Maybe a flat white with your ute, sir?

By ALASTAIR SLOANE

The ute, a long-time favourite in the Australian bush, is becoming a trendy must-have in the cities.

Latte drinkers in Sydney and Melbourne are buying V6 and V8 Holden and Ford utes just to be seen in.

They park them outside suburban cafes and swagger in for a short black and salmon vol-au-vent.

The dreamers among them are known to add a touch of country for effect - road dust fresh from an aerosol can.

The seriously sick can buy fibreglass blue heeler dogs - fair dinkum - to lie down, with one eye open, curled up in the back.

Holden's commemorative Olympic Edition Commodore ute will probably suffer a similar fate here with Ponsonby Rd farmers.

It has just gone on sale in New Zealand. The ute carries special badging and colours, and the leather-trimmed seats come from the top-line Calais sedan.

It also has a mobile phone power point, a sign of the times. The V6 manual costs $37,545, the automatic $38,545 and the V8 auto $42,545.