Why America Doesn't Have Utes (Anymore)
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- čas přidán 18. 06. 2023
- Thanks for watching. As mentioned in the video, the term "ute" is also used to refer to SUVs and pickup trucks in Australia and New Zealand, however Americans use the term "ute" to refer to specifically these smaller utility coupes. Just needed to clear that up because I know the moment this video goes live the comments will be entirely flooded by people correcting me.
If you care enough to do so, please check out the last video I posted about Midtown Madness 3.
• Midtown Madness 3: Kin...
The algorithm did me dirty with that video and it took me around two months to make so I'd really appreciate any support. This video was only made as an attempt to get more eyes on it lol.
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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.
For the Americans here, modern Australian utes are things like the Ford Ranger
Are you sure? I see atleast 3 a day
We also get the Chevy (Holden) Colorado over here in Australia.
I think you can buy that one in the US?
@@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Some of your info might be a little bit outdated.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
No unibody utes sold in Australia since 2017. Only body-on-frame now.
Yeah but that's 6 years ago. He's way behind the curve.
@@bldontmatter5319 fact is there's no cars still manufacturing here. Toyota was last to go around 2017/2018
@@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.
@@bldontmatter5319 6 years ain't nothing compared to 30
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
Ferd ranger
Australian here, I agree with this definition
Utes has became a umbrella term here in Australia too
as a new zealander i can confirm
The term is "toe the line".
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.
Say it with me: WE NEED A 👏 KEI 👏 TRUCK 👏 REVOLUTION 👏
Well hello from Australia! 👋
I like the panelvans such as Malloo's over utes because you can sleep in the back of them.
Utes are still a big thing in Brazil, even though they've got bigger since they were based on sedans before but not are based on SUVs and "mini SUVs"
Yeah, the Volkswagen Saveiro, for example, is everywhere around here
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
The Fiat Toro is an ugly piece of garbage
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.
Toyota hilux is Australia's favourite car.
Heard of the "workmate"?
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"
@@michaelsoftbinbows Natch. "Luxury SUV" is such a ludicrous concept. Who's gonna actually use a car they paid an absolute mint for?
@@keith3761cover will fix that or a canopy or hard top
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.
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
Aussies call the ranger a Ute, anything not the size of an actual truck with a bed here is a Ute.
90% of american SUV owners wouldn't be worse-off if they had a car like that instead. But I get a feeling they'd be deeply offended for telling them that.
Fragile ego moment
@@SlapStyleAnims why do you think Americans are so quick to scream their opinion? Because fragile ego.
I find it hilarious how so many trucks these days have a large four-door cab and relatively small bed, which is equipped with a rigid bed cover. Said bed cover not only functionally but by definition ("three-box" vehicle with enclosed cargo area at the back under hinged trunk lid) turn the truck into a massive oddly-proportioned sedan, a sedan being the vehicle the owner actually needed in the first place. I love calling those huge phallic Rams "Fiat Sedans."
@@quillmaurer6563I'm not a pickup truck guy, but I don't really see the pont in owning a pickup truck (in terms of practicality) unless the bed can fit a 4x8 sheet of plywood laid flat in it with the tailgate closed. Most pickups I see on the roads couldn't do that at all.
@@jayschafer1760 Anyone who needs any significant quantity of plywood on the regular is most likely getting it delivered, no one is buying a vehicle just to move entire sheets of plywood while giving up interior cab space that can be used to drive the family around as well
I’ve owned two Subaru bajas. Love the crap outta them. The ute needs to come back
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.
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" 😂😂😂
GM did a limited run in the UK for the Holden Maloo VXR under the Vauxhall brand.
It came with an engine straight from the 6th gen Z06 Corvette
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.
yeah maloos are basically just a corvette with a pick up truck bed.
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
@@hkbthen00b + the popularity of imported Kei Trucks
@@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.
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.
The Honda Ridgeline is right up there too. Designed by Honda of America and not Japan.
@@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.
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.
You must have seen a Subaru Forester.. they have a pickup version that was made in and for the North American market..
I think they were offered until 2008?
Baja was a ugly piece of plastic!
I saw rumors than there were plans for a new Baja, I am hoping they turn out to be true. Mine is getting up in the years and and the miles.
I knew a kid with an 80s Subaru Brat a few years back. Those were really cool utes.
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.
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.
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
Opel/Chev Corsa.
Holden also used to export to ZA
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
Lol they're making lowered Bajas
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
the merc Xclass is a rebranded Nissan Navara with a nicer interior
Pretty sure these are still a thing here in South America, I just never knew they had a name and weren't just considered small trucks.
