1955 Ford F-100

When the Tools Become the Trade.

- Colin Comer

Yes, I know this is not Road & Truck magazine, yet I think we can all agree there is something undeniably special about vintage trucks. Although they were never fast or exciting when new, never the stuff of kids’ dreams, they were always there, in the background of life. Transporting, hauling, towing, delivering. Working. Long before trucks became leather-lined status symbols with designations like “Denali” or “King Ranch,” real trucks endeared themselves as faithful, purposeful companions.

Now these humble trucks have become covetable. Pickups rolled off assembly lines by the millions, but most were run hard and put away wet, just like the horses they replaced. So finding a good vintage truck today is, in many cases, harder than finding good cars of the same era, even though production numbers would lead you to think otherwise.

Among the most desirable of vintage trucks are the 1953–56 Ford F-100s. Effies, as they’re called, were the evolution of Ford’s postwar F-1 Bonus Built half-ton trucks. Introduced for Ford’s golden anniversary in 1953, F-100s were groundbreaking not for what they could haul in their beds but for how they hauled what was in front—people. They were the first trucks designed with ergonomics in mind. Ford invested millions to create its “Driverized” cab, going so far as to use a lifesize mannequin known as the Measuring Man. It wasn’t just marketing hype; this was a truck with comfort on par with passenger cars of the day. The F-100 also had a much larger greenhouse than its predecessor and a stylish exterior. A milestone vehicle if there ever was one.