The Ford F-Series is a series of light-duty trucks marketed and manufactured by Ford since the 1948 model year. Slotted above the Ford Ranger in the Ford truck model range, the F-Series is marketed as a range of full-sized pickup trucks. Alongside the F-150 (introduced in 1975), the F-Series also includes the Super Duty series (introduced in 1999), which includes the heavier-duty F-250 through F-450 pickups, F-450/F-550 chassis cabs, and F-600/F-650/F-750 Class 6-8 commercial trucks. The most popular version of the model line is the F-150 pickup truck, currently in its 14th generation. From 1953 to 1985, the entry-level F-series pickup was the ½ ton F-100.
The F-Series trucks have been developed into a wide range of design configurations during their production run. Alongside medium-duty trucks and "Big Job" conventional trucks (the forerunners of the Ford L-series), the model line has been sold as a chassis-cab truck and a panel van (a predecessor of the Ford E-Series). The F-Series has also served as the basis for multiple full-sized Ford SUVs, including the Ford Bronco, Ford Expedition/Lincoln Navigator, and Ford Excursion. The F-Series has been marketed by its three North American brands, as Mercury sold the model line as the Mercury M-Series in Canada from 1948 to 1968; Lincoln sold the F-Series during the 2000s as the Lincoln Blackwood and the later Lincoln Mark LT.
Since 1977, the F-Series has remained the best-selling pickup truck line in the United States; it has been the highest-selling vehicle overall since 1981. The F-Series is the best-selling truck in Canada for over fifty years. As of the 2018 model year, the F-Series generated $41 billion in annual revenue for Ford. By January 2022, the F-Series models have been sold 40 million units.[8] Currently, Ford manufactures the F-Series in four facilities in the United States.
Ford F-Series (3rd gen) 1957-1960
The third-generation of the Ford F-Series are trucks that were produced by Ford from 1957 until 1960. Following its competitors at Dodge and General Motors, Ford widened the front bodywork to integrate the cab and front fenders together. Going a step further, the F-Series integrated the hood into the bodywork with a clamshell design; the feature would stay part of the F-Series for two decades. Although offered previously, the optional chrome grille was far more prominent than before. In the rear, two types of pickup boxes were offered, starting a new naming convention: the traditional separate-fender box was dubbed "Flareside", while "Styleside" boxes integrated the pickup bed, cab, and front fenders together. As before, Ford still offered a low-GVWR version of each model.
In May 1957, Ford discontinued building trucks at the Highland Park Ford Plant in Highland Park, Michigan. All light and medium trucks were transferred to 10 other plants in the USA. After 1969, Heavy-duty trucks (above F-350) and some light duty trucks were transferred to Kentucky Truck Assembly in Louisville, Kentucky. Third generation trucks were built in Brazil as the F-100, F-350, and F-600 from 1962 until 1971.
OHV sixes and V8s were the same ones as used in Ford cars of the era.
This was the last generation of the panel van. Ford would not offer a full-size van again until the 1968 introduction of the second generation E-Series.
Construction in Argentina
Third generation trucks were built in Argentina from 1959 to 1961 as the F-100 and F-600.
Source: Wikipedia