FORD TRUCKS

Henry Ford transformed not only the automobile but working life and the role of transportation. Having played our part in everything from the birth of the middle class to the recent global pandemic, we serve the world with integrity and competence. The Blue Oval is one of the most recognized corporate symbols in history, continually striving to earn the trust of all stakeholders.

​

1972-’76 COURIER

Dearborn couldn’t ignore the success of Japanese minitrucks—particularly from Datsun and on the West Coast—so it partnered with Toyo Kogyo, i.e., Mazda, to build the compact Ford Courier pickup for 1972. The little hauler was a thinly disguised Mazda B1600 with a Ford-inspired grille treatment and some new badges. Power came from a 110-cu.in./1,800-cc OHC four-cylinder rated at 75 hp, which could be paired with a four-speed manual, a three-speed automatic, or later, a five-speed manual. The little truck tipped the scales at a feathery 2,500 pounds, yet Ford claimed a 1,400-pound payload capacity—including driver and passenger, of course. This isn’t just a history lesson: Ford will return to the compact-truck market in the near future. This new pickup will be unibody-based, like the Hyundai Santa Cruz, and called Maverick.

​

1941 PICKUP WITH FOUR-CYLINDER

Flathead V-8s are prevalent in prewar Ford pickups today but, in ’41, a couple of inline alternatives were on the menu: a 226-cu.in. six and a plucky 120-cu.in four-cylinder. The four was adapted from the N-series tractors and offered as a more miserly alternative for light-delivery duty. The L-head from the 9N had a bore of 3.18 inches and shared its 3.75-inch stroke with the 221 and 239 flathead V-8s. Spark was fired out of a front-mounted distributor, while a single-barrel updraft carburetor provided the mix. All in, with a low-grade-fuel friendly 6:1 compression ratio, the agricultural-turned-pickup engine was rated at 30 hp, though deep gear ratios gave it a boost it sorely needed around town. The four-cylinder trucks are uncommon today, as the few built likely had their original engines plucked to make way for a V-8 upgrade.

​

1937 PLATFORM STAKE

Stake-bodied trucks might not be beautiful but they are infinitely useful. In 1937, Ford whipped a little style on the traditional stake with a factory-offered bed, underscored by stylish rear fenders. We couldn’t track down production numbers for the new-for-’37 ½-ton stake, but we do know it was available on the Series 73 with the 136-cu.in., 60-hp flathead V-8. Or, like the truck pictured, as a Series 77 powered by the more potent 221-cu.in., 85-hp V-8. The styling of Ford light trucks was also new for 1937: there was a redesigned grille with horizontal bars and a new cab with a split windshield. Ford offered its trucks with either De Luxe or Standard appointments that year. Standard trucks made do with painted trim, while De Luxe rigs boasted a smattering of polished bits. Ford’s 6½-foot platform stake body stuck around as an available option on ½-ton trucks until 1968, when it was quietly dropped—though it was still available on larger haulers.

​

1933-’34 V-8 PICKUPS

We could think of no better way to illustrate the staying power of Ford’s first V-8-powered haulers than by showing this 1933 edition, driven by off-road motorcycle racing champion Jeff Fredette and his son Eric to a Great Race win in 2018. While Ford’s 221-cu.in. V-8 made its debut in 1932, many of the trucks sold that year were four-cylinder powered, as 1933 was the first full year for the eight-cylinder. The styling of the 1932-’34 pickups echoed the look of Ford’s passenger cars and rode on the same chassis. The ’32 truck had a shorter 106-inch wheelbase than the 1933-’34’s, which measured 112 inches. The roadster cab was produced all three years, but edged out of the lineup in ’34 when a scant 347 were built. So many of these trucks were hot rodded in the decades since that it’s difficult to find a stock-appearing example today—much less one driven in cross-country adventures by a father/son team.

​

The Origin Story (1925–1947)

Henry Ford changed the world with the Model T in 1908, and more importantly, the manufacturing process used to churn out inexpensive cars to put America on four wheels. The Model T truck arrived in 1917, using the same engine and front passenger area but with a stronger frame that could support a 1-ton payload and any number of coachbuilt pick-bed configurations. It sold well enough at $600 a piece until Ford decided it should manufacture the truck complete with a pickup-bed itself, and the first factory-assembled Ford pickup trucks emerged in 1925. By 1928 Ford had built and sold over one million Model T trucks and then built the Model AA and BB trucks with similar success.

In 1935 Ford introduced the Model 50 pickup based on the styling of its cars at the time. You could buy the Model 50 with any engine you wanted, as long as it was a Ford flathead V8. By the time WWII came around, when production was halted to help in the battle against the Axis powers, Ford had built and sold over four million units of the Model 50 pickup.

Enter The F-Series (1948–1952)

In the aftermath of the war, Ford started to work on the F-Series Bonus Built trucks. It was the start of a strategy to build a range of trucks to cover as many users as possible in post-war life. There were four basic models starting with the F1 that covered basic pickups, a school bus chassis, then medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks topping out with the cab-over F8. Between 1950 and1954 the aesthetic design changed drastically before morphing into what we generally remember as the vintage design of Ford trucks.

The Next Generations (1952–1960)

As well as the new visual design, the second generation of the F-Series truck also brought the naming convention still in use today. The F1 became the F-150, the F2 and F3 became the F-250 and the F4 turned into the F-350. For the heavier duty and industrial models, Ford created the commercial-truck division. A suite of options also came along with the second generation such as an optional automatic transmission as well as a dome light, armrests and sun-visors. By the end of the second generation, the flathead V8 was replaced by an overhead valve V8 engine. For the third generation, Ford widened the bodywork and introduced the choice of FlareSide and StyleSide rear beds as well squarer styling that would go onto to define Ford's truck to this day.

Big Innovations (1960-1972)

The fourth-generation of F-Series trucks saw them get wider and sleeker as well as having a unibody design with the cab and the rear box built as one piece. After rumors emerged that overloading the truck bed caused the doors to jam shut, the unibody trucks were dropped in 1963.

In 1965 though, Ford introduced its game-changing Twin I-Beam suspension with coil springs for rear-wheel drive trucks. That allowed Ford to keep the solid axle format front and rear with its take on the swing axle concept that allows the opposing wheels to move independently. The fourth generation also introduced the factory-built four-door crew cab in 1965 as a special order and the introduction of the Ranger trim level at the top of the line.