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Australia Invents the Utility Car - the Ute

Motor cars rapidly became popular in the bush when Henry Ford introduced mass production lines that reduced their cost to within everyone’s reach. Farmers used their car to carry all sorts of ‘junk’ - from pigs to ploughs making a mess of the inside, so they resorted to cutting the back end off and fitting a tray behind the front seat. This worked, but was not very safe for the goods on the tray and dangerous when carrying livestock.
Worlds first Ford utility invented by an Australian
In 1932 an enterprising farmer wrote to the Australian branch of the Ford Company telling them that like most farmers he was unable to afford both a car and a lorry. He was fed up with cutting his hands and his farming goods on the rough edges of the tray fitted to his makeshift car/truck. And his wife continually complained about riding to church in her Sunday best in a smelly vehicle.

He asked Ford to design a purpose-built vehicle, one that he could use to take his pigs to market, pick up stock feed during the week and drive to church in comfort on Sundays. Lewis Brandt, a 22-year-old Australian engineer working at Ford set to work and designed the Australian Utility that came off the production line as:

"The Ford Coupe Utility - This utility model has a smart Coupe body similar to a passenger car type with fine interior fittings. Rear compartment has ample loading space."

 This was one of the first advertisements to appear for the new vehicle, the world’s first successfully mass produced one-piece coupe utility body that went on to sell in its millions throughout the world.
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