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economist suntribune wheels thursday sept 12 2002 17 psst do you want to get the scoop on one of the best pickup lines of all time one thafs guaran teed to get you noticed no were not talking about some witty phrase thatll guarantee lure of the opposite sex were talking about the fseries line of ford pickup trucks an icon of north american culture work ethic and rough- andtough play for nearly a quarter of a century ford has been selling more pickup trucks than anyone in the universe not dodge not gmc and not chevrolet although you could make a case if you combined all of gms truck nameplates overall truck sales including sportutility vehicles vans minivans and pickups now exceeds passenger cars in north america with fullsize pickups making up the sin gle largest segment of that market trucks have been part of the automotive landscape since people began converting bicycle and metalworks shops into places that hammered out crude fourwheeled instruments of travel originally the truck was built as a working mans vehi cle and an absolute necessity for rural life nothing fancy they were rugged workhorses built to last forget about comfort pickup trucks were made for prowling the back 40 in search of stray cattle they were made for hauling hay bales on dusty prairie roads and for fix ing fences just like you see in todays tv commercials that all began to evolve with growth of commuter cities and urbanization following the second world war suddenly it wasnt just cowboys constructions workers and farmers who were driving pickups but doctors and lawyers city slickers urban cowboys with new horses once pickups began to appeal to a wider crosssection of the motoring public it wasnt long before manufacturers began applying car styling and comfort to them in fords words to make them drive like a car work like a truck today pickup trucks are bigger faster and certainly more luxurious many offer four doors and theyre as likely to be hauling family members as loads of drywall and no one has been able to ride the winds of change or change the direction they blow better than ford which introduced its first factoryassembled pickup in 1925 the first fseries truck made its debut in 1948 as the f- 1 the same year ed sullivan first appeared on a new gizmo called the tv and the cleveland indians won their last world series it would become the most successful vehicle line in north american history and the only vehicle car or truck listed by money magazine at the close of the 20th centu ry among the 99 things that we make best the f1 was followed by the f1 00 in 1 953 marking the companys 50th anniversary the f1 50 arrived 1984 in 1995 the fseries became the most popular vehicle nameplate worldwide when it surpassed the volkswagen beetle in sales to keeps things fresh the ford boys bring out a new f- series design the last one was in 1 996 every decade or so in between major remakes the company creates specialty vehicles such as the current harleydavidson model and svt lightning what drives the f1 50s popularity today is that it can be built to suit just about any need or taste thanks largely to ford the pickup has come of age and been transformed into a doanythingforanyone vehicle in fact the combinations border on the infinite if you want to be noticed these vehicles will do it guar anteed where will the next fseries lead us it seems hard to image considering the leaps and bounds the brand has made even in the last 1 0 years from its humble beginnings as a workonly vehicle to becoming a dominant force on the automotive landscape as long as the fseries stays adaptable and in touch with north american values it cant fail oh and as for those other pickup lines well youre on your own with them otto stein specializes in classic cars as a writer with wheelbase communications a worldwide supplier of automobile news reviews and features a message from thewaramd id to order 0 spot the donged video or the new playsafe interodke drom visit our web site ot 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