09 November 2018

Pick-em-ups

In my mid-teens my best friend's Dad had a '53 Ford F-100 pickup truck. It was all black and had a 239 cubic inch Flathead V-8 engine and a "three on the tree" standard transmission. It was simple and sorta elegantly classic.
I lusted after it.


We are in Destin. A couple we have met here for several years showed up again last week in their new Chevy Silverado pickup. It's beautiful. It's all bling and chrome.
It is NOT simple, or elegantly classic. What it IS, is HUGE.

My mind went back to friend Steve's Dad's sweet '53 F-100...
Parked next to this Silverado it would look like a compact.
And, I think, in most circumstances it would draw more admirers.
Is bigger ALWAYS better?

3 comments:

Ed Bonderenka said...

I'm still driving my 2001 Ranger.
I love it.
I would buy a new one just like it.
I doubt I'll by a new Ranger with all the plastic glued to the sides like a Jap anime vehicle.

Old NFO said...

Nope... Neighbor has a 49 Ford pickup I'm lusting after... sigh

ASM826 said...

I'm driving a Nissan Frontier. The wheelbase on that Ford is 110 inches, the Frontier is 126 inches. The Ford weighs 3,100 lbs. The Frontier weighs 3,800 lbs. Modern "full-size" pickups are enormous. The Ford had a 115 hp in-line 6 cylinder motor, the Frontier has a 260 hp V-6. I can't find anything on the actual towing capacity of the Ford, the Frontier is rated for a 6,500 lb trailer.

My supposed "compact" is bigger, heavier, and more powerful than the F100, and not the the early 50's model. It outweighs and outperforms all the F100 trucks right up to 1977. The new "full-size" pickups are really a completely different class of truck.