So That's Where They Got the Blackwood: 1950s Custom Ford SUVs From Brazil

50s ford custom truck suv wagon50s ford custom truck suv wagon

While Chevy, Dodge and Willys got into the whole early-SUV thing with their various truck-wagons, as far as we know Ford never did. They didn’t even have a full-sized truck based SUV until the ’78 Bronco. When there’s a niche to be filled, you can always trust some ambitious customizer to fill it. Even in Brazil, which is where this collection of 1950s custom Ford pickup based thingamabobs comes from.


50s ford custom truck suv wagon
While the US spend most of the 50s and 60s operating under the assumption that cars were cars and trucks were trucks, we eventually came to recognize that sometimes we need one vehicle that can haul both people and miscellaneous crap. Well, some of us did, and some of us just decided we needed the biggest, most imposing vehicle we could afford. Why not? After all, gas is $1/gallon and Blink 182 is cool. Oh…wait, it’s not 1998 anymore…and that makes me sad.
50s ford custom truck suv wagonAnyway…our friends over at Carros Antigos came across a collection of early attempts to mesh car and truck into one. These are even more in the model of late 90s “I want a truck that’s as much like a car as it can be” SUVs than their contemporary American counterparts. The exteriors have the chrome side moldings and elaborate tail light treatments fit for any late 50s ride. The small collection below is nothing compared to what they’re running over at Carros Antigos (that means Old Cars, btw).

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  1. dmilligan Avatar
    dmilligan

    I want the one with suicide rear doors. So cool….

  2. longrooffan Avatar

    Mad_Science: Awesome find. You guys always come up with the coolest old stuff! I especially like the way those builders incorporated the tail light treatment of similar era Ford passenger cars. And a truck with a trunk in the 50's. Just plain old cool. Definitely not found on ebay.
    A year or so ago I found these English, I think I remember that, train transport vehicles and thought you might enjoy also.
    http://longrooffan-forposting.blogspot.com/2010/0
    Thanks again for finding this stuff and sharing it with we Hoons out here in Hooniverse.

  3. Alff Avatar

    Love that top one. I shall call it Sedanchero.
    I wonder if these came about in response to poor roads. The Mexican salespeople in the company I last worked at had trucks and SUVs, while their US counterparts had cars, because these were the vehicles best equipped to handle the terrain.

  4. Balestra Avatar

    Here in Brasil, this kind of thing still happens. Thing is, we are not as spoiled for choice as you people form the North of America so we have to adapt. From the eraly 70's up to the early 90's, imports were verboten and even as the economy once again opened and all sorts of foreign machinery started making their way here, their prices made them a major no-no among the general public. So the choice you had if you wanted a big, imposing vehicle that could haul you and the family everywhere with comfort you got yourself either an Alfa Romeo 2300, a Dodge Dart/Charger/Magnum, a Chevy Opala, a Ford Galaxie/ Landau or a big-ass converted pick-up. As time passed and more and more models went out of production, only the Opala and the pick-ups remained. And with time the conversions got better, some good enough for GM to hire one of the firms to do it as a production vehicle based on the Chevy D-20 – by the by, Chevrolet is the only GM division sold in the Brasilian market. – and they got sophisticated enogh to sport Recaros and TVs, huge achievements for the time. Today people still convert Ford F-250s into SUVs as there's no such option on the market and the closest thing in size stickers for over 200k Reais which is roughly 115k dollars in current exchange rates. I just wish we had more V8s available here….

    1. CptSevere Avatar

      Hey, that's a great dissertation. You just taught me something, and put these sedancheros (thanks, Alff) into perspective. Myself, I like the Fordor Sedanchero con trunklid.

  5. coupeZ600 Avatar

    When I was just a kid, Pa had this really cool crew-cab P-U that I always assumed was a IH "Travelette". My older brother is certain that it was a one-off factory-made GMC crew-cab that he got because the Dealer was trying to get him to buy the big GMC tractors instead of the 'Binders he had always bought before. He swears he's got a pic that he'll get me, but I'm still sure it was a 'Binder.

  6. dukeisduke Avatar

    I've always liked the crazy cool stuff they get in Brazil, especially the trucks. Every once in awhile I see pictures of one that made its way into the US.

  7. dukeisduke Avatar

    I dig those taillights shaped like the Ford emblem, in picture #3.