This article is about the vehicle body style in general. For "ute" vehicles produced or sold in Australia and New Zealand, see Ute (vehicle).
Acoupé utility is a vehicle with a passenger compartment at the front and an integrated cargo tray at the rear, with the front of the cargo bed doubling as the rear of the passenger compartment.
The term originated in the 1930s, where it was used to distinguish passenger-car-based two-door vehicles with an integrated cargo tray from traditional pickup trucks[1] that have a cargo bed separate from the passenger compartment. Since the 2000s, this type of vehicle has also been referred to as a "pick-up",[2][3] "car-based pick-up" or "car-based truck".[4][5]
In Australia, where the traditional style of coupé utility remained popular until it ceased production in 2017, it is commonly called a "ute", although the term is also used there to describe traditional-style pickups.
The body style originated in Australia.[6] It was the result of a 1932 letter from the wife of a farmer in Victoria, Australia, to Ford Australia asking for "a vehicle to go to church in on a Sunday and which can carry our pigs to market on Mondays". In response, Ford designer Lew Bandt developed a vehicle to meet the client's request. Commencing in October 1933, with assistance from draftsman A. Scott,[7] Bandt used the passenger compartment and roof from the Ford V8 five-window coupe and extended the rear section using a single fixed side panel on each side, with a hinged tailgate at the rear to create the load carrying compartment.
The model was released in July 1934 as the coupe utility.[7] In his book Early Australian Automotive Design: The First Fifty Years, Australian motoring historian Norm Darwin suggests the idea was not a big leap in design from existing roadster utility models produced by various manufacturers as early as 1924.[8] Darwin also suggests that the idea was being developed by other manufacturers simultaneously, because General Motors-Holden released Bedford and Chevrolet coupe utilities in September 1934,[9] only two months after Ford, with the main difference being the use of the three-window coupe roof on the GM-H products. Other manufacturers were quick to follow, with coupe utilities based on various passenger and light truck chassis.[10]
In North America, the idea was also trialed by some manufacturers. Studebaker created the Studebaker Coupe Express and sold it between 1937 and 1939.
In 1951, Holden released a model based on its 48-215 sedan, reinforcing the Australian tradition of home-grown two-door passenger-car sedan chassis-based "utility" vehicles with a tray at the back, known colloquially as a "ute", although the term was also applied to larger vehicles such as pickup trucks.
The first modern American coupe utility was the Ford Ranchero, introduced by the Ford in 1957 and produced until 1979. Unlike a standard pickup truck, the Ranchero was adapted from a two-door station wagon platform that integrated the cab and cargo bed into the body. A total of 508,355 units were produced during the model's production run.[13] Over its lifespan it was variously derived from full-sized, compact, and intermediate automobiles sold by Ford for the North American market.
The Chevrolet El Camino is a coupé utility/pickup vehicle produced by Chevrolet from 1959 to 1960 and from 1964 to 1987.
Introduced in 1958 (for the 1959 model year) in response to the success of the Ford Ranchero pickup, its first run lasted only two years. Production resumed in 1963 (for the 1964 model year) based on the ChevelleA-platform. In 1977 (for the 1978 model year), it was shifted to the GM G-body platform. Production finished in 1987.
Although based on corresponding Chevrolet car lines, the vehicle is classified and titled in North America as a truck. GMC's badge-engineered El Camino variant, the Sprint, was introduced in 1970 (for the 1971 model year). It was renamed Caballero in 1977 (for the 1978 model year), and produced until 1987.
Coupe utilities have been produced in Australia since the 1930s. The three major Australian manufacturers (GM-Holden, Ford and Chrysler) offered coupe utility versions of their most popular models, and many of the smaller manufacturers also offered coupe utilities in their range.[29][30][31][32] In many cases, if a coupe utility was not available as part of the regular model range an aftermarket coachbuilder would build one to customer order. Coupe utilities were also offered by various manufacturers on light truck style chassis,[10][33][34][35][36] alongside their regular style pickup and cab-chassis offerings.
AMC Cowboy: Derived from the Hornet, it was intended to compete with small pickups from Japan, but the project was canceled after AMC acquired Jeep, which already sold small pickups.[52]
Austin Metro Ranger: A concept based on the first generation model, it featured a full roll bar, flood lights, and a rear-mounted spare.[53]
BMW M3 ute/pickup: On April Fools' Day 2011, BMW announced the BMW M3 ute/pickup.[54][55][56] This vehicle was based on the E93 Convertible and featured a structured aluminum pickup bed and removable targa roof. It was created by BMW's M Division as a one-off workshop transport vehicle for use within the company.[11][57] It was actually the second such ute that BMW built for this purpose: they had previously built one using a first generation M3 convertible in 1986. This coupe ute served the factory for 26 years before the April Fools car was built to replace it.[58]
Pontiac G8 ST:[59][60] A rebadged Holden Ute (which is based on the Holden Commodore sedan, although rebadged as a Pontiac G8 in North America) was shown at the New York International Auto Show in March 2008. It was slated for release in the third quarter of 2009 for the 2010 model year, but was quickly cancelled before any were sold due to budgeting cuts and Pontiac's near bankruptcy.[61][60]
Toyota X-Runner: Concept vehicle displayed by Toyota Australia at the 2003 Melbourne and Sydney International Motor Shows.[62] The body shell was largely based on that of the first generation Avalon (production of which picked up in Australia a few months after it left off in North America, and lasted until 2005), while the suspension and AWD parts were borrowed from the contemporary Lexus RX. It was intended for production, but Toyota of Australia could not get approval from the parent company.[62]
Toyota X-Runner concept utility as displayed at the 2003 Sydney International Motor Show