Coupe utility

Compared with other types of pickup trucks in the 1930s, the term coupe utility (or coupé utility) was defined as combining a more stylish, comfortable and roomier coupe roofline with an integrated cargo tray, however since the 1950s the definition of the term has become blurred. More recent models are often called "pickups" (or pick-ups) by their makers.

The body style originated in Australia. It was the result of a 1932 letter from the wife of a farmer in Victoria, Australia to Ford Australia asking for "a vehicle to go to church in on a Sunday and which can carry our pigs to market on Mondays". In response, Ford designer Lew Bandt developed a vehicle based on the client's request and the model (called a "coupe utility" at the time) was released in 1934. A convertible version, known as the roadster utility, was produced in limited numbers by Ford in the 1930s.

In 1951, Holden released a model based on its 48-215 sedan, reinforcing the Australian tradition of home grown two-door passenger-car sedan chassis based "utility" vehicles with a tray at the back, known colloquially as a ute. In recent years, however, ute in Australia 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, so for the purposes of this article, the full term "coupe utility" shall be used.

America followed suit with the release of Ford's Ranchero in 1957 and Chevrolet's El Camino in 1959.

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