Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Standard56]

A new thread on Australian utes

Were these Standard 8 or 10 utes made in the UK ? I am not sure of the origins of this photo. I have not seen a Standard ute like this one here.

[Standard56]

Australian newspaper adverts for the 1946 Dodge uitlity .

CDD, formed in the mid 1930s was a consortium of Companies that sold Chrysler cars within Australia. York Motors and Lanes Motors ( CDD members) were also Nuffield dealerships. CDD was the major share holder in Richards Industries, the company that built many Chrysler car bodies.

[Rick]

Re the Standard, yes the pickup was a factory built offering here in the UK.

See this page on the main OCC site:
https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/standard-van.htm


RJ
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[Standard56]

[bjacko]

I have never seen a Standard 8 or 10 Ute in Australia in my 63 years here.
I have seen plenty of Vanguard utes and the 2000 type.
_________________
1938 Morris 8 Ser II Coupe Utility (Pickup)
1985 Rover SD1 VDP

[Standard56]

Not sure if these were sold in the UK. A Bedford ute. Used to be one of these driving around Brighton and Hampton in the late 1960s , a Fuel Merchant delivered wood and briquettes to houses. He picked up the goods from a railway siding in Brighton. I helped him out a few times and people would stare and laugh at us sitting in the little ute loaded with split wood.

Pics are GM-H pics which are a few of the many GM-H pics that are held in the South Aust. state library. These pics are online.

[Standard56]

These 1941 Chevrolet utes were built in low numbers, for military use. More pics here https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/BRG+213/207/4/542-548

I spotted one of these utes many years ago in a car wreckers up near Strathmerton - the running gear had been removed, the poor thing was sitting on the ground . It was available for $50 . The Aust. army nomenclature for these light vehicles was General Service ( GS ) Van . The gallows device on the side is a Bren gun AA mount.

[Standard56]

Found this pic of a ute in Australia. The Standard Triumph club club of Victoria has a member with one. Apparently they were offered in Australia but not many were sold. This ute pictured may have been a private import , not sure.

Update: the Standard 10 ute was offered ( for 739 Pounds) in this advert from Standards Melbourne.

Standard Melbourne had a few little depots around the suburbs, The Elwood depot was on Beach road just opposite the Sandringham train line, for years into the 1970s the faded Standard logo was visible along the back fence. My father worked at the Elwood depot , it later became Port Phillip Motors .

[bjacko]

See the difference between Utes on British Chassis versus USA chassis.
That is why Aussies preferred USA based utes.

Taken Australia day 24-01-1997 before I got the tilt made.
_________________
1938 Morris 8 Ser II Coupe Utility (Pickup)
1985 Rover SD1 VDP

[Rick]

Neat to see the b/w Bedford ute photos, I bought three of those from Oz many years ago.



RJ
_________________
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Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
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[Standard56]

The Bedford sales brochure . Those Bedford utes from Rick's old days , they look to be in good shape. The bodywork was done by GM-H.

The side view pic is dated 1944 which means GM-H were assembling a few of these Bedford utes for essential civilian use - the buyer needed a permit.

Yes B I can see how the larger carrying capacity of the US cars would have been a selling point. But with the larger American engines the higher petrol consumption wasn't ideal.

[Standard56]

The GM-H production figures reveal that the Bedford utes were built in two versions ( 10/4 and 12/4) and a small number were assembled into from 1940 to 1943

GM-H were also building Austin bodies and Willys bodies. I had a look at a GM-H bodied 1941 Willys sedan at Bendigo in the early 1980s, a doctors car bought new during the war... it was very cheap but in rough condition.

This is a good read:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DDzXLecm8bh5wZyDmVDSGKTWtGd3VEFb/view



Hours of reading ! https://hrc.au/136

[Rick]

Re Bedfords there are a few pages about them on the main site, including a few scruffy examples that turned up in Oz a while back.

https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/bedford_utes.htm


RJ
_________________
Rick - Admin
Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
Videos:https://www.youtube.com/user/oldclassiccarRJ/videos
OCC & classic car merchandise (Austin, Ford ++):
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[Standard56]

Thanks for the link to your Bedford import page , that was quite a scoop for you getting three in the one container.

My neighbour here has a Mk2 Zephyr ute that he found with a rusted out floor, he welded in a new floor and the ute is now in running condition. He also has a collection of Thames 400E vans ... I will post some pics of the vans soon, one is a camper.

This site has more stuff about Australian utes https://club.shannons.com.au/club/news/retroautos/unique-aussie-designed-uk-utes-celebrating-local-ingenuity/

[Rusty]

My uncle used to drive one of those old "Bedford" Utes back in the 50s and early 60s, that is until he was going home from a masonic meeting late one night and didn't see the train reversing while shunting at the local rail line! He got collected on the passenger's side and pushed sideways about seventy meters down the track before the loco could stop. Not injured, but he had removed all chance "that" ute had of ever being restored! He always recond it was the most "gutless" vehicle he ever owned, and also the most reliable and most economical !