only one left that still sells this body type.
@@vinesauceobscurities It's mental, really. People are hurting for small affordable street pickups to the point of there being third party companies dedicating themselves to making conversions, and in reply we get yet another massive thing with ungodly clearance and the interior of a fucking yatch.
Although Brazil still have them, the newer Toro and Rampage are huge vehicles. They are going towards large truck designs like the US, slowly and silently killing the UTEs, they'll become unaffordable eventually.
Im a tradie in aus and there may be less utes but ive noticed many have been replaced by vans, they are safer, can pack more in and save time because you dont have to tie down anything inside
I suppose the not-so-secret secret in the U.S. is that a lot of "work trucks" are used minivans with the back seats removed and some plywood and/or linoleum laid over the floor. (For one thing trucks going upscale made new ones too expensive to use in a utilitarian manner.) Does the job short of needing towing or off-road capability. And the interior room and low lift height certainly helps when it comes to being practical.
I'm in Oz, and I have a LWB Transit van. 3m load length, so I can just throw sheets of gyprock in, no worries keeping it dry or secured. Also carries 1.5 tonne, can tow 2750, and with a GCM of 6.3T can do both at the same time. 9.4L/100k isn't too bad going either, for just on 2T unladen. These "utes" with their rated 3T towing capacity, can barely carry anything while pulling that weight.
@@TAVOAu The half ton (150/1500) segment is more of a family/play vehicle than a work vehicle these days. A F250 or F350 would do all of that and more. Depending on configuration of the class 2B and class 3 pickups you can have up to 8,000 lbs of payload rating (F350 2wd XL trim gas truck) and a tow rating up to 40,000 lbs (F450 2wd XL trim regular cab high output diesel).
0:03 And Romania. Those are pickup variants of regular sedans made by local Dacia and we usually call Dacia Pick-up "Dacia Papuc" (Dacia Flip-flop) because of the shape of a flip-flop
I think there's a decent argument that unibody pickup trucks can technically be seen as a reinterpretation of the Ute, like with the new Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santacruz, and even some older stuff like the Ford Explorer Sport Trac
@@waggish4999 That's true to some degree, it feels like the Big Three have just decided not to bother with it. Too small, and maybe conceding that foreign automakers are better at it (even though Ford sells a lot of sedans/hatchbacks in other markets). But even foreign automakers seem to be emphasizing their SUVs above all else. I hear on the radio, see billboards, ads for companies such as for Mercedes Benz specifically advertising their lineups of SUVs - "Check out our impressive lineup of SUVs" - as if that's the only category of vehicle that anyone cares about anymore, no mention of anything else. Or perhaps the companies think of sedans as an afterthought at best, while people do buy them it's not what the companies are trying to compete on. Because there's too little interest, or because they don't have a high enough profit margin. Companies specifically push people towards SUVs rather than sedans, even if those people would buy sedans, because they're more expensive - the US is notorious for companies successfully telling people what they should buy (that which is most profitable for company, not best for customer, of course).
@-ya-0067 Yeah, exactly. They push their SUVs as the "better" option than sedans. The US more than other countries seems to be the place where companies tell people what they want, and consumers go along with it.
Agree to a point, but there are some of us down here, who insist it must have a sedan base equivalent, be full unibody construction, otherwise it's a baby truck.
Hmmm you mean cars like Ford Maverick, Honda Ridgeline and Hyundai Santa Cruz? These are modern UTEs. Open cargo vehicles build on passanger car platform (no frame)
A true ‘coupe utility’ is based on a car and has a sloping back window, as shown in the El Camino image. This allows more room in the cab and also provides clear differentiation from the older pickup style cab. The last coupe utilities built in Australia were the Ford XA based vehicles. The Holden HQ-and later-vehicles had vertical or near vertical back windows.
I thought America never had a tiny pickup! VW could have exported to the US the Vw Saveiro, it could have been a huge sucess along with the Rabbit Pickup!
I wish so badly that we still used those in America. The average truck size today is a travesty, and makes the roads absolutely deadly to drive, walk or bike on, along with burning way more gas than neccesary.
Pontiac were about to bring the Holden Commodre Ute but they got shut down Idk why Chevy didn't bring it back with the El Camino nameplate tho And plus Holden stopped production in 2020 so even in Australia and New Zealand newer utes are no longer available
The fact that we would’ve had a Pontiac G8 ute (rebadged VE Commodore) if GM was competent with their spending. Hoping to get a Camino before they receive any hype.
