In spite of the incredible love Americans have (and had) for pickup trucks of all shapes and sizes, utes never caught on here. It’s unclear why that is so, but the reality remains that, despite a small surge in home-made utes in the 1960s and 1970s, nothing notable ever happened on this front in America.
Historically, it was Ford who first came up with the idea of a coupe utility vehicle, or more precisely, the carmaker’s Australian branch. It happened in the 1920s as a response to Aussies’ demands for a vehicle they could use for both work and socializing, one that would be more exciting to look at than the time's pickups.
As such, it was no wonder that Ford brought the concept to America in 1957 in the form of the Ranchero. Curiously though, it would be Chevrolet and the 1959-born El Camino that would make utes famous in the U.S, even for a brief period.
These were the only two utes ever made by established carmakers in the States, and both died out by the end of the 1980s, only to survive in the pre-owned market in either stock or modified configurations.
The pickup you see here is a Ford by design, but not a Ranchero. It’s an Australian coupe-utility based on the Fords of the 1940s, customized with modern hardware and put on the market with an asking price of close to $40k.
Wrapped in Tiger Orange for the lower half and purple for the upper one, the machine shows the look of the time it comes from, it too modernized by fine touches and propped on 18-inch Billet Specialties wheels.
The four wheels spin under the power of a 4.6-liter V8 sourced from “a late-model Mustang” linked to a 4-speed automatic transmission. Behind the wheels sits a suspension system sourced from a C4 Corvette.
As said, the funky and certainly unique Ford in ute guise is selling, and it does so for $37,900.
Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies. Full profile
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