1934 Ford Coupe Utility

[NOBLNG]

Cool looking “Ute”!  I searched this after reading Alan Barton’s post in the Church Truck thread. Has anyone built one of these? It looks like it would be a fairly easy conversion if no kits are available.

[Casey]

I want to say there was a resin body to replicate this, but it possibly was a phantom style body, which never existed in the real world.

While there are two different bodies pictured above (I prefer the version in the B&W image), I think either could be accomplished using a '34 3-window body. The rear 1/4 of the greenhouse area on the cream colored version appears to be from a sedan body, as there is a subtle undercurve(?) just before it meets the bed. The doors in both are rather petite, but I'm sure there was a good reason for it. Making the doors larger and filling that space would do wonders for the overall look, too, IMHO.

[alan barton]

Tony Ashton from AAA resin does one here in Australia - look him up on Facebook! I have one in my stash - I will dig it out later.

The first photo is a recreation of the prototype that a Ford designer named Lew Brandt built. As Casey suspected, it was an Aussie 33 sedan roof on an Aussie coupe cowl and doors.  We still had locally produced wooden framed bodies at this stage and you will notice the sides of the body do not extend down to the running boards, typical of all our 33 and 34 Ford passenger cars. Sadly Lew was killed in this recreation in a head on collision about a decade ago if my memory is correct.

The production car in the B&W photo uses a complete coupe front half of body with one piece bed sides grafted on from the door pillar back.

Cheers

Alan

[NOBLNG]

On 1/29/2021 at 2:18 PM, Casey said:

Making the doors larger and filling that space would do wonders for the overall look, too, IMHO.

I agree. Get rid of the rear side window and lengthen the door and door window to fill that space would look nicer and make entry a lot easier.

[NOBLNG]

On 1/29/2021 at 5:58 PM, alan barton said:

Tony Ashton from AAA resin does one here in Australia - look him up on Facebook! I have one in my stash - I will dig it out later.

The first photo is a recreation of the prototype that a Ford designer named Lew Brandt built. As Casey suspected, it was an Aussie 33 sedan roof on an Aussie coupe cowl and doors.  We still had locally produced wooden framed bodies at this stage and you will notice the sides of the body do not extend down to the running boards, typical of all our 33 and 34 Ford passenger cars. Sadly Lew was killed in this recreation in a head on collision about a decade ago if my memory is correct.

The production car in the B&W photo uses a complete coupe front half of body with one piece bed sides grafted on from the door pillar back.

Cheers

Alan

By all means...dig it out! I would love to see one of these built up.?

[alan barton]

O.K., here is Tony's resin body conversion and next is a conversion of the AMT kit that I started while living in Canada 25 years ago and never did quite get done. Please not that these two models are both based on an American five window coupe and as such DO NOT accurately represent the Aussie factory body.  ON the other hand, they do look a bit more natural!  Aussie utes tend to have a very long tail and widen as they extend rearwards - they look better if they gently taper back in towards the centre.

[alan barton]

So here is what happens when someone devotes a ridiculous amount of time to a total basket case and does justice to the original design. My fellow clubmember and friend, for nearly fifty years, Greg Foulds, handbuilt brand new quarter panels to bring this one back from the dead.  If you compare it to the original photos you will see the bed has been shortened to improve the proportions. He also radiussed the rear corners - the original hss a flat rear panel that was quite crudely attached to the side panel with tacks onto a wooden frame. The tailgate and lower pan is all hand fabricated.

Notice that the Aussie windshield frame is taller than the US car and the rear quarter windows are a different shape - also they lean slightly out instead of slightly in when viewed from the rear.

Hope you enjoy it!

Cheers

Alan

Edited February 3, 2021 by alan barton

[TransAmMike]

Now that's one I've never seen before. Very cool. I'm assuming only in Australia and Canada?

Edited February 3, 2021 by TransAmMike

[Casey]

Very cool, and lots of work on the real one for sure. Thanks for posting those images.

[Claude Thibodeau]

HI!

Story has it that Henry was convinced to go along with the idea of his Australian managers, because after the world economic crash of 29, banks in Australia were lending money mostly to farmers, and only for "work vehicles". Hence the design, claimed to be a "utilitarian" vehicle. Never sold in US and Canada, according to many Ford experts.

However, General-Electric had a run of 30 or 31 Ford custom-built for their refregirator retailers. It was a few hundreds, all white, if I remember correctly. Few have survived the saying goes...

CT 

[NOBLNG]

Yes, thanks for posting those pics Alan! That is one sweet looking rig. I just may have to convert my other ‘36 5-window that I have.?

[alan barton]

Depending on how accurate you want to be, utes from '35 onwards had slightly abbreviated rooves - the five window section tucked down a bit faster than a coupe roof. Still uses five window front door but the rear window panel is noticeably more vertical.

In general for anyone wanting to do a factory style ute of anything, it should be noted that with the exception of the XA, XB and XC Falcons of the mid seventies, all utes were designed with a narrower four door sedan front door. Also, most utes, from the fifties on, had a fair degree of styling involved on the b and /or c pillars - they didn't just cut the cab in half and stick a window on the back!  I see a lot of model conversions that claim to be "Aussie ute" style but in fact look more like "Aussie Farmer Cut down the Old Family Car" style!!! Finally, with the exception of the last generations of Falcon utes, the rear quarter panel is continuous from the door jamb, with no separation at the bed ala pickup truck.

Hope this helps.  If you really want to know everything about utes,, Larry O'Toole wrote the definitive book on them and it is still available from Graffiti Publications in Australia.

Cheers

Alan

Edited February 4, 2021 by alan barton