Celebrating a century of innovation. #FordTrucks pic.twitter.com/GYq3qaCmHM
— Ford Trucks (@FordTrucks) July 27, 2017
Forty years ago, in 1977, the Ford F-150 became the best-selling truck in America, and it has been ever since. But let's go even further back than that.
The success of the F-Series in the disco-age was built upon decades of truck-building experiencing going back to the age of ragtime, jazz, and vaudeville.
Ford's very first truck, the Model TT, rolled off the line 100 years ago this week on July 27, 1917.
By the time Betty Boop was boop-boop-a-dooping in the early '30s, Ford had sold over 1.3 million trucks.
In World War II, Ford Motor Company shifted gears to help with the war effort, but by 1948, civilian trucks were being manufactured again, with many improvements based upon the capability of military trucks. It was during this time the first F-Series pickups were introduced.
Post-war, Ford continued to make F-Series trucks more powerful and more durable, but also began refining the vehicles to appeal to more suburban families, as many rural farmers began to move into the city.
By the time the F-150 went into production in 1975, it already had nearly six decades of engineering and manufacturing expertise behind it. No wonder it's still trusted by more drivers for work, fun, and family.