The first factory-assembled pickup debuted in 1925 and sold for $281.
Henry Ford billed it as the "Ford Model T Runabout with Pickup Body."
The 34,000 built that first year featured a cargo box, adjustable
tailgate, four stake pockets and heavy-duty rear springs.
In 1928, the Model A replaced Model T - becoming the first closed-cab
pickup and sporting innovations like a safety glass windshield, roll-up
side windows and three-speed transmission. It was powered by a
four-cylinder, L-head engine capable of 40 horsepower.
1931 was the first year for a factory-built Chevrolet pickup, known as
the "Independence Series".
In 1932, the 65-horsepower Ford flathead V8 engine was offered as an
option in the truck. By 1936, Ford had already produced 3 million
trucks and led the industry in sales.
For 1933, a vehicle debuted in Australia known as the utility or "ute".
During the great depression, money was very tight. Farmers could not
afford both a car for their families and a truck for their farms. Banks
would not lend money to farmers to buy a luxury like a car, but would
lend money to a working vehicle like a truck. So a farmer (or his wife)
wrote a letter to the managing director of the ford car company stating:
"Why don't you build people like me a vehicle in which I can take my
family to church on Sunday, and my pigs to town on Monday?"
The Body designer at Ford Australia, Lewis Bandt designed the first
ute. He married the front of the car with the back of a truck. It was
called a coupe utility- coupe, because it was designed to carry two
people, and utility because the farmer could use the back section to
carry stock or other things.
This Australian-made utility was the first to offer a fully-sealed
passenger compartment, made of metal. It was based on the front of the
new Ford V-8 sedan. It had metal doors, a metal roof and windows made
of glass.The cargo section, the side panels and the rear of the cab
were all pressed from a single piece of metal.The cargo section was
totally separate, and could be covered with a special piece of canvas,
if required. The suspension had been specially designed to suit the car.
By October 1933, Ford Australia had built two prototypes of the
utility. They were immediantly sent to farms. The banks would lend the
farmers money to buy them. because they were a work vehicle- thanks to
the back section, which could carry a load of half a ton. In 1935,
Bandt took two of his coupe utilities to America and showed them to
Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company. Mr. Ford called them
"kangaroo chasers". In most of America it was called a "pick-up truck"-
because it was like a small truck, and they could pick up loads with
it. The Texans called them "rancheros" because they used them on their
ranches. The utility was a worldwide success.
