Ford celebrates a century writing truck history

1925 Model T Runabout

One hundred years ago, on July 27, 1917, Ford Motor Company set off on an adventure that would change the automotive industry forever. It began with the Model TT, a truck based on the Model T car, and grew, over the course of a century, into one of the world’s best-selling truck brands.
Over the years, Ford trucks have been used by farmers, families, soldiers, contractors, racing drivers, and adventure seekers.
Let’s take a look back through Ford’s history: The year was 1917, and nine years on from the release of the Model T, customer demand was for a vehicle that was tougher and more capable than anything that had gone before. Up stepped the Model TT.
Originally sold as a chassis only, with buyers supplying their own body, Ford went on to sell almost 1.3 million TTs until it was replaced in 1928 by the Model A and AA pickup, the latter one of the earliest members of the Ford dynasty of pickup trucks.
A few years later, the Ford Motor Company of Australia received a letter from a farmer’s wife asking for a vehicle that she and her husband could take to town on weekends, but which could also carry a load of animals to market on Monday. And so came the Ford coupe-utility — the ute — in 1934.
“With vehicles such as the early utes and pickups, Ford began changing the perception of trucks,” said Robert Kreipke, Ford’s corporate historian. “Whereas at one time trucks were considered purely work tools, Ford began to evolve them into a much more balanced vehicle for both work and recreational use.”
“These trucks provided inspiration for the later development of vehicles such as the F-Series and Ranger, which have been hugely successful across diverse markets all over the world,” said Kreipke.
In the aftermath of World War II, Ford refocused its attention on North American truck design, and 1948 saw the introduction of the company’s first purpose-built truck platform.
The F-150 SVT Raptor was launched in 2009.
Ford introduced the new 2017 F-150 Raptor to the Middle East this year. Powered by a new, high-output 3.5-liter EcoBoost engine, the Raptor claims to be tougher and smarter.