Genuinely surprised that the US didn't import the Commodore SS ute as a new El Camino back when you were getting Monaros in as the Pontiac GTO (with that god-awful front end).
The closest thing we have in the US isn’t “small” trucks like the maverick. It’s liftback ‘sedans’ like new Civic hatchback. They appear as car-like as any other car, but their rear hatch opens quite wide and their rear seats fold down flat to allow for crossover-like storage in a sedan-like package
Hello, I'm from France and I already regret the lack of pickup trucks in Europe, I love utes and I wish we had some. Maybe, in Europe it's less safe to let things in your pickup boot so you gotta have a closed, lockable boot rather than in US/AU/NZ where, idk, people are more honest... (sorry for my bad English)
Oh, don't be misinformed. There aren't many honest people here. There's always something being stolen out of the beds of pickups at Walmart and other places. But you make a good point...that's one reason I'm sure for the increase in four-door pickups...more room to put stuff that you don't want stolen out of the bed. Many truck owners, like me, do have lockable tool boxes which sit atop the bed rails right behind the cab, for storage. That helps, but if I need to go to the lumber supply store or another place where I will buy large things, and also go to Walmart for something, I'll go to Walmart first so that I can get the big stuff and go straight home. You can't trust anyone with any certainty because if you've got drug users in your city then you've got human trash who don't care about anything but their own comfort. They will steal dirty underwear if they think they can get $$$ for their next hit.
I'm also from Europe and, honestly, I don't see the point of buying such things. A VAN like the Citroen Berlingo/Peugeot Partner does its job perfectly and keeps your things protected not just from thiefs buit also from weather inclemency. Some Ford P100 UTEs (derived from the Sierra) were once produced in my country (Portugal), but nearly all of them were exported to other continents (mainly South Africa). Nobody wanted them here.
Fun fact, for a short time Holden manufactured and sold the Holden Crewman dual cab ute. It is directly based off the Commodore ute, with extra doors and seats and was longer. Also there was a HSV variant known as the Avalanche XUV.
Kind of a shame too, i like a classic ute style, the closest thing i might be able to get is a used ford ranger, those are somewhat similar, but not quite the same
As someone who is not compensating for anything and is tired of massive trucks and their LEDs from the US, I recently became aware of the Ute as a body style and promptly jumped on buying a Subaru Baja (for a not insignificant amount of money) because I absolutely love the humility of the Ute and the sportiness they present. I hope auto manufacturers realize producing Utes would have a market.
It’s kind of coming back with crossover suv based trucks like the ford maverick and the Hyundai Santa Cruz. As normies think sedans aren’t cool anymore. Also even the Ute is a dying breed in Australia Ford produced their last falcon Ute in 2016 and Holden made their last one in 2017 and then going under in 2021. I don’t know of any other car based utes in Australia as now trucks like the ford ranger and Toyota hilux are coming in as aussies are adopting the stupid ideas of us Americans
I'm in NZ. I have never once heard the expression "utility coupe". It doesn't exist in NZ. It's just a ute, mate. However, if you can't reach what's in the back of a Ute without a ladder, then you don't have a Ute, you've got a moronic pile of wank instead of a useful vehicle. I'm looking at you F150 and F250! One thing worth mentioning about Utes, is that they have no weight over the rear wheels, and they are driven by the rear wheels. So - unless you have a half-ton lawn tractor in the back, you have ZERO traction, and the rear wheels go up in smoke any time you even LOOK at the gas pedal. So, they all handle like crap, and will crash into a fence at the earliest opportunity. I drove a Maloo Ute at a race track once. It was by far the dumbest car I have ever driven. Unless you drive it like a school bus, it's almost impossible to keep the back wheels following the fronts. Perhaps the only good thing about it was the brakes. They let you come to a stop before the loose rear end killed you. :P
I think as the truck fad finally dies off, A niche in the market could form. If car makers REALLY wanted to, they could always hire lobbyists to get the law changed so Utes qualify as trucks.
They've done that before because I witnessed it. Way back when I worked for a Chevrolet stealership, and they suddenly refused to call an Astro Van...a van. It was miraculously now a "truck", because as a truck it didn't have to have as good EPA numbers as a van did, which was somehow linked in a weird manner to cars. So the more trucks a manufacturer built percentage-wise to the entire lineup, the lower their average EPA ratings had to be. A customer had asked to test drive one of the Astro Vans, and the sales guy said, "Chevrolet doesn't make Astro Vans, they make Astros, which are trucks." If you ever wanted a definition of gaslighting, there it is. The sales guy figuratively peed on the guy's head and told him it was raining. I sell auto parts, and I still automatically call them Astro Vans every time I say the name because subconsciously I still want to beat the smile off that salesman's face.
