The Great Aussie Ute is as Australian as dusting off the Akubra while the stockwhip tip lays in the dust. It’s as honest as the thirst for a cold beer that makes the mouth water under an outback sun. Due to the overwhelming request from my readers, it’s time to lift the bonnet on this four-wheeled steel stallion and find out what is the Aussie Ute’s Story…
What is an Aussie Ute?
For the visitors, the ute is pronounced as Yoot, and the word ute is the shortened term for a utility vehicle.
But the Aussie Ute is bigger…
And better…
Coz it’s an icon.
The Aussie Ute is a creature spotted regularly in rural areas of Australia. Traditionally, the Aussie Ute is a two-door coupe, with a cargo tray integrated with the passenger body.
“…those family-carrying beasts that struggle to park in suburban supermarkets everywhere.”
Today, it has since grown into those family-carrying beasts that struggle to park in suburban supermarkets everywhere. But Australia is in love with them, making it the third favourite car category in the country.
Where did the Aussie Ute first come from?
A woman asked for it!
That’s right, a farmer’s wife, wrote to Henry Ford asking if he’d play Santa Claus, telling him what she wanted for Christmas in a car.
Her detailed request was for a car to cruise into church on a Sunday, then cart her husband’s pigs to market on a Monday.
And Henry Ford did just that, nicknaming this ute the Kangaroo Chaser.
“…instant love at first key turn becoming a part of our Australian culture.”
Because of this amazing lady, the first Aussie Ute became available in Australia in 1934 and it was instant love at first key turn becoming a part of our Australian culture.
The differences between the ute and pickup?
The ute body is traditionally a two-door sedan with an open back, to allows for cargo, built into the body.
The pickup, created in 1913, is designed to be a mini truck, where the cab is clearly separate from the rear tray.
Today, everyone calls anything with a back tray, that is big enough to chuck a swag in the back, a ute.
As a side note, the South Africans call their utes Backies.
Is the Aussie Ute an endangered species?
The Aussie Ute is fast becoming an endangered species when they (the car company that shall remain nameless) stopped making them in Australia in 2017.
I know a few cattlemen spilled tears over their beers that day.
What is infiltrating Aussie shores today are imports that are labelled as utes.
(Please let’s not argue about Ford Vs Holden – or is that debate endangered too?)
The Legendary Aussie Ute Muster.
It’s such an Aussie Icon they made a competition for the Aussie Ute and called it the Ute Muster. It’s just like a cattle muster, which is a gathering of cows, except for utes.
But there is no need to dust off your boots or iron your favourite flannel shirt that matches your blue singlet to impress the ladies for this one. Because the Aussie Ute Muster is a competition all about mudflaps, aerials, bull bars, and polished paintwork … Unless you’ve covered it with stickers.
Anyways, it’s all about details.
On a ute.
The Aussie Ute Muster was first created to raise funds for charity and as a way to boost morale for those doing it tough out bush. Today, these events still raise funds in rural regions such as B&S balls (Bachelor and Spinster), or as a sideshow to rodeos.
The most famous Aussie Ute Muster
Deni Ute Muster is held in the tiny town of Deniliquin, on the border of NSW and Victoria. It’s famous for breaking various world records and for having an awesome time.
It’s a bucket list road trip for many blokes who love their utes! (Reckon you can hear my Oz slang? Yeah-nah!)
What’s involved in The Aussie Ute Muster
First, you find a ute, polish it up, then enter it into the correct category that suits the vehicle.
You usually pay an entrance fee which is donated to a charity.
But it’s not about winning prizes, which is usually beer or beer money.
Nah-ah, the real prize is where you’ll earn the right to brag about it to your mates while having a beer. Which you’ll do, leaning over the side of your ute, filling your ute’s rear tray full of empty beer cans.
The Aussie Ute Muster Categories
Categories for the Aussie Ute Muster Competition differs from region to region, but here are a few regulars:
· Outback You-Beaut-Ute.
·Street Ute (that’s for those utilities that never see dirt).
·Ladies Ute (Which I’ve won!)
· Most Mongrel Feral Ute (Which I won the following year! But that’s another story…)
· Best Tradies Ute.
More stories with the Aussie Ute:
Even though they don’t make the Aussie Ute anymore, you can still strap on a seat belt to drive across the pages by checking out the utes in these stories:
THE ART OF DUST involves the restoration of a much-loved humble ute in a trip down memory lane for this family’s history.
In THE FOOTBALL WHISPERER, a famous footballer who goes for a ride in a ute gets mixed up with a family of misfits!
AVOIDING THE PITY PARTY has the heroine suffering a life-changing epiphany inside her everyday tradies ute.
In CAKED IN DUST, there’s a new street ute, nicknamed the Tonka Truck, causing eyebrows to raise in this outback town.
MUSTER IN THE DUST unearths some rare Northern Territory history about a ute that literally ends up in the history books. Oh, and it’s actually based on a ute’s true story!
And what’s a cattle station without its assortment of utes, found in THE STATION, where a certain stockman has a love affair with his baby, that’s the winner of many a ute muster. Find out why here>>The Station – Oasis of the Outback Duology
As for the future of the four-wheeled steel stallion that stirs up the outback dust, I’m positive there’ll be more Aussie Ute adventures shared in the stories to come.
**All still images relating to this post’s topic are via CANVA.com
Do check it out for all your graphic and social media needs.
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