72 Mustang UTE??

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

I was having a discussion with someone that had a 57 Ford Ranchero on cl and they were saying it was the first year for Ford to have the Car / Truck vehicle and I was telling him about the UTE vehicles in Australia that go back to the 30's with the Car / Truck design. When I was looking for pictures to send them I found the one attached. Does anyone know anything about this one or ever seen it? Was it really a UTE Falcon in 1975 in Australia? Maybe one of the Australian members can shed some light.

I put some of the other years of UTE's for those that do not know about them would love to have them here. Would that not make a great tow vehicle for your Mach 1?

David

 

[Austin Vert]

Hi David,

These sites should shed some light into what you are referring to here.::thumb::

http://motor.history.sa.gov.au/collections/post-vintage-vehicles/1934-ford-coupe-utility

https://www.google.com/search?site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1920&bih=943&q=old+ford+australia+utes&oq=old+ford+australia+utes&gs_l=img.12...3003.11913.0.14568.23.10.0.13.13.0.266.2089.0j1j9.10.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..5.18.2104.aG3nY26RGQI

Cheers,

Greg.

 

[4Vforever]

Hi David,

The Ute came about in Australia when a farmer's wife wrote a letter to Ford of Australia in 1933, asking if they could make a vehicle that was able to take them to church on Sunday and their pigs to market on Monday. After the letter was read by the head of FoA, the idea was passed onto engineering to see if such a vehicle was viable. The first batch of 50 prototype vehicles were made in 1934 and sold like hot cakes, so the project was given the green light and FoA has been making them since 1935 as part of the line up.

As for Falcon Utes, they started in 1960 (very similar to the Ranchero) with the XK models and are still being made through until the end of production next year. The first time a V8 was offered factory in the Falcon Ute was in 1968, with the XT model with a 302 Windsor and the last was 2014 with the FPV supercharged 5.0.

To be quite honest it's one of things I'll miss most when Ford cease production here next year as nobody makes anything that really interests me. I'm thinking of buying a new one next year (but keep old faithful for work) especially if the turbo special edition package is put on the Ute. I own a 2007 turbo ute now for work and it does everything I want and need, plus more. Factory these make 245 Kw (326 Hp) very underrated and the new ones are 270 Kw (360 Hp) and again very underrated and the special edition is 310 Kw (413 Hp) and you got it, very underrated. These 310 Kw turbo sixes are very underrated as there has been cars and Utes since 2008, with these engines running very low 12's off the showroom floor and with minor mods (tune, exhuast, fuel pump, bigger injectors and intercooler) will run in the 10's easily. Not bad for a car or Ute with all the creature comforts, drives in traffic everyday and still gives good economy, but put your foot into it and hold on. As they saying goes, people will only realise what they had once it's gone.

 

[Thin Lizzy]

That 75 UTE sure looks similar to the 71-73 Mustang front end, but looking closely none of the body panels are the same.

On a different note, I'd hold on to your UTE's over there, they'll be super collectable in a few years.

 

[Flatback72.]

XA, XB, XC Falcon's came out in a multitude of body styles, Sedan, Hardtop, Ute, Panel Van and Station Wagon. All pretty pleasing looking cars (well, the panel van might be a bit of an exception because I always thought they looked a bit like The Elephant Man). The coupes had a couple if inches shaved from the roof in comparison to the sedan and ute.

While there is a similarity in style at the front, XB's are vastly different in proportion, with the hood area about 6 inches shorter than the Mustang and about 5 inches wider (the XB at the front is about same width of the 7173 Mustang; it's the slab sided design though that gives the hood area the extra width)

 

[Thin Lizzy]

I think the US and Australian designers were sharing ideas back in the early 70s as there are many similarities like the wing fender extensions, bumper and obviously ram air hood. And the rear quarter window are similar to the 73 Gran Torino Sports Fastback.

 

[Flatback72.]

I think the US and Australian designers were sharing ideas back in the early 70s as there are many similarities like the wing fender extensions, bumper and obviously ram air hood. And the rear quarter window are similar to the 73 Gran Torino Sports Fastback.

Yep, the Aussie designers used US Fords design facility to get the Falcon design worked out and based on the results it is fairly obvious where the design cues originated in the second iteration of the XA-XC series Falcon.

The first iteration though (XA) had a flatter front though and looked a fair bit more muscle car because of it in my opinion

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

Thanks to our Australian members for all the info. I have always wanted a 1950 Ute here in the U.S.. My first car in the U.S. was a 1950 Ford Tudor Sedan Custom that I still have. Use to drag race the flathead back in the 60's in T or U stock class. Got it into the 80 mph range right with the national record here. I also have a couple more Tudor and a Business coupe. The business coupe was the race car of choice for many years and you put a convertible frame under it for strength so both are difficult to find now. I have several of the flathead V-8 engines in the barn a couple Mercury ones.

Do you know anyone in Australia that might want to trade a 1950 Ute for a 1973 Mustang convertible? I have a Factory black one that is very rare I would trade. I have only had it a couple weeks it was stored for 13 years so need to go though the brakes and fuel system before driving it. Here is a link to my ad on craigslist here.

http://asheville.craigslist.org/cto/5188808362.html

Again thanks for your help I just love the look of a Ute.