Ute's remain very popular in South Africa, because they're practical, and cheap. We've had the Nissan Champ, Ford Bantam, Mazda Duster, Opel Corsa Ute, Volkswagen Golf Ute, Ford Kortina Ute, Chevrolet Ute, and the most popular model today is the Nissan NP200. Renault is planning a new Ute, and Toyota has been teasing one.
When you look at the term sports utility vehicle it literally describes the El Camino. What a tragedy that it was classified out of existence using its own description.
I never really thought of the Chevy SSR as a ute but... I guess it counts? Most utes seem like "add a pickup truck bed to a coupe" while the SSR seems more like "add aerodynamic improvements, retro styling, and a convertible top to a pickup truck" in their design approach.
I love my Ford Ranchero. its a 79 so she isnt the prettiest but fun to drive. Currently building a 351W Hotrod motor for it since the stock 302 in it makes little to not power.
American style trucks like the RAM & F150 are becoming more popular now here in Australia. There's also talk about Toyota introducing the Tundra. Ford & General Motors ceasing local production in the mid 2010s also led to the erasure of local models tailored for the Australian market. There hasn't been any new car-based pickup vehicle since the late 2010s, and as the years pass by, the amount of remaining models on the road will decrease.
While Nowdays we in Australia call any pickup outside the full-size stuff from America a Ute(it's 50-50 we call it a truck or a ute just based on the size of the thing), I agree that it should stick to the car based stuff as a technicality from a world wide perspective so everyone understands.
In Brazil there are lots of Utes under the Volkswagen and Fiat brands, many of them built in Brazilian factories and even they exported some models to neighboring countries like Paraguay, Colombia and Venezuela.
I honestly despise the American trucks stupidly big and take up too much space I saw one where the guy had to take up free car parks and was parked sideways because they can honestly I don't understand why people buy these things unless they actually need them I only had a small Toyota Yaris and it is amazing on fuel I can pay barely nothing and get a full tank of petrol
Here in Brazil they are extremely popular as well! Fiat Strada has been the best selling vehicle in 2021, 2022 and 2023; right now it's still among the 3 best selling.
Not gone from America, just USA, lots of countries in America still have those. Chevrolet Montana, Volkswagen Saveiro, Ford Courier, Peugeot Houggar, Fiat Fiorino... these are just a few of the "UTES" that you'll find (still in production), especially in Brazil. So, no. America still has LOTS of "UTES", it's just the USA that don't "have" them anymore.
Yet another way that the CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) regulations completely backfired. Instead of encouraging more efficient vehicles, it encouraged pushing of vehicles in a less-regulated class that are in the end less efficient. So CAFE probably overall worsened rather than improved average fuel economy in the US. Station Wagons are another casualty, replaced by less-efficient "truck"-category minivans and SUVs.
The current Ford Maverick is something I consider to be a “ute” in the sense that you talk about in this video, while not being exactly car based, it is based on a smaller, lighter duty, unibody platform shared with crossovers the likes of the Escape and baby Bronco Sport, along with apparently some cars sold overseas. Judging by how popular it’s proving to be, along with the Hyundai Santa Cruz (as much as I don’t like that example specifically), it seems like the segment could come back, albeit now with four doors and unibody chassis. But really, that’s the way cars in general have progressed since the days of the A/G-Body El Camino, probably for the better.
@@ben501st everyone forgets about the ridgeline, Now it seems a good portion of manufacturers are trying to make a similar vehicle to what Honda came out with in 2006. design wise the 1st gen ridgeline also seems more accepted today, then it was when it first came out. I see alot of bed arches making their way back into the market.
I was also wondering what the maverick was considered. I'm pretty sure that the escape and bronco sport are based on the focus sedan platform, so the maverick is based on a car
Funny you show the Subaru at the end there, because that's a car Australia never got after the Brumby in the 80's ( I think). Modern "Ute's" are pretty bad, aside from the 2WD Hilux and the odd Isuzu, pretty much all of them are dual cab, and because of that have uselessly small trays that really can't hold much. Moving house and my 90's ute held everything I needed to move in one go, the modern dual cab Ranger was a 4 trip deal, what's the point? Hire a trailer? if you're hiring something might as well hire a moving truck and not have to deal with articulation. Modern utes are useless
Hmm...I could get a Sedan and add a Truck bed myself. Yeah, it would be a lot of work, but it would be really neat. Or I could just get a small 4-Cylinder Truck like a Ford Ranger.
