Photo: Jimherren/Bring a Trailer
After the war, Ford took a bold stance when it developed the F-Series, also known as the Bonus-Built. Unlike before, the new pickup trucks were built upon a unique chassis designed specifically for truck use. The new truck marked Ford’s entry into the medium and heavy-duty truck segment. A legend was born.
The Ford F-Series pickup trucks were introduced in 1947, replacing the aging truck designs dating back to 1941. Ford was the first American carmaker to launch a completely new product after the war. The F-Series trucks had a new body and chassis, built with extra strength to allow sharing with Ford’s medium-duty lineup. The F-Series also marked the introduction of the double-acting shock absorbers to the pickup truck market.
A lot of engineering and investment was put into developing the truck’s cabin. Ford spent one million dollars for research and retooling, which made the new cab to be mocked as the “Million-Dollar Cab.” It was roomier than everything built before and excelled in comfort features. The bench seats were adjustable fore, aft, and rake. The cabin was isolated from the chassis using bushing at the front and torsion links at the rear to minimize vibrations and noise.
The F-1 was the half-ton truck of the series, and it was available both as a panel truck and a pickup truck. The latter is proudly represented by this 1949 example offered in great shape on Bring a Trailer. Finished in black over brown, this looks incredibly fit for the job. Small details like the red wheels or the chrome bumpers are not historically correct (the 1949 model year featured body-matching wheels), but it looks fantastic nevertheless.
The truck was refurbished during previous ownership and was acquired by the seller in 2014. They didn’t waste any time and proceeded with improvements like repairing the carburetor and machining the brake drums. The differential bolt, front brake shoes, and fuel tank were also replaced.
Although not the top model in its lineup, this F-1 impresses with a heater/defroster and crank windows, unusual for a truck of the ’40s. The painted dashboard houses a 100-mph (161 kph) speedometer and gauges for fuel level, coolant temperature, oil pressure, and battery charge. Although the true mileage is unknown, the five-digit odometer shows 79k miles (127k kilometers).
This Ford F-1 truck is offered on Bring a Trailer, and the highest bid at the time of writing is $22,500. We’re sure this well-preserved unit will fetch a lot more than that, considering there are still two days left to place a bid.
A lot of engineering and investment was put into developing the truck’s cabin. Ford spent one million dollars for research and retooling, which made the new cab to be mocked as the “Million-Dollar Cab.” It was roomier than everything built before and excelled in comfort features. The bench seats were adjustable fore, aft, and rake. The cabin was isolated from the chassis using bushing at the front and torsion links at the rear to minimize vibrations and noise.
The F-1 was the half-ton truck of the series, and it was available both as a panel truck and a pickup truck. The latter is proudly represented by this 1949 example offered in great shape on Bring a Trailer. Finished in black over brown, this looks incredibly fit for the job. Small details like the red wheels or the chrome bumpers are not historically correct (the 1949 model year featured body-matching wheels), but it looks fantastic nevertheless.
The truck was refurbished during previous ownership and was acquired by the seller in 2014. They didn’t waste any time and proceeded with improvements like repairing the carburetor and machining the brake drums. The differential bolt, front brake shoes, and fuel tank were also replaced.
Although not the top model in its lineup, this F-1 impresses with a heater/defroster and crank windows, unusual for a truck of the ’40s. The painted dashboard houses a 100-mph (161 kph) speedometer and gauges for fuel level, coolant temperature, oil pressure, and battery charge. Although the true mileage is unknown, the five-digit odometer shows 79k miles (127k kilometers).
This Ford F-1 truck is offered on Bring a Trailer, and the highest bid at the time of writing is $22,500. We’re sure this well-preserved unit will fetch a lot more than that, considering there are still two days left to place a bid.
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