1953 was quite the year for the world. That May marked Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay’s successful ascent to the top of Mount Everest, and Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation occurred the next month. It was also Ford’s fiftieth anniversary, which the company celebrated with the launch of the second-generation F-100 truck.
The original model, the F-1, was released in 1948, a product of the post-war truck boom. It was to be a very different type of truck, however: One that blended power and utility with style, usability, and drivability. The company expanded its offerings in the truck market with the F-1 to F-8 (the latter of which was Ford’s largest yet, at three tons), utilizing the formidable new V8 engine. The half-ton F-1 proved the most successful model in the range, so building upon everything it accomplished with the next iteration of the F-Series was important.
This thinking resulted in the 1953 launch of the F-100, a pickup that took the principles of practicality, performance, and style to new levels for the time. It would be a crucial stepping stone in Ford’s continued performance with the F-Series and the wider truck market.