The sad thing is that the horrible mismanagement from both Ford + Holden (GM) as well as the Gov killed off our entire auto industry and thus Utes with it. We were just 40-something years behind the US in doing so. So like everything else, a solution without a problem to make things “gooder” just made everything worse.
This video is total BS! You sure can buy a brand new ute in America. The Honda Ridgeline and Hyundai Santa Cruz have been around for decades and Ford jumped in the action with the Maverick, which is apparently selling well. They may be marketed in 'merica as "trucks" because because most people here don't know the term ute, but these vehicles are unibody designs with an open bed, as opposed to true trucks that are build body on frame.
We Romanians have a series of utes that while not as popular anymore still haul ass in the country side. I don't actually know the name of the model but we called them Dacia Papuc due to their resemblance to a slipper, which in Romanian is Papuc. They used to be everywhere about 10-12 years ago but not as much anymore sadly, I'm seeing more Hiluxes and F150s nowadays.
I never saw the SSR as a ute, it was a retro style of a hotrod pick up type of thing, there was also a short period of time where in America you could get a new use straight from Aus, only thing was they could only import the bodies, the company importing them filled out the rest by buying as many Pontiac G8s (Holden Commodore I believe in Aus) and using their parts to make working Utes
Why doesn't the UK anymore either? We had the Ford P100 for decades, originally Cortina based and the later Sierra based (still a few of those on the road with Cosworth bumper and vents 90% of the time), also a Nissan one, even a Proton one and the Subaru one too.
The second most popular ute in America was the Subaru Brat. They chose to comply with the passenger car emissions but dodged the USA's 25% import tax on pickups by putting seats in the tray. The president who implemented that tax bought one and owned it for decades.
I think the problem of the ute is that they are "utility" vehicles but people use them as sport cars, cuz in Mexico, and latin america in general, he still have sedan based coupes pickups that are mostly utility vehicles like the vw saverio, the fiat/ram one, there was the chevy tornado based on the aveo. Cars are either a legendary iconic cars and look the part like mustangs, fiat 500s, jeeps and minis or people actually use them as reliable tools like vans, pickups and toyotas
The orony is the tide turned against utes here in Australia years ago. Most are here are driving oversized twin cab pickups. I drive a ute, its a 97 Falcon Longreach, it was top of the line fir its day, but 26 years later, i hardly ever see any. I cant even recall seeing another Longreach like mine.
As an NZ guy, the old sedan body is an absolutely superior vehicle to the American style pickup 'ute'. Such a shame that this species of car is almost extinct.
The American Versions of the UTE Consist of Chevy El Camino GMC Caballero Subaru Brat Dodge Rampage Ford Ranchero These Vehicles Were made between a time span of 1950-1987 These were when they were good and not ugly to me
We had our moment with the El Camino, but then it got trucked away by SUVs and regulations. Now we're stuck staring longingly at our Aussie and Kiwi friends cruising in their sporty, practical Utes
Is the Subaru Baja considered a Ute? I know you showed an image of it briefly at the end, and I don't believe it sold very well in the US, but that is the car that I think of as a "modern Ute".
Sort of. There's a lot of debate around the Baja as its bed (or tray) is so small as to make it almost useless for anything practical. It's a ute only on paper but lacks all features which make a ute a useful vehicle.
we have them in brazil, but they're on their way out. compact trucks taking their place. terrible handling, no cargo space, incapable of offroading and expensive af. worst of both worlds. utes were two seaters but they had good cargo space and were decently fun to drive ( even though ours are slow)
We had a few utes in the UK. I remember the Ford P100 and a Peugeot one in the late 80’s early 90’s. Shame we haven’t got them anymore. Too many idiots without a clue how to drive get unleashed in a massive yank tank
another reason for trucks and SUVs to take over, is they are classed as "Light Truck"s which have a lesser safety standard compared to general cars. So they get to save money by skimping on safety.
Damn that's really sad, always thought ute's were the perfect thing for amarican's considering most people with trucks only use the bed once, twice a year so why not have something fun to drive?
in brazil, the best selling vehicle in like, 10 years in a row is a FIAT Ute, called Strada, the're developed and produced here and are exported to all south america and mexico (but there is called RAM 700)
