To show us how it made its 2017 Super Duty trucks the toughest, smartest, and most capable ones ever, Ford flew us up to Colorado last week so we could drive, tow, and off-road in them.
It started with a series of in-depth explorations of its stiffer, fully-boxed high-strength-steel frame, seven available visibility-enhancing cameras, and other features outside of Denver’s Mile High Stadium. The next morning, we picked a Power-Stroke-powered Ruby Red Metallic F-250 King Ranch 4X4 out of the assembled variety of media testers and headed out to the natural beauty of Eldorado Canyon State Park. After that, we pulled a 10,000-pound trailer and its contents behind an F-350 dually. We wrapped the day up by crawling across rocks, ascending and descending steep grades, and flooring it through muddy water in a Super Duty FX4 equipped with the more powerful 6.2-liter gas V8. You can see what we saw in the gallery below.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
