Ford F-100/F150 History
At the start of its existence, the F-100 truck was known as the F-1 of the F-series. It was the first pickup Ford offered after the WW2. In 1953, at Ford’s 50th anniversary, they renamed it from F-1 to F-150. It was the smallest truck in the F-series. This was the workhorse that people truly needed after the war. The F-100 lasted for seven generations and was being accepted extremely well by the Americans until it got replaced by the F-150. The model achieved near a million sales per year.
1948-1952 First Generation
The F-series debuted on the market as the workhorse for the public, with eight different weight ratings. The 1/2 ton pickup bore the name F-1.
1953-1956 Second Generation
Ford renamed their 1/2 ton pickup from F-1 to F-100 in commemoration of their 50th anniversary. The F-100 had new engines, suspension and overall bigger dimensions than its predecessor.
1957-1960 Third Generation
Ford redesigned the third generation, making it more modern looking. They also upgraded the engines and suspension. That helped with the ride's quality and stability. In this generation, Ford discontinued the cab-over engine. Also started producing a four-wheel-drive version of its trucks.
1961-1966 Fourth Generation
Ford drastically changed the design of its classic F-series. The new F-100 was longer, narrower, and more aerodynamic than its predecessor. In this generation, the outstanding Twin-I-Beam front suspension made its debut on the F-100 and Ford used it for 31 years until the suspension upgrade they made on the F-150 in 1996.
1967-1972 Fifth Generation
Ford’s engineers made minor changes and upgrades to the chassis, suspension, and engines of its last generation F-series and the fifth generation was born.
1973-1979 Sixth Generation
They made more upgrades on the old platform to introduce to the market the new F-series. In this generation, the F-150 made its debut.
1980-1986 Seventh Generation
This generation was on a new chassis, with new suspension, and had a new body with improved aerodynamics for better gas mileage. In this generation, Ford introduced new engines and transmissions. They installed some of their most iconic V8s engines on the F-150.
1987-1991 Eight Generation
For this generation, Ford changed a few body panels, slightly tweaked the engines, and upgraded the interior with better materials and design.
1992-1997 Ninth Generation
Ford performed the usual upgrades on the F-series: new look, better engines, better suspension, and better transmissions.
1997-2004 Tenth Generation
This was the crossroad for the F-series. Ford determined they could utilize an unexploited market for personal dual purpose vehicles, so they split the F-series. They made the F-150 more like a car and their bigger trucks like the F-250, 350, etc. continued the work oriented style.
2004-2008 Eleventh Generation
The new F-150 sat on a new platform with upgraded suspension and added rear shock absorbers for better ride quality. Since the gas prices were increasing, Ford started adding fuel saving features to their trucks.
2009-2014 Twelfth Generation
In this generation, Ford focused on the gas mileage of their F-150. They added a 3.5L V6 EcoBoost engine with decent fuel consumption mated to a six-speed automatic transmission.
2015-2020 Thirteenth Generation
The new F-150 also was also designed for better gas mileage and almost all the materials used were lightweight. New 10-speed transmission was added to the model for some engines.
2021- Fourteenth Generation
Ford redesigned most of the F-150, although it looks pretty similar to its predecessor. A lot of new fuel saving systems were installed on the old engines that Ford used. The old 6-speed automatic was discontinued. For the first time Ford offered a hybrid system that paired an electrical motor with the 3.5 V6 engine for their F-150.