1950 Ford F-1 Pickup
Ford’s all-new trucks for 1948 were redesigned to be improved and totally different than any truck before it. The new F-Series trucks were not only stylish, but also relatively comfortable and easy to drive. The public took note, making the new, modern F-Series pickups a sales success immediately upon their availability in January of 1948.
While Ford put most of its postwar resources into the redesign of its passenger cars, the company still poured money into the development and production of the 1948 truck line to make it as revolutionary as it was. It even touted the F-Series’ cab as the “Million Dollar Cab,” presumably for the amount spent on its new styling and improved features. The investment paid off, and the newly designed F-Series was quite popular, allowing the automaker to grab much-needed market share during the increasingly competitive postwar period.
Focus on customer value and utility was now the new “mission statement” at Ford, and it was at the very heart of the new F-Series. Ford advertised these trucks as “Bonus Built” models that would outlast their competitors’ trucks. Function was not overlooked, and the new Million Dollar Cab featured improved roominess and driver comfort plus ease of maintenance while maintaining the utility that truck buyers expected. Sales show that the buying public overwhelmingly accepted the new design and supported the direction that Ford was taking with its light duty pickups.
This 1950 Ford pickup has a half-ton capacity rating. Its wheelbase measures 114 inches and it carries a box with 45 cubic feet of usable floor space and the two-position tailgate. It also has a standard 3.92:1 semi-floating hypoid rear axle and a 20-gallon fuel tank. In 1950, Ford offered two engine displacement options: a 226-cubic-inch Flathead inline six and the optional 239-cid Flathead V-8. Kalter’s F-1 retains its optional 100-horsepower V-8, which is coupled with the standard three-speed manual transmission and a 10-inch clutch.
Midway through the 1950 model year, the shift lever in the F-1 of series pickup trucks was moved from the floor to the steering column. F-1 pickup is equipped with the floor-mounted shifter, indicating it was built during the early part of the model year.
Every pickup these days is either made of composite material or offers inner and outer sheetmetal panels so that dimples on the inside don’t look like pimples from the outside. But in the F-1 era, you got single-wall steel construction. Oh, and forget about cargo management systems. There were no tie-down hooks (unless you drilled and screwed them eyelets into the wood floor yourself). There were four stake holes, though, if you wanted to raise the sides of the bed a bit.
