reportage covered the flying Helicar and
Aerocar concepts (August and December
1951), the prospect of atomic-powered
cars (April 1951), and the likely effect of a
nuclear blast on a car (August 1953).
Car culture coverage included loads
of customizing features. And we didn’t
just report on racing. We raced. New
York editor John Bentley finished fourth
in the Watkins Glen Grand Prix in a
Cunningham (January 1952), Detroit
editor Don MacDonald set a class record
in NASCAR’s “Flying Mile” at Daytona
Beach (May 1955), and we set two speed
records at Bonneville in 1959—tech editor
Chuck Nerpel in a streamlined formula
car, Wayne Thoms in a Borgward.
Ford spent the ’50s introducing
improvements like the Ford- O -Matic
transmission in 1953, tubeless tires and
optional power brakes in 1955, and the
first factory four-wheel-drive system in- (Earlier 4x4s were converted by
outside firms.) In 1953, F-100 nomencla-
ture was introduced (possibly inspired
by the F-100 Super Sabre jet fighter), and
in 1958 the Super Duty name appeared
on heavy-duty trucks, along with a new
534-cubic-inch V-8. For 1959 a new front
bumper design arrived and remained
unchanged for 20 years.
Over the next two decades, 0–60 testing
by MotorTrend and others fueled the
horsepower wars. We sponsored the
Motor Trend 500 NASCAR road race at
Riverside International Raceway from
1963 to 1971. During Eric Dahlquist’s
editorship, focus shifted toward pop
culture trends and leading-edge auto-
motive tech, including tests of potential
moon buggies (August 1970) and of the
latest radar detectors (August 1976). Our
circulation doubled in five years. Skidpad
testing arrived in December 1971, and our
fifth-wheel test gear began recording to a
computer in the late 1970s.
Ford introduced myriad special F-Series
models. The 1961 Camper Special was opti-
mized for slide-in pickup-bed campers;
1968’s Contractor Special and Farm
and Ranch Special added toolboxes and
heavier-duty suspensions; and the 1968
Trailer Special featured a trailer-brake
controller, heavy-duty radiator, trans-
mission cooler, and hitch. In 1965 Ford’s
Twin I-Beam front swing-arm suspension
replaced the solid axles that virtually all
pickups had been using, improving ride
comfort. A steady march upscale began
with the fancier Ranger trim in 1965, when
the four-door crew cab became available
on F-250 and F-350 models. Nine years
later the extended cab bowed on smaller
F-Series trucks. In 1975, a new model
with a 6,000-pound GVWR, conceived as
a catalytic-converter dodge, was dubbed
F-150. A year later Ford became America’s
best-selling truck. For good.
In the ’80s and ’90s MT instituted the
600-foot slalom maneuver (1985) and
switched to the Stalker Acceleration
Testing System (1995). This radar-gun-
and-laptop setup sped up our tests,
allowing us to measure 300 cars per year.
We also started a series of special interest
stories—car-versus-plane tests, top-speed
shootouts, etc.—and our Of The Year
programs expanded to recognize trucks
(1989) and SUVs (1999). Ford’s F-Series
has won our calipers six times, a number
no other full-size truck has topped.
Ford took the significant safety leap of
making rear anti-lock braking standard
on its trucks (1987) and also went big onTHEBASEF- 1 PICKUP
COSTABOUT$13,100 IN
2019 MONEY;TODAY’S
F-150 STARTSAT$2 9 ,7 50.64 MOTORTREND.COM SEPTEMBER 2019