Gazing into history: The 1951 Holden was restored by a local family and has gone on to win multiple awards.
Photo by
Daneka Hill
In one week they’ll be back in the loving hands of their owners, so get down to the Museum of Vehicle Evolution quickly if you want to see some rare Aussie utes.
The special February exhibition of the home-grown icon starts at the door with a 1951 Holden 50-2106 coupe utility, aka the one that started it all.
Museum curator Jade Burley picked the 1951 Holden as his favourite.
“This is what people think of as the first Aussie ute, this is what they imagine,” Mr Burley said.
“The actual first utility was a Ford in the ’30s but I’ve only seen one of those and it was in the National Motor Museum.”
The Aussie Ute exhibit runs for all of February and MOVE plans to keep the monthly specials going.
“I’ve got about four years worth of ideas,” Mr Burley said.
“I’m thinking about a Porsche and a British sports car exhibit in the coming months.”
Mr Burley said he had been hoping to include a Subaru Brumby in the exhibition, as they were really popular in the Goulburn Valley because they fitted up orchard rows.
Ironically, there wasn’t enough room to fit the tiny ute.
The museum is located at Emerald Bank, Kialla — between the windmills.
Another drawcard is the parking lot, where you will find the odd Tesla, Ford Mustang, Holden Monaro and more, as car enthusiasts park up and walk in.
The non-ute: The Holden Colorado Xtreme Concept was included in the 14-ute exhibition to show what we drive now. “We still call them utes but really they are pick-up trucks,” Jade Burley said. “The Aussie ute is extinct.” According to the curator, the concept car doesn’t have working electronics and “doesn’t turn well”.
Photo by
Daneka Hill
Magnum opus: This car is the pre-production concept for the legendary VF Magnum ute. At the end of VF production, GMH released three high-performance, limited addition machines: the Calais Director, the Commodore Motorsport and the Magnum Ute. All limited to a few hundred cars.
Photo by
Daneka Hill
Mirror effect: Which end is the front? The Chevrolet El Camino is a US car but was included in the ute exhibition because it captures a brief moment in time when the Americans were copying us. This coupe utility has cult status in the US.
Photo by
Daneka Hill
Ford performance vehicle: This FPV-badged supercharged V6 ute is owned by a young Tatura girl. The family bought it for her as an investment piece. It represents the last of the Ford performance utes.
Photo by
Daneka Hill
GV history: This 1978 5L V8 three-speed turbo Holden HZ belonged to local identity Ken “Sparra” Harrison. Ken was a fixture at the Hume Weir circuit. Today, his grandson owns the vehicle — and also owns the Shepparton BMW dealership.
Photo by
Daneka Hill
Lights: It seems the designers could never decide on a single tail light. Those were the days. Here we have a blue Falcon 500 vs an XP Falcon vs an orange XY Falcon 500.
Photo by
Daneka Hill
