America’s Biggest Car Museum Keeps on Trucking with New Ford F-Series Exhibit

Updated Jan 19, 2015

LeMay’s Ford F-Series exhibit highlights pickup’s 67-year history; draws record-breaking crowds

LeMay – America’s Car Museum (ACM) in Tacoma, Washington, the largest automotive museum in North America, opened its “F-Series: The Truck that Grew Up with America” exhibit on January 10 to a record-breaking crowd.

ACM hauled in a “trucktacular” New Year with the opening of the Ford F-Series: The Truck That Grew Up with America exhibit on January 10th. (Photo: Lobban Photography)
ACM hauled in a “trucktacular” New Year with the opening of the Ford F-Series: The Truck That Grew Up with America exhibit on January 10th. (Photo: Lobban Photography)

The new exhibit drew one of the largest crowds in ACM’s history and features some of the rarest and most collectible F-Series pickup trucks from each era.

In “The Truck that Grew Up with America,” ACM chronicles the 67-year history of the best-selling full-size pickup truck as it evolved from an agricultural tool into today’s truck that can be optioned into a posh luxury vehicle.

ACM traces that lineage starting with the oldest vehicle in its exhibit, a 1948 Ford F-1, that spent years as a plumber’s truck before undergoing restoration.

The exhibit concludes with the most recent model, the 2015 Ford F-150, which is the first full-size pickup to use a lightweight aluminum body instead of steel.

Highlights include a customized 1956 F-100 in brilliant orange; a restored 1952 Mercury M-3, a rebranded version of the truck sold primarily in Canada; and a 1951 Ford F-1 Ranger 4×4, which was one of just 54 Ford trucks converted to four-wheel drive by Marmom-Herrington with a coachbuilt body by Siebert. It is one of 11 known to be in existence.

Other noteworthy trucks include 1960s Ford F-100s of varying vintages; an original-condition, unrestored 1972 Ford F-250 Ranger XLT; and a 2000 Ford F-150 SVT Lightning, a factory-built, supercharged sport truck with a top speed of 140 mph.

The Museum is dividing its 20-vehicle gallery by era: the beginning, which covers 1948 through the 1950s; the 1960s through part of the ’90s, a period of dynamic cultural change; and the late-1990s through today when the line between work trucks and the luxury vehicles blurred.

“‘The Truck that Grew Up with America illustrates just how versatile the Ford F-Series has been over the years with our curated collection covering work trucks, hot rods, luxury and off-road vehicles,” said Scot Keller, ACM’s chief curator. “Over 13 generations, the F-Series has been a constant, but its evolution to remain a staple of American life has been nothing short of extraordinary.”

Partner Insights
Information to advance your business from industry suppliers
Maximizing Fleet Cost-Effectiveness
Presented by Michelin Connected Fleet
The new Volvo Trucks configurator
Presented by Volvo Trucks North America

“The Truck that Grew Up with America” runs through June 2015. For more information, visit ACM’s website.

About LeMay – America’s Car Museum (www.lemaymuseum.org)