UPDATE – As the great philosopher and baseball legend Yogi Berra might’ve said, “It’s Deja Ute all over again.” We featured this unique ute last July and yours truly did the writeup that you’ll find below. It appears the same seller has listed it for sale here on Facebook Marketplace for the same asking price of $17,900. It’s still located in Rochester, New Hampshire with the same mileage (125,000) on the odometer. The seller’s description is colorful, short and sweet: “Factory 425 HP tire fryer. Custom built. Hand formed steel panels, very nicely done. This is not a kit. Clean car fax, no accidents, no rust, no baloney.” A special Barn Finds shoutout to Tony Primo for spotting this “Unique Ute” in the parking lot of a Sac-O-Suds convenience store.
If you’re familiar with the movie, My Cousin Vinny, can’t you just hear Fred Gwynne (as Southern Judge Chamberlain Haller) asking Joe Pesci (as wisecracking Northern “Lawyer” Vinny Gambini) “What is a ‘ute’?” Although it was how Mr. Gambini pronounced the word, “youth,” further down south in Australia, the word “ute” is short for utility vehicle or pickups. Here on Barn Finds we feature a wide range of vehicles, including oddballs and the unusual. This listing falls into that category and is the first Ute conversion we’ve ever featured. This 2006 Chrysler 300 Series Custom Ute is located in Rochester, New Hampshire and is for sale for a BIN price of $17,900.
Chrysler didn’t follow their rivals Ford and Chevrolet back in the 50’s and introduce a “coupe utility vehicle.” The Ford Ranchero and Chevy El Camino weren’t a standard pickup, they were two-door station wagons that had their cab and cargo bed integrated into the body. As kids, we didn’t see too many of them but when we did, we’d point and say, ‘Look, a “Car-Truck!” Rancheros and El Caminos haven’t been offered for decades, but somebody wanted a “coupe utility vehicle” and converted a 2006 Chrysler Series 300 into one. I wasn’t aware that you could buy kits to convert certain cars into pickups, but the seller lets you know upfront that this isn’t a kit, it’s a custom build. The seller shares some photos of the surgical procedure and states, “Half the roof was cut off, 18-gauge sheet metal was cut, shaped, and butt-welded to a custom steel framework then to the existing body lines. Then off it went to the bodyshop for a 2- tone look and paint blend to the original silver paint.
I’m no Ute or custom car expert, but based on the photos, this looks like a well-crafted conversion. The two-tone paint looks very presentable, the seller says it has a fully functional trunk and I can’t find any faults with the Chrysler’s exterior fit and finish. Too bad there aren’t more photos of the never-smoked-in interior. The leather seats look very comfortable and listed options include a sunroof, air conditioning, power windows, and power locks. There are no photos of the engine bay either, but it is listed as having 8 cylinders with 125,000 on the clock with an automatic transmission. The seller claims the Chrysler Custom Ute “runs and drives excellent,” has no rust, has never been in an accident, and looks like it came from the factory as a two-seater utility vehicle. So, what do you think of this unusual Ute? I think the odds of the next owner seeing another one like it at a car show or a local Cars & Coffee event are slim and none. It’ll be quite the attention getter.
Unique is good, especially when it’s done right. I like it.
Actually, Chrysler did produce a Ute, it just wasn’t sold in the US. If you search the classifieds in Australia, you can usually find several among all the Fords and Holdens. The ones I’ve seen are from the late 60s and early 70s. They were based on the Plymouth Valiant / Dodge Dart and were badged as Chryslers.
ARE YOU KIDDING!? This is AMAZING. Looks like someone did a great job and built a very unique vehicle. Practical? Probably not but who cares. Just make sure you have plenty of cash for tires. Seen an episode of Roadkill and they were in Australia and all they do is see how fast they can burn out in a quarter mile they don’t want straight speed they want Tire smoke and it was amazing in this car would fit right into something like that. They also had tires that would expel colored smoke and that would make it even better. This thing would be a blast if you had the extra money to spend just to go have fun.
So , it has a trunk and 4 feet of useless inaccessible space , i would rather have a pick up or an el camino cause this is useless
All I see is the back seat of a 4-door covered over.
Nothing that could even generously be called a ‘bed’.
‘A’ for effort, but failed the Ute class.
This creation retains the smaller front doors of the 4 door – it would feel claustrophobic to me inside.
As far as the sister car Charger goes, i still can’t figure why Dodge didn’t ALSO offer a 2 door Charger way back in 2005!!(& STILL none in 2023! – with the same basic body style!), preferably with frameless side glass. I bet they could have sold at least twice as many Chargers! – big mistake if you ask me, tho IMO, in reverence to the ’60s cars, the 4 door should have been called something else! & 2 doors should not have a Rolls Royce type grill.
Ad says it seats 5 people…where do the other 3 sit ?!
One terrible picture of the ‘bed’ area, the creation of which was the whole point of this build in the first place.
I’ve owned a Ford Falcon ute, a Holden HQ Ute and a Valiant Chrysler Ute over the years when I lived in NZ.
Would own another but nothing available these days.
Like a homely girl that you want to love because she has a great personality but you just can’t.
I went to the ad. It has the same trunk space that it started life with.
I’m an ELKY fan, I have one now. I think the concept is BEAUTIFUL.
Just a couple of my visual objections are as mentioned earlier the door size. In 1975 Jaguar built an XJ6C a 2 door coupe based on the XJ6L. anyway L.S.S. For the coupe doors two conventional doors were cut and spliced for the sheet metal. The glass was unique I believe. here moving the B pillar back a tad 6″, then creating a longer door would have made a better look and feel, IMO. the “trunk” may have been better utilized by creating a “lift back” rear from the longer coupe roof to the tail panel. Again IMO only
LOVE IT, live in an upper middle class town that is mainly hot trucks.. WOULD LIKE to own it BUT my pocket says NO!