If you're looking at a Ford F-150 for your next truck, here are four things worth knowing.
The Ford F-Series has been the best-selling truck for the last 40 consecutive years. Best known for the F-150, the line has essentially set the standard for pickup trucks of every size.
While other pickups have done some things better over those 40 years, Ford has somehow remained at the top.
Here are a few things worth knowing if you're serious about an F-150.
The F-150 didn't come until 1975
We've pegged the 1975 #Ford #F150 as the "Most Iconic of All-Time." Thoughts? #Yay? #Nay? http://t.co/1thYovMX7R pic.twitter.com/HjzL8aqSxE
— Ken Garff West Valley Ford (@kengarffwvf) March 27, 2015
If you're going to buy any truck, you need to know its history.
A lot of these trucks still sold today played an integral part in the American timeline, so that name might carry more significance than you realize. The first F-Series truck was introduced in 1947 and offered in models F1-F8, with F1-F3 being your basic pickup truck.
In 1953, the F1 became the F-100, which remained the base truck for 31 years. The F-150 was introduced in 1975 as an in-between option bigger than the F-100 and smaller than the F-250, but ultimately replaced the F-100 in 1984.
Best-selling truck
We obviously just touched on this, but drivers look for reliability in vehicles. It's single-handedly the most important factor in buying any vehicle, particularly a truck. This is a machine you're going to put hundreds of thousands of miles on (and the biggest investment you'll make after your house), so it has to last.
Ford's reputation among many as the best truck on the market year in and year out is what keeps customers coming.
Not only has the truck been the best-seller for 40 years, it's been the best-selling vehicle in America for the last 35 years. Ford has sold more than 26 million.
It's come a long way
Just looking at pictures of the first F-Series generation makes you realize how much times have changed. The series features 13 generations, all distinctly different from one another.
First generation
Thirteenth generation
Options galore
If you are serious about an F-150, you have a lot of options to pick from. Individual features and accessories aside, the truck comes in a number of different packages that you'll have to choose from. You have the XL, the XLT, the Lariat, the King Ranch, the Platinum, the Limited and the Raptor.
In a nutshell, the XL is your lowest-end version of the F-150, and each model has more bells and whistles as you move up, with the Limited being the most luxurious. The Raptor is Ford's high-performance model, which features modifications to improve its off-road performance. There have been many other options in the past, including the Eddie Bauer edition, the Harley Davidson edition, the Nite edition, the SVT Lightning, the Foose edition, and the NASCAR edition.
Had enough? Never, right? The F-150 is America's favorite, according to the numbers. What do you think?
NEXT: 4 RANDOM FACTS ABOUT THE FORD RANGER
