Truck Of The Day: October 29, 2011

Today's car of the day is Matchbox's 1993 Ford F-150.

The F-Series is a series of full-size pickup trucks from Ford Motor Company sold for over six decades. The most popular variant of the F-Series is the F-150. It was the best-selling vehicle in the United States for 24 years and has been the best-selling truck for 34 years, though this does not include combined sales of GM pickup trucks. In the tenth generation of the F-series, the F-250 and F-350 changed body style in 1998 and joined the Super Duty series.

In Canada during the post-WWII era, smaller rural communities had access to either a Ford dealer or a Lincoln-Mercury-Meteor dealer, but not both; a Mercury-badged version was sold at Lincoln-Mercury-Meteor dealers there from 1946-1968. Other than the grilles, trim, and badging, these trucks were identical to their Ford counterparts.

For more information and pictures of the real car please visit: Ford F-150

I love this casting and I love this color scheme.  This one did not get nearly enough use in the Matchbox line.  Someone at Mattel likes Chevrolet- the Chevy pickup that debuted the same year as this Ford has been in the line ever since, but this Ford disappeared when Matchbox moved from New Jersey to California, never to be seen again.

The 1992 truck received a new aerodynamic-looking front end, a new dashboard, and the Flareside bed returned. The "Nite" package introduced in 1991 continued, but was dropped at the end of the 1992 model year.

The 1994 models brought several changes, including a driver's-side airbag, "CHMSL" third brake light, brake-shift interlock and CFC-free air conditioning. New options in 1994 included remote keyless entry with alarm, a compact disc player fitted into the regular stereo system, and a power driver's seat; an electrochromic inside rear view mirror was also offered in 1994 and 1995 as part of a luxury light package. Following the lead of the Explorer, an Eddie Bauer trim line — featuring plusher trim and increased standard features — was added for 1995.

Ford trailed rival General Motors in combined truck sales for much of the ninth generation, though sales steadily rose each year. 500,000 F-Series trucks were sold in 1992, but this rose to nearly 800,000 by 1996, and the Ford had overtaken the combined Chevrolet and GMC pickup sales for the first time in a decade.