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Comment by tomhoward | Hacker News Reader

For non-Australians, "ute" is the widely-used abbreviation for "utility vehicle".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ute_(vehicle)

> Traditionally the term referred to vehicles built on passenger car chassis and with the cargo tray integrated with the passenger body. However, present-day usage of the term "ute" in Australia and New Zealand has expanded to include any vehicle with an open cargo area at the rear; which would be called a pickup truck in other countries.

My first two vehicles were utes: Holden, of course (HJ '74 and HX '76).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holden_HJ#/media/File:Holden_U...

Born in the early 70s in Australia, there's something visceral about Holden V8s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMUx4DXDhA0

And the Monaro GTS sedan on the HJ Wikipedia page is my idea of a family car.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holden_HJ#/media/File%3AHold...

When I read ute I was expecting to see something like an electric Maloo, not a 4x4.

It's really only since the demise of Ford and Holden in recent years that "ute" has been used to describe an American-style pickup like a Ford Ranger or VW Amarok with an enclosed tray.

Maybe someone will do an electric "Sandman" panelvan conversion. The petrol fumes were always terrible driving around with the back open.

Yeah, it seems the marketing geniuses got together to make the one tonners become tradie utes which then allowed this new american style 'ute'. It's not cricket.

For everyone non-Oz, a 'Maloo' is this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ute_(vehicle)#/media/File:2010...

A uniquely Australian vehicle:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmGfLFF6O9M

Need to 'muricanise it more... It's a sort of pickup truck.

Here, let me translate to American ;D - Chevy El Camino or Ford Ranchero.

"Two^ nations divided by a common language" - (someone famous) ^Four, really.

The Land Cruiser platform in the article is similar in size to the more contemporary Ford Explorer Sport Trac:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Explorer_Sport_Trac

It's also probably more comparable mechanically.

Do you guys get the Toyota Hilux[1] in the USA? That's a classic "ute".

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Hilux

Yeh. That segment is usually referred to as something like "compact pickup truck".

The Tacoma is the NA equivalent of the Hilux, and they are close enough in form factor to be considered equivalent for the purposes of this comparison.

We used to. I had the 4x4 version and I miss that truck. It was absolutely bulletproof and would go anywhere and get back home in one piece.

Since 1993 or so it's been replaced by the Tacoma which might be even better, but not as simple mechanically.

Honda Ridgeline and Subaru Baja are probably the comparison points that are more relatable to the HN crowd as far as UTEs go.

Small four door pickups are a more analogous use case to the vehicle in the article though.

Smaller than most pickup trucks though, more like station-wagon sized.

Traditionally yeah, although most utes are pick-up sized now. They're enormous bastards.

Here's Goose driving a traditional ute:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_pc0BJ33cQ

    Judge Chamberlain Haller:  Uh... did you say "utes"?
               Vinny Gambini:  Yeah, two utes.
    Judge Chamberlain Haller:  What is a ute?

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu8tX2BAD1k )

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