Yukon : "it was responsible for the death of the american ute"
YT subtitles : "it was responsible for the death of the american youth"
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 like your short form videos, straight to the point, no bullshit tactics to stretch the runtime. Please keep up the good work. *subscribed *
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.
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😂)
Yep
Missed you Yuke (like my pun?)! Glad to see another banger of a video. Hope you're doing well and take more breaks if necessary
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.
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
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 did happen to see recently some Holden Utes make it stateside. Such a strange, familiar, yet exciting sight to see.
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.
Doing Incredible things!!
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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
Sort of, but those are more SUV based than car based. Though of course "cars" are all but extinct in the US, it's all trucks, SUVs, and "crossovers."
@@quillmaurer6563 there's still a market for sedans in America, it's just that American car companies don't compete for it
@@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.
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
The Ford Ranchero went from a small useful Falcon truck in the 60's to a frikn' LTD land yacht which nose was longer than the bed by the late 70's.
Oh, it was big before that too, back in the '50's.
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.
The Midtown Madness 3 video was great!
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.
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.
Another golden video out!
this whole video is just "yes"
well done :)
The US had car chassis based light trucks in the thirties. I remember riding in one to the feed mill in Deposit NY sitting between my dad and his brother in 1944 . It was 1936 flat head Ford ‘pick up’ or ‘Ute’. There were still sedan chassis ‘panel vans’ here in Australia when I moved here in the 1970s. They made similar ‘panel trucks’ in the US but discontinued them in the 40s I believe. They were called ‘sedan deliveries’. I’ve always thought that the larger US market did not need the economy of using the same chassis for cars and light commercials. So the pick up body style with its own chassis allowed the US pickup to flourish and morph into heavier versions like the F250 and F350 class and even play the role of a light prime mover with large powerful engines like the 454 Chev or later the Dodge Rams with Cummins Diesels. I’d welcome a chance to drive a miniature Ute in Retirement here in Perth.
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).
Fun fact: the top sold vehicle in Brazil is a Ute - the Fiat Strada.
It's a very useful kind of car for small business and farmers that can't afford/don't need a proper truck, and allow their owners to go out with their families on the weekend.
Nice video. But, you left out the best Yute of all.
The Dodge Rampage 2.2. I had one in the 80's. I loved it.
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.
One of those SSRs came into the shop I work at and me and the lead tech were fiending over getting to work on it. I managed to snag the ticket and it was a pain in the ass. It was an oil change and some basic maintenance items (brakes and an alignment I think) and it was super cool.
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.
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.
In Eastern Europe, the first such car coming to my mind is the Skoda Felicia.
The Felicia is a 5 door hatchback by default, but it had multiple variants, which includes a Ute variant.
i think peugeot 404 and 403
Actually, the coupe ute is finished in Australia now too. The word ute is applied to coupe utes, cab chassis’s and tubs. The article you referenced is actually referring to tub and cab chassis utes (“truck” in AmE).
Rest in peace the falcon and commodore ute
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.
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)
i forgot to mention but is based in a small hatch called Palio, fwd, 1.8L max, holdens are sports cars whit beds
Watching this made my Australian pride swell nicely. Cheers mate
Crack a Tube.
in South America there are utes, Chevrolet Montana or older corsa pick up, fiat strada or older fiorino, vw saveiro and renault oroch, those are some that I remember
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
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.
Ever since driving dad's 1974 Ford Ranchero I have been in love with the body style. I had a 1979 Rancher GT which I absolutely loved and the Subaru Baja I currently drive I grabbed specifically because it is as close as I can get to one. She has served me extremely well and I HATE that we in the US have been snubbed like this.
I drove a used 2008 Ford Ranger with a four-banger engine for a decade until the frame rusted out (road salt killed it.). It was like a compact car with a six foot bed, just enough to haul me and a couple sheets of plywood with the tail gate down. It was great! Meanwhile, the Ranger grew to the size of an F150, the F150 became bigger than an old F250. "Full-size" pickups now rival the size of older cab-over style "city cab" semi tractors! What were once considered "monster trucks" have become the norm. A Peterbilt tractor has a better view of the road ahead than any current full size pickup. It's insane! I'd love to buy another small light pickup, but there just aren't any to be had anymore.
