1997 Ford F-150 Review

Ford indicates that you can forget its new cars--at least for the moment. It is intensely more interested in how you feel about its radically revamped 1997 F-Series full-size pickup truck.

No wonder. The highly profitable F-Series is a real cash cow for Ford. It's been the top-selling vehicle in the combined car/truck industry for the past 14 years--and the industry's best-selling pickup for nearly 20 years.

In fact, the F-Series outsold the Ford Mustang, Probe and Taurus combined by 125,426 units during the first 11 months of this year. That's saying an awful lot because the Taurus is America's best-selling car.

This year, Ford expects to sell more light trucks than cars.

A whopping 698,418 F-Series trucks were sold in the 1995 model year--despite the fact that the F-Series hasn't undergone a major change since 1980.

Ford thus is understandably nervous about the larger new model--although a revamp of the F-Series, which comes in a variety of models, is overdue.

The 1997 F-150, which I recently tested, goes on sale Jan. 25. But to help traditionalists get used to the new F-Series design--and to ease retooling of F-Series plants--Ford is offering the 1996 F-Series pickups, including the F-250, F-350 and Super Duty models, for the rest of the 1996 model year. All eventually get the new F-Series design.

In fact, even the current F-150 Regular Cab 1996 models will be sold this model year, alongside the 1997 F-150. The F-150 traditionally has accounted for nearly 70 percent of total F-Series pickup truck sales.

The 1997 F-150 will be offered in regular and roomier SuperCab models and in four series. Prices begin at $14,430 for the base two-wheel-drive, short-wheelbase F-150 with a nifty shifting five-speed manual transmission. That's only a few hundred bucks more than the comparable 1996 model, which has less equipment.

My test F-150 XLT long-wheelbase, two-wheel-drive automatic transmission model will have a $19,111 base price, and a SuperCab version of it will go for $21,351. The rakish Flareside model will start at $16,460.

The smooth-shifting automatic transmission costs $971 extra. And air conditioning will be $306 for manual-transmission models and $806 for automatic-transmission F-150s.

Because pickup trucks increasingly are being used as combination personal/work vehicles, Ford had to make the new-generation F-Series sleeker in appearance and more car-like in ride and handling, without taking away its muscular image and ability to work as hard as ever--if not harder.

Ford listened to complaints of F-Series pickup owners and changed things to make their lives easier. For instance, it routed the exhaust pipe tip in front of a rear wheel because of complaints about damage to the tailpipe when backing up to loading ramps.

Ford must have done lots of listening--besides considerable thinking on its own--because it has greatly improved the F-Series pickup, judging by my test drive.

The 1997 truck has new styling, new engines, new front suspension, a roomy, sculpted interior with a central switch pod like the one in the new Taurus, rear-wheel anti-lock brakes and one of the truck market's hottest new items: a third door on the SuperCab extended-cab version for easier entry and exit.

The new F-150 also has the first overhead-camshaft V-8--a $637 option--for a full-size pickup. Called the Triton, the smooth, rugged, 210-horsepower V-8 delivers a neck-snapping 290 foot-pounds of torque and propels the F-150 from 0 to 60 m.p.h. in a quick 8.8 seconds. It'll go 100,000 miles between tuneups.

Many full-size pickup truck buyers are traditionalists. Thus, Ford is afraid some might bypass the 4.6-liter V-8 for a conventional, non-overhead-camshaft pushrod V-8 from rivals such as Chevrolet. But it's doubtful that will happen much when potential buyers climb behind the wheel of the Triton-powered truck.

The other new F-150 engine is a 4.2-liter, 205-horsepower pushrod V-6. It's a quiet, formidable motor, with the same 100,000-mile tuneup interval as the Triton and more power than standard engines in rival pickups.

Accompanying the new F-150 engines is a car-like front suspension. It replaces Ford's Twin I-Beam front suspension, which dates from the 1960s, and provides a better ride. The new suspension also allows the truck's hood to be lowered, resulting in sharper styling, better aerodynamics to cut wind noise and improved driver visibility. It seems strange in a big pickup not to see a lot of hood sheetmetal from the driver's seat.

The F-150 with the new V-8 easily cruises at 80 m.p.h., but flaws include awkwardly located power driver seat controls and cupholders that jump out unexpectedly from the dashboard if you try to open the ashtray.

The more rigid 1997 F-150 has precise new power steering with a distractingly heavy feel. Such steering is preferable to steering with excessive power boost, but is unexpected in such a car-like truck.

Handling is excellent, and the ride is generally good--although it gets a little jittery with an unloaded pickup bed on uneven pavement.

Among new standard items are dual airbags (with a passenger airbag deactivation system if a child seat is used), optional ($500) four-wheel anti-lock brakes, the biggest pickup box by volume and the highest available V-8 payload in its class.