Ford Motor Companygot its start in much the same manner as most other automobile manufacturers of the former 1900s : A mechanical sensation join forces with financial investors to build their own version of the American aspiration . What made Ford different from most others was design and impudent management that has allowed the companionship to outlive for more than 100 years .
A freshman car industry already existed at the break of the day of the twentieth century , but these other " horseless carriages " were in the main the domain of the rich . Henry Ford and Ford Company changed all that with the Model T. But it was n’t just the car itself that brought personal conveyance to the hoi polloi ; it was a combination of well direction , a solid sales organization , and the miracle of aggregated production .
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While Ford Motor Company got its start building automobiles , an interest in commercial-grade vehicles was evident almost from the beginning . Though early attempts at building truck met with limited succeeder , it was recognized that they were a useful good just waiting for the market place to realize it .
The first of these trucks appear in 1905 , just two eld after Ford ’s first motorcar . It was fitted with a box-shaped cargo body behind the driver ’s seat , and while a useful transportation , the Delivery Car was root for from the market after just one yr due to dull sales . A similar vehicle was introduced in 1912 on the Model T chassis , but it did n’t just coiffe the world afire , either .
By this clock time , various types of truck - type body were tender by outside suppliers for the Model T chassis , include everything from pickup seam to fire setup . But to most historians , the chronicle of Ford trucks begins with the Model TT of 1917 .
Though based on Model T mechanicals , the TT was a one - ton - rated truck . It behave unique features – such as a strapping frame , worm - gear derivative , and solid - synthetic rubber rear tires – all aimed at providing a much higher freight capacity than the light - responsibility Model T build . It came only as a form with cab at first , with payload bodies being supply by outside companies ; not until 1924 did Ford volunteer it with the Express body , basically a pickup bed . Unlike old commercial-grade - fomite attempts , it was a potent vendor from day one .
Nineteen seventeen also brought another Ford workhorse : the Fordson tractor . Henry Ford had grown up on a farm and thus knew the rigors of the barter , and the Fordson was an attempt to do for rural areas what the Model T did for urban unity . And that it did ; within months of go on sale , it became the best - selling tractor in the country . Because the Fordson impart so much to the troupe ’s other success and often share technology with its road - going buddy , these tractors have also been give vulnerability in Ford Truck Chronicle .
From there , Ford expanded into heavier - duty trucks : first the 11/2 - ton Model AA of 1928 , then to bigger trailer truck that were rated at up to three gross ton by the late Forties . In the ensuing twelvemonth , Ford exposit its lineup to let in motortruck in the eminent weight class , and all – from light - duty through medium - obligation to heavy - tariff .
Ford contributed mightily to the war effort during World War II , the company ’s vast resources being promise upon to progress a wide range of material used on land , ocean , and air . Yet unlike some initiative , Ford Motor Company did not emerge from the war on a stiff fiscal footing . In fact , it was near collapse when Henry Ford II – the beginner ’s grandson – took over , and , along with a wisely choose cell of associate , brought the companionship back .
One of the vehicle that serve the turnaround was Ford ’s first all - fresh postwar motortruck . Arriving for 1948 – a year in advance of Ford ’s first new postwar machine – it was a pick-me-up that would go on to become a classic : the F - Series .
ab initio called the F-1 in popular 1/2 - ton form , the identification was alter in 1953 by adding " 00 " to the end of the model name . Thus the F-1 became the F-100 , and this terminology continues to point F - Series framework to this solar day .
In the colorful history of the F - Series , two landmark years stand out , both quite unrecognised at the sentence . It was in 1978 that the F-150 begin its unbroken stripe as the nation ’s well - selling full - size cartridge , and in 1983 that it began its uninterrupted run as the nation ’s well - selling fomite of any character .
Though it ’s the F - Series pickup for which Ford is probably well known , the fellowship has built a broad variety of vehicles over the class that fall under the class of " truck . " Besides the aforementioned medium- and heavy - obligation haulers , Ford has bring forth cargo - orientate Panel and Sedan Delivery beach waggon , the innovative car / tone arm Ranchero , full - size of it rider and cargo van , and the currently pop crop of minivan and SUVs . All flirt an important persona in Ford ’s long story , and all can be witness in Ford Truck Chronicle .
The beginning of Ford ’s second hundred years has been marked by unexampled challenge and a host of new product to meet them , a cycle that has been repeated many meter in its story . If the past is any reading , Ford Motor Company will fight its path back and stay on to fulfill the aspiration that start out it more than a century ago . We do n’t think Henry would want it any other way .
The links below will let you search the world of Ford trucks . View heaps of photos and read about some of America ’s favourite trucks .