Evolution of ambulances next?😮
You can now get Australian utes in America. It's a company called Left-hand Utes located in Denver, Colorado that takes bodies of Utes from Australia to the US. But can be bodies of more newer recent Utes that's newer than 25 years old. You can get yourself a Left-hand converted 2016 Holden Commodore Ute or a 2017 Ford Falcon Ute! They even do sedans of the Falcon and Commodore if you choose not to have a Ute
The Holden factory closed in October 2017 so those "utes" that are apparently popular are similar to the crappy trucks you have in the US.
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.
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
The compact truck market is sort of coming up in the US though. Ford Mavric, Hyundai Santa Cruz, Honda Ridgeline. Unibody but based off of crossovers rather than sedans and coups.
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
To be fair, the Ford Maverick could be argued to be the man-bun hipster wannabe try at a truck that's actually a ute...
The modern equivalent is the Ford Ranger
@@skylovescars69420 it's huge and literally larger than an old f150
The El Camino was not canceled because of large pickups and SUV's, it was replaced by the compact S10 pickup. "Utes" were the compact pickups of their day.
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
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.
This Australian Holden Ute is my favorite pickup. I wish they were sold here in Brazil, we have ute pickups here, but they are much weaker. The most sold car here is an ute, the Fiat Strada. I like this type of pickup a lot, but they are being forgotten and left aside in the rest of the world
Holden in the early days made Kingswoods, these often came with a steel/aluminium tray. Then with the commodore, they only had tub backs. In 1997, Ford Introduced the tray back Falcon ute which sold really well - I own one myself. Holden reintroduced it for a few years in the early 2000's, but then returned to only making tub backs which would carry half a tonne. Ford continued making utes which were rated for 1.2T - you can have a full tank, a driver AND one tonne in the back and still be under GVM.
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.
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
Utes are popular in Mexico. I was there in March this year, they Opel Corsa Utes, Fiat Utes, and some other random cars-but-with-a-bed.
Japanese mini/compact SUVs were also kings of the cobblestone roads; the new Jimny (Samurai in the 'States) and Ignis.
Thought "Utes" were the people who Vinny was trying to protect.
My favorite truck style is the cabover pickup like the jeep fc170/dodge a100, chevy corvair pickup.
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.
@@k.b.tidwell Imagine if a few years from now, we see Utes being sold “long nose pickups” or something. Lol
Adding to the "damn bloat" discourse: the Colorado has the same footprint as my 56-year-old 3/4-ton.
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.
Hence why I took an aveo sedan an built my own here in the states. 30+ mpg and a 5'3" bed with the gate up, 7' bed with the gate down. Got tired of waiting for one of the manufacturers to bring a regular cab ute to the market. I hardly have a trip out where I don't get questions or requests for a picture of it. 😂
Australia’s utes, domestic and foreign, are the Holden Commodore Ute, the Ford Falcon ute, the Toyota Hilux, Ford Ranger, Nissan Navara, Toyota Land Cruiser 70 series, Mitsubishi L200, Mazda BT-50, Great Wall Ute, Great Wall Steed, Foton Tunland, a JMC ute, Ssangyong Musso, Ssangyong Actyon Sports, and even a Malaysian ute, the Proton Jumbuck.
Hey, that was great, an American understanding Ute's. Usually the first car of choice among the first licensed youth. Even with a V6 they were anazing offf then l8he, alomng with the choce of engine mosekds
Don't forget the VW Rabbit Pickup (Caddy) and the Dodge Rampage.
I saw a RHD Holden ute at the GM Tech Center in the early 2000's.
We had more than just the el Camino though. We had the dodge rampage and Plymouth scamp, the Ford el ranchero, Cadillac mirage, amc cowboy, we also have Imports like Subaru brats and bajas and Volkswagen caddy’s here. There were others that were half small suv and pick up like the ford ranger, Chevy s10, Jeep Comanche.
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.
this video is a good example on why I want something like the El Camino or the Ranchero back
North America used to have actual sporty street trucks but there haven't been any since the Toyota XRunner went away a decade ago
In Brazil they're pretty common. And they're great too, relatively cheap, economic and with a decent payload capacity (avg 750-800kgs)
We have quite a lot of utes here in Brazil, too, and we make them from B-segment cars and tiny engines.
Good thing here in Brazil we don't have this weird regulation, so Utes here it's one of the most common type of cars
The Jeep Comanche was a ute, kinda. Since it used the unibody front from an XJ, with a ladder frame truck bed on back.
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
I've often thought of cutting my Ford Flex into a ute. I use it as a truck already and it hauls a decent load but the roof gets in the way sometimes.