The Pickup Truck From Farm Wagon to Muscle Truck |
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Nick Messe
June 6, 2010
Nick Messe
http://www.theleadfrog.com
The pickup truck is as American as apple pie, the Lone Ranger and Tonto. We associate these trucks with the Old West, American family values, and southern states like Texas. Owners of pickup trucks are usually proud of their vehicles and what they stand for. It's the vehicle of a hard working American.
The pickup truck of today comes in all imaginable makes and models, shapes and sizes. It is found on most any job site, in anyone's garage. The versatility of the pickup truck comes first and foremost from its simple utility. It is as fundamental an innovation to the automobile as the wheel.
And like the invention of the wheel, the pickup truck comes from humble beginnings. Before the days of Ford's Model T and internal combustion engines, there was real horse power. That is, carriages driven by teams of horses. Prior to the introduction of horseless carriages, farmers and industrial workers relied on horse driven wagons to carry materials around a worksite.
With the debut of the Model T in 1908 however, farmers quickly found ways to modify the vehicle, adding a makeshift cargo bed to the back. Motorized vehicles cut down significantly on transportation costs for farmers and industrial workers. Finally, over a decade later, Ford introduced the first proper factory-made pickup truck, which was called the Ford Model T Runabout with Pickup Body. This vehicle was a slight modification to the Model T and included a cargo bed in the rear and an adjustable tailgate, and sold for $281.
Over the years many variations on the pickup truck were introduced including compact pickups which are the most widely used form of pickup trucks worldwide. Made popular in America during the 1960s, the compact pickup was sold primarily by the Japanese manufacturers Nissan and Toyota. A popular, larger pickup truck, the full-size pickup is used for moving heavy loads or personal use. The American full-size pickup is typically sold for passenger travel, and is built by Ford, GMC, Chrysler, Chevrolet, and more recently,Toyota.
Introduced in 1987 with the Dodge Dakota, mid-size to large pickups are very popular in the United States. These trucks feature large cargo beds, but are not as large as full-size pickups. The most powerful pickups in the world, better known as muscle trucks, are built for high performance and hauling capability. Some manufacturers of these heavy duty trucks are Dodge, Holden, Ford, and General Motors.
A sports utility truck, or SUT, gets its name for its similarity to other sports utility vehicles. Depending on the vehicle, it is built for light to heavy loads. If you're in the market for a used vehicle, why not consider the many advantages of driving a truck. Whether you live in the city or the country, a truck can be stylish as well as a real work horse. Only you don't have to feed it.
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