Coupe Utility Vehicles may not be very well-known or popular in modern society, but they were commonplace and very widespread back in the 1950s, known for their novelty and their practicality. The term “coupé utility” came to describe vehicles that combined a more stylish, two-door, comfortable and roomier coupe roofline with an integrated cargo tray behind the cabin using a light-duty passenger vehicle-derived platform, but the definition has become more loose and broad in recent years, especially in Australia, where the Coupe and its body style originated.
These days, it has come to mean anything from a coupe utility such as a Commodore-based Holden Ute to a traditional pickup like the Ford F-Series. The coupé utility automobile body style was colloquially called the Ute in Australia and New Zealand. A coupé utility differs in that it has a body style with coupé lines, but it has an integral open cargo area at the rear like a truck.
15. They Were Contrasted With Pickup Trucks
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Coupes were often contrasted with pickup trucks. The automotive press even refers to them as "car-based pick-up" or "car-based truck.” However, their manufacturers refer to coupes as “pickups,” especially in regards to more recent models. The term coupé utility has been vaguely defined since the 1950s as combining a more stylish, comfortable and roomier coupe roofline with an integrated cargo tray.
14. They Eradicated The Roadster Utility
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Coupes completely dominated the Roadster Utility. Both of them had similar tops and they both coexisted in production. However, the improving economy of the mid- to late-1930s, combined with the desire for improved comfort, resulted in Coupe sales climbing while Roadster sales fell. The Roadster Utility finally faded out in 1939.
13. GM Released Their Version in 1955
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General Motors released their version of the Coupe in 1955. They saw the potential for a coupe utility car back in the 1930s, so they introduced the Camero Carrier pickup truck. This new Coupe-style vehicle featured a standard truck type cab with a dressed up bed, and it could also be modified with car-type options. They followed with the classic El Camino upon the success of Ford's Ranchero.
12. The Slang Term Is “Ute”
via Wikipedia
“Coupe Utility Vehicle” may be a bit long to say, so people colloquially adopted the slang term “Ute.” This began when Holden released a model based on its 48-215 sedan in 1951, which reinforced the two-door passenger-car sedan chassis with a tray at the back. That said, the term has lost some of its definition lately and become a bit more broad.
11. South Africa Calls Them “Bakkies”
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In South Africa, Coupes aren't called “Utes”; they're called “Bakkies.” This started when Nissan followed Toyota's lead, manufacturing a pick-up version of their Sunny sedan. However, Nissan's version lasted for 30 years in South Africa, coining the term “Bakkies.”
10. America Wanted In On The Trend
via Hagerty
South Africa wasn't the only one who wanted in on the Coupe trend. America also decided to follow Australia's lead in the late 1950s. Ford began manufacturing the Ford Ranchero in 1957, and even that was soon followed by and Chevrolet's El Camino in 1959.
9. The Ford Ranchero Was Popular In America
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In America, the Ford Ranchero really caught on, becoming the first really well-known Coupe in the United States. The El Camino followed two years later and became almost as popular, while other versions made by other companies, such as the Dodge Rampage, Shelby Rampage, Scamp GT, and GMC Sprint quickly followed.
8. Australians Have A Broader Definition
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Australians define a "ute" as any commercial vehicle that has an open cargo carrying space, but requires only a passenger car license to drive. This includes coupé utilities, pickup trucks and traybacks (flatbed pickup trucks). An example of the broadness of this definition is that anything from a Ford F250 XL to a Proton Jumbuck can be called a ute.
7. The Body Style Originated In Australia
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Australia started the Coupe craze by creating the body style many Coupes used. That creation was the result of a 1932 letter from the wife of a farmer in Victoria, Australia to Ford Australia. She requested a vehicle be made for her to go to church in on Sunday and could run errands come Monday. Ford then designed the Coupe based on her request.
6. They Declined In America In The 1980s
via Automotive News
Sometime in the mid-1980s, Coupes' popularity waned in North America. It began with the demise of the Ranchero after 1979, and the Chevrolet El Camino followed by 1987. General Motors tried to have a rebadged Holden Ute brought to America in 2009 as a Pontiac G8 ST, but the plan was canceled when GM went bankrupt.
5. They're The Lightweight Counterparts To Pickup Trucks
via Hemmings Motor News
Coupes are often more lightweight than their heavier pickup truck counterparts. Most modern-day coupé utilities are built with different construction methods as historical models were. The older Coupes typically used a light-duty, body-on-frame, automobile-based construction, which was similar to the heavy-duty body-on-frame construction used by pickup trucks.
4. The Falcon Had Odd Experimentation
via Hemmings Motor News
The Falcon was one Coupe that had been experimented on and modified many times. In the mid-1960s, Ford experimented with their new Falcon by transferring the Ranchero name and body style to the Falcon. This particular experiment failed, only being produced for a few years before they more or less undid it.
3. A Single Vehicle Was Built On April Fools' Day
via Motoring Research
On April Fools' Day 2011, BMW announced the BMW M3 ute, which was based on the E93 Convertible. A single vehicle was produced, and it featured a structured aluminum pickup bed and removable targa roof. Created by BMW's M Division, it was intended as a workshop transport vehicle for use within the company.
2. Chevrolet Canceled The El Camino in 1987
via Top Speed
The El Camino had a good run, and it was quite popular at the height of its existence, but in 1987, Chevrolet decided to permanently end the El Camino. The bodies of the final models were not that different from the preceding models, as body differences were minimal and only certain components were upgraded from model to model.
1. Canada Called It A “Meteor”
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The “Ute” has many nicknames. In Canada, it was called a "Meteor" and it became an instant hit with consumers. The economic recession in the 1950s put mid-sized and compact imports in the forefront. Ford responded in 1960 by putting the Ranchero on the mid-sized Falcon chassis and rebranding it as a Falcon Ranchero. Ford combined the Falcon and Fairlane lines on the same platform in 1966, dropping the Falcon name altogether.
Sources: oppositelock.kinja.com, antiquecar.com, tractors.fandom.com, acmehpl.com,