David

 

[Thin Lizzy]

Last week I drove my mates Holden Maloo HSV ute. He said it was quite fast and mentioned something about 425 brake. It didn't look much and was a strange green colour. His garage is on a private estate so I had the chance to opened it up. So me and my son got in it and I took it for a ride. I gave it pedal to the metal and after a few seconds my son's jaw was on the flaw. It went like stink and sounded like a beast, I don't know how it's legal!

 

[Luke]

Last week I drove my mates Holden Maloo HSV ute. He said it was quite fast and mentioned something about 425 brake. It didn't look much and was a strange green colour. His garage is on a private estate so I had the chance to opened it up. So me and my son got in it and I took it for a ride. I gave it pedal to the metal and after a few seconds my son's jaw was on the flaw. It went like stink and sounded like a beast, I don't know how it's legal!

Haha Utes Australia's 2 seat sport car.

 

[Luke]

Thanks to our Australian members for all the info. I have always wanted a 1950 Ute here in the U.S.. My first car in the U.S. was a 1950 Ford Tudor Sedan Custom that I still have. Use to drag race the flathead back in the 60's in T or U stock class. Got it into the 80 mph range right with the national record here. I also have a couple more Tudor and a Business coupe. The business coupe was the race car of choice for many years and you put a convertible frame under it for strength so both are difficult to find now. I have several of the flathead V-8 engines in the barn a couple Mercury ones.

Do you know anyone in Australia that might want to trade a 1950 Ute for a 1973 Mustang convertible? I have a Factory black one that is very rare I would trade. I have only had it a couple weeks it was stored for 13 years so need to go though the brakes and fuel system before driving it. Here is a link to my ad on craigslist here.

http://asheville.craigslist.org/cto/5188808362.html

Again thanks for your help I just love the look of a Ute.

David

David My Dad's mate Jonny cockroach has/had a business exporting utes to the USA and or trading for US bodied cars think it was out of maine. I can ask and see if he is still doing it, then put you in direct contact with the man if he is still operating in the US. He did shift his focus to South Africa a few years back now.

Ps his nickname cockroach is not a reflection on his character or maybe it is, he is very tenacious and hard to get rid of and often seen in junk cars Haha

 

[4Vforever]

I think the US and Australian designers were sharing ideas back in the early 70s as there are many similarities like the wing fender extensions, bumper and obviously ram air hood. And the rear quarter window are similar to the 73 Gran Torino Sports Fastback.

Yep, the Aussie designers used US Fords design facility to get the Falcon design worked out and based on the results it is fairly obvious where the design cues originated in the second iteration of the XA-XC series Falcon.

The first iteration though (XA) had a flatter front though and looked a fair bit more muscle car because of it in my opinion

Oh Brett of all the pics of hardtops in the world, you had to put up that one. That poor hardtop was stolen (as well as few cars) by a bunch of lowlife scumbags that followed him from Wintersun (now Coolies rocks on) a few years ago and was found stripped, cut into three pieces and set alight.

As for the similarities, the XA, the first all Aussie designed Ford, was designed in the U.S. as the Australian design studios were still being constructed at the time, under head designer Jack Telnack. After the XA, the design team were told to base the new XB model design more on the Mustang, hence why you can see so much 71-73 Mustang influence in the XB. A few weeks ago I went to a car show and as I went into park, I was asked by the Hardtop guys if I would like to park in with them. Had some pretty good conversations with a few of them and discussed the similarities between the XB and my 73.

I'm with you Brett, I love the XA design heaps better than XB/C, hence why I'm restoring a factory XA GS 351,4 speed. But if someone wanted to give me a XB/C hardtop, I wouldn't say no though.

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

Thanks to our Australian members for all the info. I have always wanted a 1950 Ute here in the U.S.. My first car in the U.S. was a 1950 Ford Tudor Sedan Custom that I still have. Use to drag race the flathead back in the 60's in T or U stock class. Got it into the 80 mph range right with the national record here. I also have a couple more Tudor and a Business coupe. The business coupe was the race car of choice for many years and you put a convertible frame under it for strength so both are difficult to find now. I have several of the flathead V-8 engines in the barn a couple Mercury ones.

Do you know anyone in Australia that might want to trade a 1950 Ute for a 1973 Mustang convertible? I have a Factory black one that is very rare I would trade. I have only had it a couple weeks it was stored for 13 years so need to go though the brakes and fuel system before driving it. Here is a link to my ad on craigslist here.

http://asheville.craigslist.org/cto/5188808362.html

Again thanks for your help I just love the look of a Ute.

David

David My Dad's mate Jonny cockroach has/had a business exporting utes to the USA and or trading for US bodied cars think it was out of maine. I can ask and see if he is still doing it, then put you in direct contact with the man if he is still operating in the US. He did shift his focus to South Africa a few years back now.

Ps his nickname cockroach is not a reflection on his character or maybe it is, he is very tenacious and hard to get rid of and often seen in junk cars Haha

Please do get him in touch with me. I have been to Africa many times and while there they give me a truck to drive and of course it is R.H. drive. My son got a job at the BMW plant here because he had driven R.H. drive vehicles in Africa. It is a little tougher to drive one here but it would be more for shows than anything.

Thanks for the reply and help.

David