Beaut Ute

My kids are always shifting house.

Sometimes I think that it’s just a ritual demonstration of continuing dependency. Whatever – possession of a Ute is a powerful advantage when it comes to shifting.

I don’t, of course (own a Ute – that is). When I was making decisions about what form of transport I’d require for retirement, I thought leisure and pleasure, not shifting sprogs.

A roadster is not terribly useful at times like these.

So, there have been a number of occasions when I’ve needed a Ute. Once or twice, I hired a Japanese one-tonner (Toyota Hi-Ace or some such). Each time it did the job, but didn’t feel right.

The steering was numb, the ride woeful (especially when empty) and it always seemed to be working hard. It also had a fly-off handbrake.

Now fly-off handbrakes were invented by the Brits. They are one of the few things the Brits invented that the Japanese didn’t improve.

In fact, they made the stupid things worse – if that’s possible.

My brother-in-law has a BA Falcon Ute (pictured). He bought it at a government auction. The BA is familiar territory to me, having owned (or rather leased) an SR version a few years ago. I’ve since disposed of it, but the memory (fond) lingers.

BIL’s Ute pulls like a train, is comfortable, comes free (although I always return it with a full tank of juice, and a bottle of plonk), and is comfortable and easy to drive.

It doesn’t have a fly-off handbrake.

Now if I can persuade one of said sprogs to buy a Ute, I could, in a manner of speaking, have my cake and eat it too.