Me & My Car: ’56 Ford pickup in Hayward exemplifies F-Series generation

Ford has been in the truck business for 108 years, but I think it’s fair to say that wasn’t Henry Ford’s idea.

Henry reportedly saw customers modifying his Model T cars to carry loads and began asking for a vehicle that could carry more weight. So he had the first Ford truck built nine years after the first Model T car. Appropriately called the 1917 Ford Model TT, the next truck was the Model AA, based on the Model A car, and in 1935 Ford introduced the Model 50 pickup powered by the famous Ford flathead V8 engine.

These were work trucks and nothing fancy until about 1940, when some automotive styling was used for a lightweight Ford pickup. After World War II, Ford trucks were completely restyled, starting with the first generation of F-Series trucks (1948-1952), but they too were just work trucks.

The 1956 Ford pickup was the last year of the second generation (1953-1956) of Ford’s F-Series trucks (there have now been 14 generations). Even though it was the last year of the second generation, there were some significant changes. The cab was redesigned to include a wraparound windshield and optional wraparound rear window, and electric windshield wipers replaced the vacuum-powered ones.

Tubeless tires and a 12-volt electric system on the F-100 series were standard. Safety was becoming more of a concern, so Ford offered a deep-dish “Lifeguard” steering wheel as a standard option, and seat belts were also offered. By 1956, Ford had dropped the famous flathead V8 engine and offered three versions of the larger “Y” block overhead valve engine with horsepower up 167.

The standard transmission was a three-speed column-shifted synchronized manual version. The options were a three-speed transmission with overdrive, a four-speed manual transmission or a Ford-O-Matic three-speed automatic transmission. Ford also offered two inline six-cylinder engines.

Ford has had the best-selling pickup for the last 48 years, but there is some dispute about Toyota’s claim of their RAV4 outselling Ford’s pickup in 2024 or if the RAV4 is even really a in the same class. In any case, Ford sells a bunch of pickup trucks, and they’ve been assembled in 11 different plants in this country, including one in San Jose, one in Long Beach. They’ve also been assembled in Canada.

The second generation was the start of making the F-Series more than just a work truck. The payload was increased, and the suspension was redesigned. The cab was widened with the running boards inside the truck. The wheelbase was shortened four inches to 110 inches, resulting in an improved turning radius, and the hood line was lowered. The model designation was changed so that the half-ton F-1 became the F-100, F-2 became the F-250 and so on throughout the line.

Walter Wallace, of Hayward, loves his 1956 Ford pickup truck and Ford trucks generally. He bought this issue’s featured vehicle from a friend in 1988 for $4,500. It was in pretty good shape, but he didn’t like the Thunderbird red color, so he wanted to get it painted. He approached a painter he knew who offered to paint the truck for $3,200. A little steep, Wallace thought. A week later, the painter contacted Wallace and offered to negotiate.

Not only did Wallace get his truck painted a beautiful blue for $1,800 but the painter also included the special “old-school flames” on the hood. The owner is mechanically inclined and enjoys making his truck uniquely his. He has done most of the work himself. Most unique, I think, is a CD player mounted above the windshield that looks like it was factory-installed.

He has also installed a 1966 Ford Mustang 289-cubic-inch V8 engine along with a Ford automatic transmission along with an armrest with cup holders, better wheels, a tilt steering wheel from a 1968 Thunderbird, power brakes, power steering and, most recently, air conditioning.

Wallace has invested an additional $30,000 in his truck but said he believes the current market value to be in the neighborhood of $60,000. The truck’s value is an academic situation, though, since his daughter, also a “car nut,” got Daddy to agree she can have it when he no longer wants it.

Have an interesting vehicle? Email Dave at MOBopoly@yahoo.com. To read more of his columns or see more photos of this and other issues’ vehicles, visit mercurynews.com/author/david-krumboltz.