Who knew that one of the best work truck on the earth was truly a automotive? See, the issues that make vehicles cool are their utility and practicality, and in our fashionable automotive panorama filled with large vehicles, coupe-utes are, certainly, extra sensible than most vehicles. Too unhealthy we are able to’t purchase them within the U.S., except you wish to argue that the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz are coupe-utes not directly. However these are nonetheless removed from the Holden Ute and Holden One Tonner, sadly.

The Ford Maverick has no less than proven that small vehicles are successful. Nicely, “small” is doing a little bit of heavy lifting given the Maverick’s dimension in comparison with older midsizers and compact vehicles. If a small automotive with a flat mattress is what you’re after, a coupe-ute may very well be extra interesting. And there are many these nonetheless round in Australia, Mexico and South America, amongst different markets.

These automotive and truck hybrids are available all sizes and shapes, however one of many coolest must be the late Holden One Tonner, which was the chassis cab cousin of the legendary Holden Ute.

I don’t know what it’s a few chassis cab that’s objectively cool. It may very well be its unabashed utility, which doesn’t attempt to conceal behind a glossy mattress. And a chassis cab ’ute primarily based on the Holden Commodore is mockingly among the best designs ever. Ironic, as a result of the One Tonner makes zero pretense to fashion, save for the first-generation mannequin, which seems to be nice with out even attempting. I’d simply take a One Tonner over its well-known counterparts within the U.S., the Ford Ranchero and Chevy El Camino.

The One Tonner was the Holden Ute’s heartier cousin, which featured beefier building that wasn’t involved with consolation very a lot. It was reportedly extra of a industrial car, and it did properly in that phase. The One Tonner was profitable early on amongst staff and industrial fleets in Australia.

And naturally, because the hearty utility car that it’s, individuals have taken them off-roading in some capability. If you happen to’re uninterested in the safari fad, which has been going robust for some time now and reveals no signal of shedding steam, then possibly it’s time we demanded a brand new development amongst off-roaders. Chassis cab all of the issues.

Then once more, the One Tonner’s specs might have appealed to consumers who needed a primary, no-frills car that got here with out A/C and had a bench seat, crank home windows and a handbook transmission. That sounds depressing to some, nevertheless it’s simply the form of car that may final without end given its lack of elements to interrupt. It is also optioned with a Chevy small block V8 and a restricted slip differential, in case an austere chassis cab isn’t interesting sufficient. No LS swap vital.

The Holden One Tonner was accessible both with an inline-six or a V8 all through its manufacturing run. Displacement ranged from 2.8 liters on the inline-sixes all the best way to six.0 liters on the V8s. The One Tonner was round from the early ’70s by early ’80s. Then it got here again for a short manufacturing run within the mid-aughts, all the time primarily based on the Holden Commodore as a platform.

One of many criticisms I typically hear of the Ford Maverick is that it’s a car-based (unibody) car, however so what? Simply because one thing is akin to a automotive, doesn’t imply it could’t do a very good impression of a troublesome truck, just like the One Tonner.