The F-100 truck was a part of many major events in Ford’s history, including being the company’s first 4×4 vehicle to be fully developed in-house. However, it wasn’t the first ever 4×4 SUV to bear a Ford badge.
The first appearance of AWD drivetrains on Ford vehicles dates back to the late 1930s, though it wasn’t Ford’s patent. During those times, the Woodie Wagon was one of Ford’s most popular utility models, but the only available drivetrain configuration from the factory was rear-wheel-drive. Marmon-Herrington, a much smaller Indianapolis company, started producing a 4×4 drivetrain system that Woodie Wagon owners could install on their vehicles. Although the upgrade cost nearly as much as a base-model V8 Woodie by itself, it proved to have lots of potential. Later on, Ford helped manufacture some of the U.S. Army’s Jeeps, which all featured 4×4 drivetrains.
It wasn’t until years later, in 1959, that Ford started to compete with Jeep in the booming market of all-wheel-drive utility vehicles. Instead of relying on third-party contractors like Marmon-Herrington, Ford began making AWD drivetrains in-house for regular production, and that’s how the first 1959 Ford F-100 4×4 came to be.
