The best-selling vehicle in America isn’t a car. It’s a truck.

Most industry followers know the Ford F-150 has dominated sales of all vehicles in the U.S. for decades; since 1984, it has surpassed even things as ubiquitous as the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord as the most popular four-wheeled machine on the road today.

But even truck fans may not know the intricacies of how the original 1948 Ford F-1 launched the Ford F-Series that eventually developed into the modern pickup that dominates the U.S. market.

“Ford has [produced trucks] the longest, since the days of the Model T, and introduced a V8 engine before both Chevrolet and Dodge,” said Pete Fisher, the car specialist for RM Sotheby’s. “There is certainly a collector base for vintage Chevy pickups as well, while Dodge examples were not as popular until the 1970s … but the Ford F-Series is essentially an American institution.”

The first F-Series trucks were the 1948 F-1, F-2, and F-3. These were the snub-nosed trucks Ford Motor Co. developed as its first all-new vehicles after World War II; they were an integral part of jumpstarting Ford’s success in the U.S.

Consumers loved them for more than their hearty flathead V8 or flathead inline-six engines. These were the first work vehicles developed with any real thought toward interior niceties; they gave consumers something with the convenience and functionality of a farming vehicle but with an interior comfort heretofore associated only with passenger cars. Ford reportedly spent $1 million at the time to develop the trucks to give buyers more for their money, enhancing the riding experience for both driver and passenger. A company press release from the time touted the earliest ones as “designed to assure living room comfort.”

It worked. Since the F-1 debuted in 1948, Ford has sold more than 26 million trucks worldwide.

Slow and Steady Rise

Early examples cost just over $1,200 for the base model that debuted in 1948. They had rounded, wide fenders over their rear tires; the headlights sat flush with the rest of the front of the grill, and the windshield was a flat panel of glass. Each F-1 had a single, long bench seat in the cab. (The 1951 model year saw a restyle, focusing primarily on a new large-bar grille, which became a styling theme for Ford through the rest of the decade in two subsequent platforms. In 1953, the F-1 became the F-100, which evolved into the modern F-Series trucks we have today. Ford launched the modernized F-100 in 1977 and the F-150 in 1984.)

You're unlikely to find them at Gooding & Co. or Bonhams these days. Yet. They’re not quite the blue chip specimens those auction houses sell. But pockets of classic cars tend to assume popularity after years of languishing in obscurity. The time to buy one is before they gain real momentum on the auction market.

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