History of the F-150 in Canada
First introduced back in 1948, the Ford F-150 is perhaps the best recognized truck on the market today, with 12 generations to draw from, it has transitioned from a vehicle used primarily for rural tasks into a conventional, every-day companion for drivers of all needs.
Since its beginnings, the F-Series has sold more than 33 million trucks, with nearly 800,000 sales last year alone, it’s no wonder why it continues to stand as one of the best-selling vehicles worldwide with the top-title in the United States for the 32nd time.
In Canada, to contrast, the F-150 has remained the best-selling pickup for the last 47 years. If we look back, we get to see the amazing evolution of the truck, particularly we find a division point between the United States and Canada’s Ford production processes beginning in 1953 with the 1954 models when the American division discarded their V-8 flat-head engine for a more precise and powerful V-8 model.
This was not the case for Canada, where consumers had to wait until 1955 to reap the benefits, and by the time it did arrive it had become a 272 cid engine with 162 horsepower and no further engine option availabilities. It wouldn’t be for 15 years that a 6-cylinder motor was offered in 1956.
Interestingly, in the early 20th century many of the Canadian-made Ford trucks were devised to be stronger and more durable than their American counterparts. In this manner, the Canadian Ford trucks of the time received more generous ratings and used dual-wheel rear axles which would only come into use by Ford’s home branch some years later.
These divergent processes came to a head and in 1965 the Canada-U.S. Auto Pact was put into effect, simply put, this affected the output of variant model productions in Canada, however, allowed for duty-free import across the border.
It’s a fair point to mention that the Ford Motor Company of Canada was founded as early in the game as 1904, which is to say that the connection back to its parent company is one of the strongest across the board. Celebrating its centennial in 2004, it came only one year after Ford’s headquarters. Ford Motor Company of Canada went on to continue climbing from 1904 eventually reaching a temporary peak as the largest company in Canada in the early 1970s.
All of this said, the F-150 has been a staple example of the innovative power of an automaker that understands and appreciate the needs of its drivers. As we mentioned earlier, the F-150 started off as a farmer’s vehicle, only to quickly transition through to numerous other applications and possibilities in the years that followed. To learn more about the F-150 visit us at Kitchener Ford and test drive the 12th generation heir to a prestigious history.
