The development of pickup trucks in the U.S. automotive market spans a century of American history. For various reasons, pickup trucks have moved from the 'background' to the 'forefront,' evolving from basic utility vehicles to an important means for Americans to pursue enjoyment and improve their quality of life. They have become a symbol of the 'American Dream' and the 'American spirit.'

When it comes to the pickup truck segment, the pioneer was undoubtedly the Ford Motor Company. Let’s turn the clock back 102 years to 1917. At that time, World War I was entering its fourth year, the October Revolution broke out in Russia, and Zhang Xun attempted to restore the Qing dynasty.

A year before Alfred P. Sloan Jr., the greatest CEO in General Motors' history, joined GM, and Walter Chrysler, the founder of Chrysler, was still at the helm of the Buick Motor Company.

The Ford Model T had already been around for nine years, marking the dawn of a new era—the mass production of the Model T transformed the United States into a 'nation on wheels.' During that time, Ford Motor Company, with the Model T as its core product, held a 60% share of the U.S. automotive market.

That year, Ford introduced the Ford Model TT. Based on the architecture of the Ford Model T, the Model TT featured a reinforced frame and rear axle, increasing its payload capacity to 0.9 tons. However, for the 30 years after the birth of the pickup truck, it continued to serve its role as a 'means of production.'

It wasn’t until the 1950s, after World War II, that the pickup truck began to shift toward a more lifestyle-oriented role, coinciding with the dawn of a new era in the American automotive industry.

Another style of pickup truck, born in the Australian market—the Coupe Utility (known as the UTE in Australia)—also made its way to the United States. Products like the Ford Ranchero and Chevrolet El Camino began to appear on the market.

These pickups were also influenced by the post-World War II automotive design trends, incorporating numerous aircraft-inspired elements such as tailfins and tail lights. What set them apart was the rear cargo bed, blending the design features of both a pickup truck and a coupe. Their unconventional styling, along with other products of the era, helped create the vibrant aesthetic of the 1950s and 1960s. This design style of pickup trucks was later further developed in Australia and remains popular to this day.

At the same time, traditional functional pickup trucks also began to undergo updates. The first generation of the Ford F-Series was introduced in 1948, and Chevrolet’s pioneering 3100-series pickup trucks were also launched around the same time.

The pickups of that era had a rounded, approachable design, a stark contrast to the rugged styling of modern pickups, and they bore the distinct imprint of their time.

However, it cannot be denied that the earliest Ford F-Series pickups were still associated with labels like 'rural' and 'workhorse.' In the well-known video game Grand Theft Auto V, which reflects American society, the first-generation Ford F-Series appears as the vehicle of the NPC motorcycle gang.

In the years that followed, two events changed the trajectory of pickup trucks in American automotive history.

In 1964, in response to tariffs imposed by the French and West German governments on U.S. chicken exports, President Lyndon B. Johnson introduced countermeasures, historically known as the 'Chicken Tax.'

Initially, the tax imposed a 25% tariff on potato starch, dextrin, and brandy, and later a 25% tariff on imported light trucks. The introduction of this tariff directly led to the gradual withdrawal of the popular 'workhorse' vehicle, the Volkswagen Type 2, from the U.S. market after 1964.

The Chicken Tax undoubtedly squeezed the market space for similar products from European and Japanese automakers, laying the groundwork for the development of American pickup trucks. From 1964 until the wave of Japanese manufacturers establishing factories in the U.S. two decades later, the Chicken Tax provided American pickup truck manufacturers with a period of nearly competition-free development.