Ford has been within the truck enterprise for 108 years, however I feel it’s truthful to say that wasn’t Henry Ford’s thought.
Henry reportedly noticed clients modifying his Mannequin T vehicles to hold masses and commenced asking for a automobile that might carry extra weight. So he had the primary Ford truck constructed 9 years after the primary Mannequin T automobile. Appropriately referred to as the 1917 Ford Mannequin TT, the following truck was the Mannequin AA, primarily based on the Mannequin A automobile, and in 1935 Ford launched the Mannequin 50 pickup powered by the well-known Ford flathead V8 engine.
These had been work vans and nothing fancy till about 1940, when some automotive styling was used for a light-weight Ford pickup. After World Warfare II, Ford vans had been utterly restyled, beginning with the primary technology of F-Sequence vans (1948-1952), however they too had been simply work vans.
The 1956 Ford pickup was the final 12 months of the second technology (1953-1956) of Ford’s F-Sequence vans (there have now been 14 generations). Although it was the final 12 months of the second technology, there have been some important modifications. The cab was redesigned to incorporate a wraparound windshield and non-obligatory wraparound rear window, and electrical windshield wipers changed the vacuum-powered ones.
Tubeless tires and a 12-volt electrical system on the F-100 sequence had been commonplace. Security was changing into extra of a priority, so Ford supplied a deep-dish “Lifeguard” steering wheel as a normal choice, and seat belts had been additionally supplied. By 1956, Ford had dropped the well-known flathead V8 engine and supplied three variations of the bigger “Y” block overhead valve engine with horsepower up 167.
The usual transmission was a three-speed column-shifted synchronized guide model. The choices had been a three-speed transmission with overdrive, a four-speed guide transmission or a Ford-O-Matic three-speed automated transmission. Ford additionally supplied two inline six-cylinder engines.
Ford has had the best-selling pickup for the final 48 years, however there’s some dispute about Toyota’s declare of their RAV4 outselling Ford’s pickup in 2024 or if the RAV4 is even actually a in the identical class. In any case, Ford sells a bunch of pickup vans, and so they’ve been assembled in 11 completely different vegetation on this nation, together with one in San Jose, one in Lengthy Seaside. They’ve additionally been assembled in Canada.
The second technology was the beginning of creating the F-Sequence greater than only a work truck. The payload was elevated, and the suspension was redesigned. The cab was widened with the operating boards contained in the truck. The wheelbase was shortened 4 inches to 110 inches, leading to an improved turning radius, and the hood line was lowered. The mannequin designation was modified in order that the half-ton F-1 turned the F-100, F-2 turned the F-250 and so forth all through the road.
Walter Wallace, of Hayward, loves his 1956 Ford pickup truck and Ford vans typically. He purchased this subject’s featured automobile from a buddy in 1988 for $4,500. It was in fairly fine condition, however he didn’t just like the Thunderbird purple coloration, so he wished to get it painted. He approached a painter he knew who supplied to color the truck for $3,200. A bit of steep, Wallace thought. Every week later, the painter contacted Wallace and supplied to barter.
Not solely did Wallace get his truck painted an attractive blue for $1,800 however the painter additionally included the particular “old-school flames” on the hood. The proprietor is mechanically inclined and enjoys making his truck uniquely his. He has accomplished a lot of the work himself. Most original, I feel, is a CD participant mounted above the windshield that appears prefer it was factory-installed.
He has additionally put in a 1966 Ford Mustang 289-cubic-inch V8 engine together with a Ford automated transmission together with an armrest with cup holders, higher wheels, a tilt steering wheel from a 1968 Thunderbird, energy brakes, energy steering and, most just lately, air con.
Wallace has invested a further $30,000 in his truck however stated he believes the present market worth to be within the neighborhood of $60,000. The truck’s worth is an educational scenario, although, since his daughter, additionally a “car nut,” bought Daddy to agree she will be able to have it when he not needs it.
Have an fascinating automobile? E mail Dave at MOBopoly@yahoo.com. To learn extra of his columns or see extra photographs of this and different points’ autos, go to mercurynews.com/writer/david-krumboltz.
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