No, the above sweet-ass F100 wasn’t on the show… but my mug appeared a number of times.
Truck Wars is a special on the History channel that examines the history of the pickup here in the States. The focus is heavy on the battle between Ford and Chevy, and then Ram comes along towards the end. In the middle, there’s also a discussion on Jeep as well.
I’m one of the talking heads picked to share some knowledge on the subject. You should see a few other familiar faces as well, such as Jalopnik’s Jason Torchinsky and Ezra Dyer.
Did you watch the show? If so, what did you think? Personally, I wish it dove a bit into the affect that smaller Japanese import trucks had on reforming the market towards the end of the 1970s. Regardless, there was a good bit of information presented including the section on August Fruehauf and his invention of the semi trailer.
If you didn’t watch the show, you can catch it On Demand or through History’s website (if you have a cable subscription… or a login for someone else’s cable subscription).
The best part of it all? I believe I was the only person who snuck in a swear, albeit a bleeped one.
Truck Thursday: Did you watch Truck Wars on History?
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16 responses to “Truck Thursday: Did you watch Truck Wars on History?”
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See also the Music part of the MTV acronym.
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“…Ford and Chevy, and then Ram comes along towards the end. In the middle, there’s also a discussion on Jeep as well.”
Yeah, but those are all city-kids’ trucks.
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1715/24819593354_97c4b84541.jpg-
I was actually surprised to see how much coverage – and acknowledgment – was given to the Cornbinder’s development of the Scout.
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I haven’t seen the show. Was there much said about non-Scout IH products?
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I figured you would be more of a Powell guy. Also, that rear bumper is sweet.
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Thanks! The bumper was made by Sports Liner, with what remains of the tag just visible at the far right immediately below the tailgate. It works well for towing, although whenever I need to rent a heavier trailer I’ve got to look for someone behind the counter old enough to remember these things, otherwise it gets dismissed as an unrentable “lightweight bumper hitch.”
If I ever find a Powell or a Leata Truck (preferably the pre-Cabalero version) in my stingy price range…-
It looks like it has a swiveling tongue, similar to what’s seen on the farm. Is that right?
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It has a gap into which a swivel could be fitted but currently it just has a conventional ball hitch. The out-of-focus light-colored material in the gap is where I’ve stuffed the flat-four plug and wiring.
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It wasn’t bad [except for that guy in the flannel shirt with the weird hair cut ;)]
I’m guessing that time constraints played a huge factor because I was also surprised at the lack of coverage given to the entire small truck development. I also thought they really short changed Dodge, making it seem like they didn’t even start building trucks until 1994.
And why no mention of Ramchargers or Trail Dusters? They were players in the original SUV movement (especially Trail Dusters. The world would be a much better place if more time and attention was given to Trail Dusters)
The Fruehauf story was really cool – wish they would’ve been able to spend more time with the history of other commercial trucks. The history of Mack, Freightliner, Kenworth, etc is pretty fascinating.-
I remember talking a fair bit more about how Lee really helped bring Dodge back to the light on the truck side of things. But yeah I don’t recall how much early Dodge we covered.
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Flannel shirt and weird haircut? Was it Rutledge Wood? (I haven’t seen it)
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I caught it entirely by accident! I was flipping through channels and stopped just long enough to hear what I thought was Torchinsky’s squeaky rasp over some footage of a Ranchero. My curiosity sufficiently piqued, I started paying attention. Of course, you know that my assumption was quickly verified, and… hey, Jeff Glucker is one this, too!
Having tuned in around the Ranchero segment, how much did I miss?-
Some decent talk about the origins of the pickup. Ford not jumping into the fray right away, and FWD stepping up with four-wheel-drive and opening peoples eyes. I think the Jeep bit was before the Ranchero part too.
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Did they mention Diamond T? Everybody always forgets about Diamond T.
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I’ll have to catch it on demand. Was there any mention of the the fact that many of the years that Ford claims to have “the best selling truck in America with the F-150”, GM actually sold more pickups, but split the numbers between Chevy and GMC?
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