For those old enough to remember there was a bike shop in the Sydney suburb of Pennant Hills called Perry's Motorcycles and while I can't for the life of me remember his first name (Len?) I do remember he drove a bright green ute that could swallow any size bike and I seem to think it was a chopped Pontiac (but hey, it might have also been an el Camino?) - the thing was huge. If any one remembers the ute or the owners name it would be a good trip down memory lane.
My first ute that hauled my CR125 around was a '66 XP Falcon that was powered by a huge? 144ci slug, lol. That thing was indestructible and a car I took too much for granted as I lusted after something with more power while on an schoolkids budget. Not that many years, and afew cars later, I bought a great deceased estate car - a bright orange XA Falcon ute, complete with white tonneau cover and big mags, which was absolutely brilliant except you got sucked into moving house for all your 'friends' every second weekend. The poor guy who had owned it found out the hard that 9.8 metres per second per second applies to gyro copters with failed engines just like any other falling object! - I kept the sticker "I'd rather be flying my gyrocopter" on the tailgate till the day I sold the car !!!
I currently own an 06 DX40 Navara 'Ute' that is brilliant. With the tail down it fits two bikes and a big quickshade easily and has the best factory fitted tie down system of any manufacturer which uses rails in the floor, sides and tub front wall and a system of cleats that can be moved by the turn of a knob. The back seats can fold up or down and the gear that can be crammed in is only limited by your imagination. The little diesel pulls like a train and the whole package looks more like a ute than a stylised car. The only big downfall in my book is the tailgate hinges appear to be on the weak side. I agree with the title on these types of cars as they a bit of everything, especially given they are also a decent 4WD - I call it a ute because it is just that - a utility vehicle, but then a ute in the Aussie sense is still in the mould of the Kingswood or Falcon.
See you at the back of of the pack
