The First Utility

Zuffen

The last Falcon is a pick-up. If you have a look at the GMH production for 1943 you will see they have coupe utilities and pick-ups with separate bodies.

Here is a 1939 Chevrolet Australian Army Pick-up"


Lang

Here is a fairly rare Model T buckboard - fully built/ assembled at the then new Ford plant in Geelong.

Still in family hands (not my family, but that of a mate) complete with receipts amd owners manual. Destined for farm use it has larger diameter wheels/ tyres whcih apparently necessitated an import from America of newies at over $2,000 for four a few years ago!

So not a ute according to the definition?

Allan I think you have the buckboard nomenclature right.

Here is another one in the mix. A 1943 Chevrolet I restored for a trip years back. GMH ran a batch of these through with wooden backs to save steel for the Army. I am inclined to call it a buck-board rather than a pick-up certainly not a ute.

From what I read years ago,the Ford ute was the first one piece pressing of the whole side .........I think Ford Australia also had the first one piece pressed steel body for the sedan,one year before it was adopted in the US.

Zuffen the last Ford so called ute was a simple cab chassis with a ute style body attached which could be swapped over for a tray body. The Holden ute could not do that so they could and can be called a ute.

Does it all really matter? Alice had things figured out quite nicely . . .

PDu

I think you are right on.

The Aussie Ute story is a bit like Guinness Records. "The first person to climb a set of stairs, on a Monday, backwards, wearing a red coat while singing Ave Maria through a ventriloquist's puppet"