Photo: GAA Classic Cars
There is probably no better advertising a vehicle can get than to be associated with racing. This is why for decades American carmakers have been suckers for supplying pace cars for the most important races in the calendar.
Generally speaking, when you’re thinking about Indianapolis pace cars, the names Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro, or Chevrolet Corvette come into mind. But there are official trucks too, and the F-150 is a fine representative of the breed.
Used primarily as workhorses during the races, these machines generally did not come with anything spectacular about them, not even graphics. And that was a waste of perfectly good advertising opportunities, carmakers thought.
It all started with GMC in the early 1970s, who designed a special package for the Indy 500 Official truck. Ford followed suit, and by the end of the decade, this particular breed moved off the track and onto public roads.
The F-150 we have here is one of those special trucks designed by Ford as a means to tap into the potential of its association with Indianapolis. It wears what the Blue Oval called at the time the Indianapolis Speedway Official Truck Package, a set of upgrades meant to make the model stand out from the rest of the pack.
The extras were offered for most of the F-Series variants available at the time, from the F-150 2WD to the F-350 wrecker. Not that many were made, and that makes them, of course, special.
The one we have here is an F-150 4x4 of which 583 were made in this configuration. It is based on a Ranger, and it comes with special decals, chrome body elements, and the original wheels and tires. Under the hood the pickup hides a 400ci (6.5-liter) engine tied to an automatic transmission.
The truck is on the list of vehicles going under the GAA Classic Cars hammer in February. There is no word on how much it is expected to fetch.
Used primarily as workhorses during the races, these machines generally did not come with anything spectacular about them, not even graphics. And that was a waste of perfectly good advertising opportunities, carmakers thought.
It all started with GMC in the early 1970s, who designed a special package for the Indy 500 Official truck. Ford followed suit, and by the end of the decade, this particular breed moved off the track and onto public roads.
The F-150 we have here is one of those special trucks designed by Ford as a means to tap into the potential of its association with Indianapolis. It wears what the Blue Oval called at the time the Indianapolis Speedway Official Truck Package, a set of upgrades meant to make the model stand out from the rest of the pack.
The extras were offered for most of the F-Series variants available at the time, from the F-150 2WD to the F-350 wrecker. Not that many were made, and that makes them, of course, special.
The one we have here is an F-150 4x4 of which 583 were made in this configuration. It is based on a Ranger, and it comes with special decals, chrome body elements, and the original wheels and tires. Under the hood the pickup hides a 400ci (6.5-liter) engine tied to an automatic transmission.
The truck is on the list of vehicles going under the GAA Classic Cars hammer in February. There is no word on how much it is expected to fetch.
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