CSR38 was another one of my favorite rounds in the history of the competition, but for an entirely different reason compared with the previous one, which had the dark, gritty and adrenaline-pumping feel of a late-80s action film such as
Die Hard. Instead, it was much more humorous and lighthearted, and on top of that was set in the present day instead of being a period piece. Most significantly of all, though, entrants were tasked with building examples of a kind of car that most people outside Australia and New Zealand are largely unaware of: the ute. Basically, a ute is similar in design to a pickup truck, but is based on the body and chassis of a passenger car. And given that I had seen plenty of utes (especially V8-powered ones) during
both of my visits to Australia, entering this round was a no-brainer for me.
At the time this post was published, the ute body style was just a few months away from being consigned to the history books, with the possible (but unlikely) exception of one-off bespoke coachbuilt special based on existing two-door coupes. With this in mind, the client for this round requested a ute that was not only practical, but reasonably fast in a straight line and yet cheap to buy and run, thus keeping the genre alive for ute-lovers everywhere. On top of that, there was a possibility that the ute's value would increase over time if it were prestigious enough - the car's age would also be factored into this calculation. And so, having read the requirements, I set about building my entry.
A ute that thinks it's a sports coupe: the Zorg ZV4 Utility
After a few hours of deliberation, I settled on a car-based ute with all-independent suspension at each corner (sacrificing load capacity for improved dynamics), and powered by a small-displacement (2.6 liters) turbocharged straight-six optimized mainly for economy and running on regular (91RON) unleaded. The resulting car was called the Zorg ZV4 Utility and, in this trim at least, was offered in a bright metallic blue. To keep the occupants happy on long trips, I made a premium interior and infotainment system standard, with an advanced safety suite and a full set of driving aids thrown in for good measure. And yet it was merely the base model for the entire model line I had in mind, with more powerful engines being optional across the range - but I won'd get too far ahead of myself; a detailed description of the ZV4 will have to wait until later.
As the other entrants submitted their entries I was awestruck by the sheer number of approaches to the client's request, and gradually became increasingly confused as to which one of them would win the round - arguably more so than the round host, in fact. While I was building a show pony that could tackle even the twistiest roads with aplomb, some users built straight-line stoplight warriors capable of showing a clean pair of tailpipes to most sports cars (but weren't usually quite as good at everything else); others built honest, no-nonsense cargo haulers so far removed from the definition of
ute that they were, to all intents and purposes, trucks - which, sadly, have largely replaced the ute as the vehicle of choice for Australian tradesmen. There were even several wildcard entries using older bodies (including a few cars which were essentially restomods - older models fitted with modern mechanicals), if only for the "retro factor" the client requested from the dozens of entrants. Specifically, a car which used an older body, or was introduced in an earlier year, would be deemed more desirable due to the client's preference for classics, although in order to pull that off, the rest of the car would have to be a true standout in many other areas as well.
Among the entries were a few utes sent in merely to make up the numbers and were built by users who knew full well that they would not make it past the first cut. But this eclectic mix of not-quite-trucks also contained a few all-purpose utes that, on first impressions at least, were good all-around choices. And although I hadn't entered to win, I was still keyed up with anticipation as the results were announced, as I had always been. Clearly the contest needed a change of tone after the dark, moody feel of the previous round.
When the results finally arrived I immediately burst into laughter after seeing the first set of reviews, which proved to be blunt yet very lighthearted, even for CSR. Even as I found out that my ute was not quite practical enough to make the first cut, I did not care one bit because the host had elevated the standards of writing and story development (for this contest, at least) to a hitherto unseen level. Considering that the previous round had already set the bar very high in this regard, that's saying something. And still the reviews kept coming, each one being more hilarious
and honest than the last. After this, the list of semifinalists was finalized; it consisted entirely of vehicles which were not only practical enough for consideration, but were quite fun to drive, as well as being easy on the wallet and eye.
Thus, after the first round of cuts, there were only a dozen utes still being considered: the El-Enterato, the Daemon TK, the Dragotec Coyote, the Maverick Loadstar, the Cario Clone, the Factory Lorry, the Starfire SE-8, the Ridgeback Express, the BandicUte (either a portmanteau of Bandit and Cute, or Bandicoot and Ute - either one is correct), the Reveho GX-Z, the Quebec Utility S, and the FOA Outlander. Of these, only six of them would be finalists. The rest would, sadly, be eliminated at this stage, even though they were not without merit, unlike some of the less successful entrants. It is worth noting that had some other users been able to finalize their entries, they would have entered this round as well, which would have made at least the first round of cuts even tougher still.
In this next round of cuts, any remaining utes that lacked the necessary utility value to be viable were cut, as were entries that were too expensive. In particular, the Reveho was cut simply because it was a truck with two rows of seats - definitely contradictory with the traditional definition of a ute. Likewise, the Starfire SE-8 was overpriced, while the Quebec Utility S and Cario Clone were too middle-of-the-road to make it to the final cut. Finally, the BandicUte was just too small. Every other semifinalist was still being considered, however.
Top to bottom: CSR38 semifinalists - Reveho, Cario Clone, Quebec Utility S, BandicUte and Starfire SE-8
And so to the final decision, which proved to be the toughest one of all. First to go was the El-Enterato, which was simply outclassed by its remaining rivals. The Outlander, meanwhile, had tires that were far too narrow for a ute, much less a quasi-off-roader, and the Daemon TK was just too old to be an economical choice in the client's view. Most disappointingly of all, the Maverick Loadstar was not safe enough, and the Coyote's lack of traction control made it an unacceptably difficult everyday proposition.
Top to bottom: CSR38 finalists - El-Enterato, Daemon TK, Outlander, Coyote and Ridgeback
This left the client with just two utes to choose from: the Ridgeback and Factory Lorry. Deciding upon a winner turned out to be extremely difficult, but in the end the Factory Lorry got the nod, mostly on account of being a more honest and useful workhorse overall, even though it was much less of a show pony (i.e. fun to drive) even than the Ridgeback. Even so, with a few changes, it would have been highly likely that victory would have gone to the Ridgeback instead. And so, after a round spent building a kind of car that will soon be consigned to the history books in real life, CSR changed tack - and shifted its focus to track cars.
