Not From Australia, Mate: 1937 Studebaker Coupe Express
If I were to ask a person if he or she knows what an ute is, he or she would probably look at me like I have three heads. Ask a person in Australia, and most likely he or she will know what I'm talking about. Utes are hugely popular in the Land Down Under, but for a period of time, the United States built car-based pickups first in the 1930s and later from the 1950s to the mid-1980s. Though Chevrolet's El Camino and Ford's Ranchero typically come to car collectors' minds in terms of car-based pickups, this 1937 Studebaker Coupe Express predates both by at least 20 years. Find it here on Craigslist in Alameda, California, with an asking price of $25,000. Built from 1937 to 1939, the Coupe Express was a coupe-based utility that mated Studebaker's passenger-car styling with a full-size pickup bed. Using the Studebaker Dictator passenger-car frame and front sheetmetal, the Coupe Express was either available ...