Love affair with Australian utes a feature of classic car scene

By BRUCE SIMPSON

Back in 1969, Australian carmakers Holden, Ford, and Chrysler added the utility to the models they sold to car-starved New Zealand.

Successive governments since the Second World War had restricted the importation of motor vehicles and the local assembly industry failed to keep up with the demand for new cars right up until the end of the 1960s.

Hire purchase terms were draconian compared with the deals on offer today. Buying a new or used car required a minimum deposit of 60 per cent and the balance repaid within 12 months.

By 1969 commercial vehicless, however, could be had on 25 per cent deposit with three-year terms.

Car dealers used to screw down the back seats of station wagons to claim commercial status.

Holden sold the HT Kingswood ute with a choice of three engine - 161 cubic inch (2.6-litre) and 186ci (3-litre) six-cylinder units and the 253ci (4.2-litre) V8 at the top of the range.

Ford fielded the XW Falcon 500 with either 200ci (3.3-litre) or 221ci (3.6-litre) six-cylinder engines and Todd Motors, Chrysler's assemblers in New Zealand, had the VF Valiant Wayfarer powered by Chrysler's durable 225ci (3.7-litre) slant six.

Three-speed column-change manual or automatic gearboxes were available all round.

The many options available across the Tasman, such as Ford's 302ci (4.9-litre) and 351ci (5.8-litre) V8s and the sporty GS pack failed to appear in New Zealand-made utes.

But the six-cylinder models here still sold well and the availability of fiberglass canopies meant you could then put a mattress in the back and throw in the kids and the family dog.

In 1970 came the first facelifts, with the Holden HG getting the new Tri-matic three-speed automatic to replace the two-speed Powerglide.

Ford introduced perhaps its most classic early model Falcon, the XY, with a newly available 250ci (4.1-litre) six-cylinder engine.

Chrysler raised the performance stakes with the new 245ci (4-litre) Hemi six-cylinder in the VG Valiant, which delivered 185bhp (138kW), the same power as the Holden 253 V8.

All three carmakers fielded new models by 1972, Holden the cleanly styled but underpowered HQ Belmont and Kingswood utes with new 173ci (2.8-litre) and 202ci (3.3-litre) six-cylinder engines and Ford and Chrysler with their American-influenced XA Falcon 500 and VH Valiant Ranger utes.

As the decade wore on inflation and oil shocks saw the Australians loose ground to the Japanese. The New Zealand commercial market turned to cheaper, more economical utes like Toyota's Hilux. The Australian utes moved upmarket a tad. Holden's 1978 HZ Kingswood SL topped the range here, its 308 (5-litre) V8 engine backed by a bulletproof TH400 automatic gearbox and Salisbury limited-slip diff.

Power steering and radial-tuned suspension made the Holden ride and handle well.

V8 utes were hard to get. Bob McMillan, then owner of Team McMillan Ford in Greenlane, circumvented import restrictions under the NAFTA agreement and landed Falcon XC V8 GS pack utes, vans and cars.

Todd Motors, switching to assembling Mitsubishis as Chrysler Australia lurched towards its 1981 demise, released the last Valiant ute model, the CL in 1977.

The CL came with two Hemi six-cylinder engines and a 318ci (5.2-litre) V8.

A few of the optional Drifter and sports pack utes were sold here by selected Todd dealers and a genuine CL Valiant V8 ute is a collector's item today.

Ford's latest BA model shows how utes have developed.