Panel Truck Of The Day: February 9, 2012

Today's car of the day comes from Firehawk73's son Jacob's collection and is Johnny Lightning's 1955 Ford Panel.

The F-Series is a series of full-size pickup trucks from Ford Motor Company which has been sold continuously 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, currently the best-selling truck for 34 years, and the best selling vehicle in Canada, 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.

During the post-WWII era, smaller Canadian 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-Series

The F-Series was redesigned for 1953 with a more integrated look. The pickups also acquired their now familiar names: The F-1 now became the F-100, the F-2 now became the F-250, and the F-3 now became the 1-ton F-350. Optional interior amenities were new, including a dome light, lighter, arm rests, sun visors and a radio. On March 13, 1953, the "Ford-O-Matic" automatic transmission became an option.

The 1953 F-100 was the last year for the flathead in the US. Canadian models, however, (Mercury M-Series), retained the flathead. 1954 saw the introduction of the new 239 CID overhead valve Y-block 8-cylinder, dubbed "Power King." The six-cylinder engine's displacement was also increased from 215 to 223 CID and power steering was introduced as an option. In 1955 the 239 Y-block was replaced with the 272 and 292.

The 1956 F-100 is a one-year only body style. The 1956 F-100 is easily identified as it has vertical windshield pillars and a wrap around windshield as opposed to the sloped pillars and angled windshield of the 1953-55. The 1956 model also offered a larger wrap-around back window as an option. Starting in 1956, Ford offered the very rare "Low GVWR" versions of each model. Also in 1956, seat belts became an option.

Second generation trucks were built in Brazil from 1957 to 1962 as the F-100, F-350 and F-600.