The video below got me thinking of one of my earliest memories of the Ford Super Duty. It wasn’t of it pulling a trailer or hauling a bed full of building supplies. I remember being in the back seat of an F-350 Lariat DRW 4X4 and hearing the dull roar of its 7.3-liter Power Stroke diesel. It was the early 2000s and my best friend’s dad was driving himself, his wife, my pal, and me from Central Texas up to Greeley, Colorado a few days after Christmas to visit family. Over the 900+ mile trip, the oil-burner up front didn’t miss a beat. Even without a heated seat underneath me, I was always comfortable. A small TV hooked up to a Playstation kept me and my friend entertained.
Taking families on trips in comfort and safety is one of the various jobs many Super Duty trucks have to perform. That won’t be any different for the 2017 models. Like the early Super Duty I rode in back in the days of W’s administration, they’ll be comfortable – just more so, thanks to available cooling and massaging front seats. They’ll also make it nearly impossible to be bored because of their modern infotainment features. The new Super Duty’s lighter body and available 48-gallon tank will make stops to fill up less frequent, freeing up time to drive to a vacation destination.
When a 2017 Super Duty hits the media fleet, I intend to stretch its legs on a trip from Austin to El Paso to not only take my gal to visit her family, but to test its real-world fuel economy. What’s the first faraway place you’ll take your 2017 to after you get it?
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.
