A Look Back at the Model T Runabout with Pickup Body

In the beginning

Ford trucks have been the best-selling truck in America since as long as I can remember. In fact, according to a CNN report in January, the F-150 is America’s best-selling truck for the 40 consecutive years since its launch. They have sold 26 million vehicles since the line came out in 1977. That means they sold enough trucks to circle the earth more than three times. But the F-150 didn’t materialize out of thin air. Its history began long before the executives at Ford Motor Company hatched the F-100 back in 1977 and then transformed it into the F-150 seven years later.

In fact, it’s been 92 years since Ford Motor Company unveiled its first factory produced pickup truck. It was officially called the Ford Model T Runabout with Pickup Body and it cost all of $281 dollars which due to inflation equates to $3,922 today. This new Ford pickup was tiny compared to today’s F-150s and Super Duties. It carried an all-steel bed that was 56 inches long, 40 inches wide, and 13 inches high. Each side of the bed had holes to insert stakes for additional side panels, and the tailgate was adjustable. The one-ton Ford Model TT pickup, which was originally introduced in 1918, offered an 8-foot long Express Body for those who needed a longer bed.

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Improvements and extras

Clearly, Ford was onto something because, in its first year alone, they sold 33,800 of them. Regardless, they made changes for year two.  The redesign included changes to the cowl panel, hood, fenders, and running board. They moved the headlights from either side of the radiator to the front fenders and added an opening on the driver’s side for a door. Ford also added some new features, including g an electric starter, battery, and demountable tires. Naturally, these enhancements lead to an enhanced price of $366, and if you wanted wide, large-volume, low-pressure “balloon” tires, they were available at an added cost of $15.

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Black or green and nothing else

The Ford Model T came in two colors: black or green. If you ordered black, the entire vehicle was painted black. If you ordered green, the fenders and radiator shells were painted black. Customers could purchase the pickup box (what we call a “bed” today) separately for $25. The customer would literally bolt the box to the chassis and their Model T was now a Model T pickup. Ford produced 75,000 pickup boxes and 34,000 of the pickup vehicles in 1926.

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Ford trucks and Coca-Cola

Soon automobiles modified to carry goods came into use by the various distributors. Ford and Coca-Cola have had a long association and the photos they have supplied begin with the use of the Model “T” Ford: On the left above can be seen a 1912 Ford Torpedo Roadster on a lengthened wheelbase, with heavy-duty demountable rim wheels and a special rear section built for carrying the product. In the middle above can be seen an early twenties Ford fitted with a twenty-four case delivery body in France. As soon as purpose-built light and medium duty trucks came on the market, bottlers and distributors turned to them to deliver the product.

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From Model T to Model A

For the 1928 model year, the brand new Model A pickup was the only option available to customers, and at first, they could only get the Open Cab style. The Model A featured a newly styled body provided to Ford by Briggs Manufacturing. It also used a soft top that was non-retractable that used side curtains of canvas and mica to keep out the elements. Though these cabs were new, the pickup boxes used were carry-over from the Model T. These trucks didn't just look new, they were new. They featured a new body, new engine, new transmission, new frames and new wheels. Their new 4 cylinder engines displaced some 200 cubic inches and produced some 40 horsepower at 2200 RPM. Backing up these new engines were new three-speed manual transmissions that used a standard "H" shifting pattern. There were a lot easier to use than the three pedal planetary transmissions that were used in all the Model T's.

Little did Henry Ford know that 50 years later, his beloved little pickup would evolve into America's top truck, 40 years in a row!

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