Japanese manufacturers Datsun and Toyota changed the pickup culture in North America in the 1960s by introducing the compact pickup truck. In the 60s, pickup truck transmissions improved dramatically across-the-board as pickups were now designed to travel longer distances at a higher speed, while carrying a heavier load. Army in 1918 did the Dodge brothers develop a half-ton multipurpose truck, jumpstarting the category of light-duty trucks. Dodge’s original truck had a max payload of 1,000 pounds and was powered by a 35-horsepower, four-cylinder engine with a three-speed transmission. During this time, the first Chevy truck, the Model 490 (named after its sticker price, $490) went on sale with a paltry 21.7-horesepower, four-cylinder engine.
No longer strictly utilitarian workhorses, pickup trucks are now electrified and strut into the industry with eye-popping horsepower and near-instant torque. They come with features like Launch Control and Wide Open Watts that unleash whiplash-inducing acceleration. Because of this, the towing capability of those early model trucks is hard to pinpoint. The earliest reliable record dates to Ford’s brochures for the 1987 F-150, the first year of the eighth-generation workhorse. The F-150’s available V8 engine produced 185 horsepower and offered a maximum payload of 1,500 pounds.
Why is it called a pickup truck?
Today, many different vehicles are considered trucks, including garbage trucks, recycling trucks, dirt trucks, concrete trucks, etc. Most of them were just cars with a box or flat space on the back, and these early truck beds were sold separately. The cargo space made the vehicles much more useful for hauling items and made life easier for farmers, construction workers, and laborers. Ford was inspired to produce factory trucks after farmers and fieldhands modified the original Model Ts to use as work vehicles. They’re perfect work trucks for various jobs, and many people make them their everyday vehicles. Steel has always been the backbone of the pickup, but efficiency standards have forced automakers to experiment with metallurgy to reduce weight—without crippling strength.
The 1972 Dodge D200 Camper Special fit the bill with a slide-on camper body. Meanwhile, GMC catered to a new customer demographic looking to haul heavier loads and equipment in pickup trucks by introducing their first crew cab. GMC updated all models and improved interiors for passenger transport as well padded material was used in lieu of metal fittings along interior truck surfaces. Ford’s mass production of the pickup truck https://accounting-services.net/w-8-form-definition/ pushed other manufacturers to start producing their own models. Dodge and Chevy jumped into the fray and marketed their pickups in the 1930s in direct competition with Ford, expanding availability to more buyers. Once pickups were widely available from the factory and people no longer needed to build their own, companies like Marmon-Herrington innovated new aftermarket parts, including the first use of four-wheel drive.
Crew Cabs: Ford F-250
Pickup trucks were made for the same reason, though they usually have a lighter load and are used for more general purposes. It gave people a lot of freedom regarding their vehicles and what parts they wanted to add on or leave off. Pickup truck popularity increased in Japan until the 1990s when SUV preference took over. Toyota didn’t manufacture on the US pickup market until 1965 with the Toyota Stout. The US government halted the production of consumer trucks during World War II.
Extended or super cab pickups add an extra space behind the main seat, sometimes including smaller jump seats which can fold out of the way to create more storage space. The first extended cab truck in the United States was called the Club Cab and was introduced by Chrysler in 1973 on Dodge pickup trucks. The now defunct International Harvester introduced the History of the Pickup Truck first crew-cab pickup, the Travelette, in 1957. A three-door design with a full back seat and room for six, the Travelette didn’t sprout a fourth door until 1961. Dodge joined the party in 1961, although its earliest examples were converted by an outside contractor. Production moved in-house in 1964, and Ford brought out its own four-door pickup a year later.
Forward-Control Pickups: 1964 Ford Econoline
That brought a 365-hp 426-cubic-inch “Wedge” V-8, the legendary precursor to the Hemi and a legitimate terror on the drag strip in its own right. It makes no mention of upgraded brakes, however, which may be part of the reason these trucks are so rare. It would be hard to argue that any type of vehicle is more uniquely American than the pickup truck. America’s love affair with the pickup has blossomed to the point where the bestselling vehicle in the U.S. is the Ford pickup, and it’s been that way for 35 years.