History of the Ford F-Series. America's most popular vehicle celebrates 65 years

Did you know that the Ford F-Series is celebrating its 65th anniversary in 2013?  That’s a pretty significant milestone for the top-selling vehicle in America.  And the fact that many of these trucks are built right here in the Kansas City Claycomo Assembly Plant should also interest some of the local readers here on HMC. 

Slickstock. Where members of the Slick '60s Ford Truck Club get together and eat lots of Pizza Shoppe

As the owner of a 1963 Chevrolet pickup, sometimes it is hard for me to remember that they actually made some other kind of truck in the early-to-mid 1960s. But on our way to dinner Friday night, I stumbled upon a reminder that yes, there really was at least one more brand out there. I think they were called Fords.

Actually, when we saw a bunch of them parked at the Platte Woods Pizza Shoppe, the first thing I thought was, “hey, I didn’t know we had a Ford truck club here in town.” And as it turns out, I thought right. These were members of the Slick ‘60s Club, which is a nationwide group of ’61-’66 Ford F-Series enthusiasts. Every two years these folks meet up for “Slickstock” to catch up on old times, talk trucks, and eat pizza.

Test-driving the 2011 Ford F-150 at the Michigan Proving Grounds. So what's that like?

Tuesday was a busy day. I caught a 6:00 a.m. flight to Detroit, took a two-hour car ride to the Ford Proving Grounds in Romeo, Mich., drove the new engine lineup for the 2011 Ford F-150, rode back to the airport in a shuttle van, and was back in Kansas City by 9:15 p.m.

You can read about the new Ford truck in my article on the Examiner. But honestly, you can read that kind of stuff anywhere.  Here, I thought I'd tell you a little about the Ford Proving Grounds and what this type of event is like.