Custom 1948 Ford F1 Is a Reminder of Why the Pickup Craze Began

The F-150 alone has been at the top of the sales charts for decades, having sold in 2018 alone over 600,000 units.

The story of this family of pickups started all the way back in 1947, at a time when this type of vehicle was in high demand, given the post-war reconstruction efforts that were made all over the globe. It was the moment when Ford officially separated the design language of the cars it made from those of the trucks, and marked the introduction of a brand new chassis specifically developed for this segment.

The first model year for the new F-Series was 1948, when the F1 was introduced as the lightest-capacity version (half-ton) of a total of eight different chassis configurations, and was one of the market's favorites right from the start. It was soon to become a favorite of the custom industry as well, with a great number of worth mentioning builds seeing daylight in the years that followed.

One such build is the one pictured in the gallery above. An F1 from the very first model year, it is now part of the Elkhart Collection that is going under the hammer in October at the hands of auction house RM Sotheby's.

Sporting a body crafter entirely in a red color highlighted by white and chrome parts, this F1 is one of the best looking ones presently on the market. That's maybe because, at least as far as the exterior goes, most of the original design has been kept, except perhaps for the bed that has been specced in wood with chrome slats.

The interior is an entirely different story from the original. Maintaining the same red and white motif of the exterior, it comes with all the modern features that make a car desirable in modern days, including digital radio or power windshield wipers.

Powered by a 226 ci (3.7 liter) engine, the pickup will sell with no reserve, meaning it will go to the highest bidder regardless of the price offered.