Do you have Utes over in the states?

[Chappers]

Hi, i know you have pickup trucks over there but the pictures that i have seen are truck like F-150 or Dodge (still kind of big)
I just don’t know if you have utes over there or do you call them by another name.

Here a pic of a Ute (street ute)i did own to show you what im talking about.

[R.W.Dale]

We used to have Chevrolet's El-Camino  and Fords Ranchero But Both were discontinued over 20yrs ago. Too bad too as I always liked El/camino's and owned several. Whereas Ranchero's were always butt ugly abominations on 4 wheels


El camino


Ranchero

But in the end a combination of the advent of mini trucks and full sized pickups with comfort amenities sounded the death knell for the stateside "ute"

Now the trend is going towards 4 door  Short Box Truck SUV Hybrid models. If anything the regular cab pickup is getting to be a thing of the past as well.

[DalesCarpentry]

When I was in my early 20's my best friend had an El camino. It did pretty good on the beach too. I mean as far as girls and sand went. Dale

[Chappers]

The top one kind of looks like a mid 70’s Kingswood.
Mate got one... nice looking car (i wish i had a pic of it to show you) and your right about the ranchero, not a fan of the grill.

It a pity that they stopped making Utes over there because your El Camino might evolved into something like this.

Do you have work utes still? Being a very useful car i can’t see them dying out (here a pic my other half took at work.)

[R.W.Dale]

Do you have work utes still? Being a very useful car i can’t see them dying out (here a pic my other half took at work.)

No the serve no purpose here. For us in North Amaeica our modern traditional 1/2 ton pickup is just as if not more comfortable, does more and costs less. There simply isn't a niche for the "Ute" to fill beyond the performance enthusiast angle, and we have some hotrod truck models for that.

Now I have a question for you. In OZ what do you guys use that fills the same role as our 1ton "Dually" pickup? As seen in the pic below.


I've always be fascinated by how automotive tastes differ between the three big English speaking ex British empire reigons. In the UK they seem to use Transit vans for everything. Here it's simply either a large or small pickup with a smattering of full sized vans and from what I  understand you fellas use "utes" and flatbed pickup like rigs such as the Toyota landcruiser and the Nissan Patrol

[Chappers]

I would say a 70 series land curser ute(do you have them over their?)would most likely fit the bill but really any reliable  V8 would be up to pulling that horse float.

I know what you mean im quite surprised that the trusty old is extinct in the states, i thought that you might not get Holden or fords Utes but i would of thought that Land Curser, Patrol, HiLux(the two utes in the bottom pic of my last post)  and others would be over their.

All so.... do you put bulbars on your pickups?

[R.W.Dale]

I would say a 70 series land curser ute(do you have them over their?)would most likely fit the bill but really any reliable  V8 would be up to pulling that horse float.

I know what you mean im quite surprised that the trusty old is extinct in the states, i thought that you might not get Holden or fords Utes but i would of thought that Land Curser, Patrol, HiLux(the two utes in the bottom pic of my last post)  and others would be over their.

All so.... do you put bulbars on your pickups?

Interesting The v8 70 Series Landcruiser is rated for 3500kg towing capacity or 7,700lbs making somewhat it comparable to our similarly equipped v8 gasoline 1/2 ton F150, Ram, Silverado in that respect. But surely you guys have something bigger for pulling car hauler, construction, hay, large boat, livestock or other really heavy trailers? That DRW Ford f350 Super Duity pictured above has a tow rating of 15,000lbs or 6,803kg

We do have similar vehicles to your last pic, my misunderstanding is that the term "UTE" denotes a car based truck much like the aforementioned el-camino. Here they're referred to as a compact pickup and are sold with a bed rather than the cab chassis format that seems to be so popular in OZ


You'll see some brushguards but most are there for styling alone and aren't sturdy enough to prevent serious damage in case of a deer hit on the interstate, Of late I have noticed some trucking company running Australian style kangaroo catchers on semi trucks though


07 Chevy Colorado


Nissan frontier

Both these models are also available in 2dr and 2wd format other manufacturers offer similar models.

[Chappers]

Lol that sounds like a V10... i hope it not petrol, no for that type of work over here light trucks are used.

Australian style roo catchers, are we talking about something like this?
(photo taken off the web)


I know what you mean about not being sturdy enough. A mate and i where on the road one night trying to get to the next town and a few hundreds of ks to ............. we were going about 170km/ph then in the hi-beams two roos start to jump across the road. And a this speed you cant swerve to avoid them. Missed the first one but we hit the dead on centre in mid stride. Bam! But the timed it hit i guessed we had slowed down to about 130km/ph (still 20ks over the speed limit) bit shocked we kept on driving and did not stop the only damage the we know about then was hi-beams spotty where not working. But to be honest we only clipped his bottom half of his legs and we were quite surprise that he did not go through the window... we think he went pass the driver’s side window??? well to cut the story short we limped into town parked at the Pub (not to drink but to sleep, that’s where we were staying) and got up the next day to look at the damage...

so far so good

look like the bulbar has popped from the sides somewhat


in the end it was a happy story, work ute insured to the shite house and we got to wonder some wonderful country

[30-30man]

First of all, you have a beautiful country....Wish I could visit one day...I'm amazed everytime I go camping.  I pull a 24ft Terry with a slide out.  My trailer weighs around 6000lbs.  I use a Dodge 1500 with the hemi to pull it.  I feel sometimes I'm at the limit for this truck when I venture into the mountains.  Then I go to the beach and I see all these Canadians pulling the same size trailer with Subaru's and v-6 minivans.  They seem to manage their loads just fine. It wasn't long ago that most families used the station wagon or car to pull most campers and trailers.  I think all Americans are stuck with the bigger is better attitude.  We think we need to have a diesel to pull a 1500lb trailer.  All you have to do is ask a question about towing on any board and someone always chimes in with you need a diesel or dually.  The new 1/2 tons are now approaching 400hp and over 400lbs of torque with a gas engine.  It wasn't long ago that the stronggest gas engine in a 1/2 ton was only 180hp.  Go fiqure...

[Chappers]

If you ever get a chance do. You will never know what you will discover... that last pic was taken on top a ridge we found a cave along the ridge face and fount this.


Also ill got to say i would like to see the states wilderness but im afraid that trip will weight when global warming has done its course, just too cold for me.

So it looks like street utes are a think of the past in the states,
But do you like the look of them?

[30-30man]

I think the biggest reason they failed here was because they really didn't offer any benefit over trucks here.  Most utes as you call them had very limited seating and towing capability.  We have trucks here that will seat six people with plenty of room and still have a 6ft or 8ft bed.  Most 1/2 tons can tow up to 8000lbs.  You can't do that with a car/truck hybrid.  Even the smaller pickups sold here have more capability that the old El Camino and the Ranchero...I had a Ranchero. It had a hood longer than the bed in the back.  The cab was in the middle of the old tank.  IT was butt ugly...

[gp911]

Car magazines over here like to show pics of the hotrod utes and stir up interest, but they don't quite get here. The closest we got in recent years was stuff like the Chevy SSR or the Subaru Baja, but there was talk of Pontiac getting a version of the Holden ute with the LS3 in it. Of course, that was before the economy tanked and Pontiac went to the happy hunting ground... We still have several diehard fans of the old El Camino/Caballero, not so many for the various Ranchero models... Occasionally we get nutballs making their own by hacking an old beater with a sawzall, creating a creaky, sloppy mess. At the peak of our "cark" phase there were a few companies doing conversions on Cadillacs and such.

Like others said, full-size trucks do so much more we just sort of stick with them, but utes do have their fans over here.

gp911