How trucks went from bare-bones workhorses to modern luxury-liners

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Trucks used to be strictly for work, but now they’re our everyday drivers. It’s been a long ride from there to here, and there have been more than a few players along the way. We’ve rounded up some truck history and highlights from some of the big names for you to enjoy.

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The Earliest Years

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Just as the first cars were basically horse-drawn buggies with engines bolted on, the earliest trucks were motorized wagons. It’s believed Gottlieb Daimler built the first in 1896, using a two-cylinder engine. His auto company eventually became half of Mercedes-Benz — which still makes trucks for global markets, although it recently ended production of its slow-selling Nissan-based X-Class luxury pickup.

It seems the first American company to build a gasoline-powered truck was Winton, based in Cleveland, Ohio. Eventually hundreds of firms made trucks and delivery vans. Most were small, short-lived companies, while others, like Mack and Kenworth, would eventually focus strictly on large commercial trucks.

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Ford

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Henry Ford started his company in 1903. He introduced his famous Model T in 1908, and in 1917 added the Model TT, a truck frame based on the Model T’s car frame. But you only bought the chassis, and had someone else make the truck body.

Then, in 1925, Ford introduced the first light-duty pickup truck that came completely built from the factory — a Model T car with a truck box on the back, with a starting price of $281.

Ford’s trucks were updated over the years, but in 1948, there was a completely new one, called the F-Series. From the F-1 half-ton, bigger trucks ranged from the F-2 to F-8. But as Ford added more models, a single digit wasn’t enough. In 1953, the F-1 became the F-100, while the F-2 and F-3 were combined into the F-250, and the F-4 became the F-350. The F-150 was added in 1975, advertised as a “heavy-duty half-ton.” Beefier was obviously better, and the F-100 disappeared after 1983.

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GMC

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GMC and Chevrolet are sister companies today, but GMC is older. It dates back to two independent truck companies, Rapid and Reliance. GM founder William Durant bought them in 1908 and set up a new division to sell their products. He called it the General Motors Truck Company, but left out the “T” when he shortened it to “GMC.” The Rapid and Reliance names were later dropped, and the trucks wore the new GMC crest.

The early GMC trucks borrowed heavily from several GM siblings, including Buick and Pontiac engines, but by 1971, every engine in a GMC could also be found under a Chevrolet truck hood. The new Denali trim for 1999 began GMC’s ascent to the more luxurious of the two. Today, while the Chevy Silverado considerably outsells the GMC Sierra in the U.S., they’re usually neck-and-neck in Canada.

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Chevrolet

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Chevrolet was created in 1911. William Durant founded GM, but got kicked out for overextending it. He teamed with race driver Louis Chevrolet to build a new car, and used it to leverage his way back as chief of GM again (although it got rid of him for good a few years later).

Chevrolet offered its first truck chassis in 1918 — a one-ton model called, oddly enough, the Model T. Third-party companies made the bodies to the customer’s specifications. Chevrolet bought one of those body firms in 1930, and from then on, you could buy a complete Chevy truck from the factory.

In 1935, Chevy took its half-ton chassis and added a station-wagon-style body, with seats for eight passengers — although they all had to crawl in through the two front doors. Called the Suburban Carryall, it’s generally considered to be the first SUV.

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Dodge

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Dodge was founded by brothers John and Horace Dodge. It sold parts to Detroit-based automaker Graham, which used them to build trucks — which Dodge sold through its dealers. Dodge later bought Graham’s truck division. Chrysler bought Dodge in 1928, and Graham trucks became Dodge trucks. Dodge’s bighorn sheep mascot, introduced on its cars in 1932, eventually gave the Ram truck its name.

International built the first six-passenger pickup in 1957, but Dodge lengthened its cabin to make the first extended-cab truck in 1973. Following the Second World War, Dodge adapted its heavy-duty four-wheel-drive Power Wagon for civilian sales.

In the 1970s, it offered small runs of “Adult Toy” trucks, such as the custom-styled Warlock, and then the Li’l Red Express Truck, powered by a modified 360-cubic-inch (5.9L) V8 engine. When the domestic automakers offered compact mini-trucks, Dodge’s entry was the Mitsubishi-based Ram 50 — but in 1987 it introduced the Dakota, the first American midsize truck.

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Nissan

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The Japanese automaker made its first Datsun truck in 1934, but it was a while before anyone over here saw one. The company showed off its wares at the Imported Car Show in Los Angeles in January 1958, displaying a sedan and a tiny pickup truck powered by a 1.0L 37-horsepower four-cylinder engine. By 1965, it was up to 60 horsepower, and was the company’s first truck with a four-speed transmission with floor shifter.

The company eventually established a plant in Smyrna, Tennessee, which built its first pickup in June 1983. Nissan was phasing out the Datsun name, but to avoid confusion, the early trucks carried both badges. The Frontier, introduced for 1999, was the first compact truck available with four full-size doors. The Titan, the company’s first full-size pickup, arrived for 2004.

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Toyota

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Toyota wasn’t even incorporated as an automaker when it made its first truck. When it built the G1 truck in 1935, it was still a division of its parent loom manufacturer. It lost most of its production facilities during the Second World War, but had enough to continue building trucks, and develop its Land Cruiser.

It established Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. in 1957, and the following year sold 287 Toyopet Crown sedans and a single Land Cruiser. A truck-style version of the Land Cruiser, the FJ45, was Toyota’s first pickup sold in North America.

In 1964 it introduced its Stout pickup. Sales were modest, and so Toyota created the Hilux specifically to take on the North American market. It eventually became known simply as the Toyota Pickup, and in 1981 added a 4WD system with low range for off-road. In 1995, it was redesigned into the Tacoma. That was two years after the V6-powered T100 launched. In 1999, it was replaced by the Tundra, made exclusively in a new plant in Indiana for the North American market.