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![Century of Ford trucks]()
Ford's pickup trucks have been the best-selling vehicles in America for the past 40 years, but it's been building them a lot longer than that.![Model TT]()
It wasn't long after its launch in 1913 that people started turning the Model T into a pickup, but on July 27 1917 Ford introduced a version specifically engineered for the purpose: The Model TT. Initially sold only as a cab chassis, the Model TT had a beefed up frame capable of carrying one ton and cost $600, about $12,000 in today's money.![Model AA]()
Ford knew it had a good thing going, so when it replaced the Model T with the Model A it also introduced the Model AA truck, which was rated at 1.5-tons and had a four-cylinder engine with a whopping 40 hp.![Model 50]()
Ford's truck started to become even more distinctive from its cars in 1935, and more powerful with the adpotion of its new Flathead V8 engine.![F-1]()
The first true F-Series went on sale in 1948 and post-war America couldn't get enough of them. Since then Ford has sold over 40 million F-Series trucks, making it the best-selling American vehicle of all time.![F-100]()
The second-generation F-Series arrived in 1953 with a new name, F-100, and its first 3-speed automatic transmission. Today, the F-150 is avaialble with a 10-speed, and you can't even buy one with a manual. In 1954 it switched from the tried and true flathead V8 to the overhead valve V8 that'd been used in Ford cars since 1952.![1965 F-Series]()
In 1965 Ford added a revolutionary Twin I-Beam independent front suspension to its rear-wheel-drive pickups to improve their ride and handling, making them even more suitable for everyday use. Fifteen years later 4x4s would follow suit with an idependent front suspension.![F-150]()
Ford added the F-150 model in 1975 and a year later the F-Series became the best-selling truck in America. In 1980 it would become the best selling vehicle of all, and has been ever since.![F-150 SVT Lightning]()
Performance pickups are common these days, but the 1993 F-150 SVT Lightning was Ford's first. The street-tuned machine was developed with input from F1 legend Jackie Stewart and powered by a then-impressive 240 hp 5.8-liter V8. (The least-powerful V6 today has 282 hp.)![10th-generation F-150]()
As more and more buyers started to use their trucks for personal use, Ford rolled out the most car-like version yet in 1997 with a comfortable cabin and aerodynamic body.![Aluminum F-150]()
Ford went all-in with its most important vehicle in 2015 when it swtiched the light duty F-150 to a radical, lightweight all-aluminum body. Super Duty models would follow in 2017.![F-150 Raptor]()
It's a safe bet that Henry Ford never imagined a vehicle like the F-150 Raptor, but a cenutry after that first Model TT was built you can buy a Ford pickup with a 450 hp twin-turbocharged V6 that can fly.Ford pickup turns 100
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- Ford pickup turns 100
