one for @emerygt350 (and anyone else who thinks henry ford was alright).

got the falcon ute finished.
about 3 months behind schedule.
you think you are just going to be screwing all the last bits in - no worries - but no.

aussie fords. a thing of the past.



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gave it final finishing touch.
aus design award sticker stuck in the window the way an indifferent 18 year old assembly line worker did it 25 + years ago after a night on the beers.

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Love that word Ute; takes me back to the courtroom scene in "My cousin Vinny". Joe Pesci talking about the Utes
Nice work on the Falcon too !
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I know those utes are a popular choice down there, but here people would break their necks trying to figure out what that is lol!!

To me it just looks like the perfect car to run to the hardware store in

thats the idea.
the load bay is quite long, better than any current offerings you can get.
the utes even down here are a bit of a thing of the past.
most young tradies (building site workers as they are known) drive the giant hopped up twin cab trucks these days and don't carry loads. they have those useless tubs on the back. everything gets delivered to building sites. even farmers don't really drive utes anymore. its a country going soft handed?

aus utes always had one difference to the USA sedan style pickups like the ford rancheros or the chev el camino. the USA cars used sedan floor pans and had long rear overhangs. the trick the aussies got up to was using the station wagon floor pans for the utes which had a longer wheelbase and less rear overhang. makes them a little less diabolical to drive when loaded up.

we got this one for zero $. belonged to an old bloke who passed away and his widow gave it to us. it was pretty rooted. rust everywhere. in a lot more places than i originally thought. but for some reason the interior in it is perfect.
usually aussie cars that have been work cars are just sunbaked into the ground.

just got to put the first scratch on it and start using it like its meant to used for another 25 years. i am officially an old man if i start driving this around. all the young guys call them "old men utes".

there is a myth that the ute was invented in australia by Ford in the 1930s. not sure its true. i have read contrary stories that its a USA invention. its possible that the integration of the cab with the load tub might be an australian concoction. the american variants are as early as T model fords, but these had separate pick up trays. so i dunno.

@Maltese Falcon . yeah that movie is great. "4 degrees before TDC"
that actress should have got an oscar.

here is another aussie ute curiosity.

am sure you guys might have heard of them.
VW country buggy.

australia only.

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i'd love to have one.
an aussie mini-moke?
rare as hen's teeth. total sales dud at the time and only lasted a year.
developed for the army who politely declined the offer.
now worth a small fortune if you can even find one.
extreme minimalism.

you can't carry much of a load in them.
just a sick sheep or give your cattle dog a ride down the paddock.

i think they would blow minds in the USA if you drove one around.
like a much weirder vehicle than a Thing.
+ right hand drive for a bit of novelty value.

That ute is fantastic. Congrats on getting her done. Such a cool bit of car history.

I love that bench seat.

For the record, Marissa Tomei did win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for her role in My Cousin Vinnie. That is an Oscar.
On topic though, I love the Mighty Car Mods episode where Marty picks up Kieth Urban in his Ute to go drop landscape materials at his house. Just getting help from one of his mates!

@ConeDodger

thanks for the info. did not know she got the oscar for that. she deserved it.

the mighty mods boys subi ute was a pretty wild vehicle.


joe pesci was closer to the trooot than he knew with his youtes.


the model era before the falcon ute we just fixed up is considered the golden period of ute civilisation. early 1970s.
........they were all styled in the USA. at the big three's hq in detroit.
the local branch engineers and stylists were involved but.....all things considered they are yank tanks?

1
the ford XA ute. the pinnacle of ute-dom? masterstroke was to use the doors of the hardtop - ie mad max's black interceptor. these things now go for a fortune. only come out for car shows.

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2
the holden HQ ute. GM. considered the most australian because its a holden. a bit of a myth. holden had big ties to the pontiac division of GM in detroit and the design seemed to have its origins there? my father had one of these utes. basic as they come. rare to see one these days.

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3.
chrysler. sedans and wagons were called valiants. unlike the usa was not a model name but a brand name in aus. commercials were called dodges.
its a dodge dart ute? not sure you guys got these things in the USA. they were pretty cool. by the early 70s they were at the end of the model. i never see these things.
they rusted worse than 914s so most have long crumbled away. cult car.

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you can't get more american than an aussie youte?


the falcon ute we fixed belongs to the generation after when the ford design studio here was granted a lot more autonomy. its still part of the global model "look". but the falcon of that era was probably the purest one in terms of being an independantly engineered and styled local product. i think thats why it picked up an australian design award. the aus design council was trying to pat ford on the back for letting out the leash on the locals.

Love me some Marty and Moog! So talented. I got hooked on them when they traveled to Japan to buy the Fairlady and had to pull the engine and brake linings to get past the Aussie import rule about proving you weren’t bringing asbestos in to the country.

My dad left me a Ford Ranchero when he passed. He was so proud of having the interior done by the same place as the Driving Miss Daisy cars. My brother looked so disappointed at the reading of the will that I traded it to him for a custom trailer. (He was a welder).

The car scene in Australia is so hot and tech heavy right now. I’m doing Haltech Elite 2500 for my 240Z right now. I’ve also got some bits from EFI supply over there…

@ConeDodger I've been real pleased with the telephone tech help with the guys at Haltech USA-West in (SoCal) Lake Forest, CA. area. There is also the EFI Tech in Lake Havasu, AZ. where you can enroll in various Haltech seminars; learn the Elite 2500 management tuning in a few days. Lots of dyno shops here in SoCal...but few tuners that I would employ

Thanks Marty! I’ve been selling Z car headers for you lately!

lots of those orig Z cars down here.
aussies had an instant emotional attachment to the straight 6.
these days you would think we were all V8 addicted bogans.
but actually back in the 70s it truly was the land of the hopped straight 6.

the 240Z meshed straight in with the holden torana gtr-xu1.
head to head combat.


when i was a teenager i used to love peering through the windows of Z cars.
they had the best dashboard. pod instruments.
tried to make my mother buy one at the datsun dealer.
she bought herself a 180B to replace her beetle.
even if it wasn't a Z it was still a cool car.

Thank you Rob !¡ @ConeDodger...you're hired