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The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Pickups
If modern automotive myth is to be believed, then America was built on the backs of a heavy-duty Mack, an International tractor, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, and a Ford F-series pickup. This illustrated history of pickups, including Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford, GMC, and Jeep, is a perfect addition to the library of anyone who loves the American story and the history of the working people of this nation. Pickup trucks were the workhorses of an entire nation for the best part of a centuryâ??a constant presence through American history. In the 1920's, hard-working Midwestern farmers relied on their Model Ts and Chevys to coax a living from the land before loading up and fleeing to California as fields turned to dust in the 1930s. Militarized pickups helped to win the war, though by the 1950s and ‘60s pickups were back on the farm, on the building site, or acting as carry-alls for rapidly-expanding businesses. Until the early 1960s, pickups were working vehicles but sales rocketed through the decade as they were used to haul boats and camping trailers or transport hunters into the field. It began to dawn, as two-car families became increasingly common, that two-seater pickups weren't quite as impractical as they seemed, and it was not unusual for the owner of a sedan or station wagon to buy a pickup as well.
- GenresNonfiction
448 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2005
8 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 25, 2024
This might be called a small sized coffee table book, about 8 1/2" by 10 1/2" and 440 pages long.
It is loaded with color photographs of mouth watering photos of pick up trucks going back to the beginning of the 20th century. The timeline stops sadly in 2006 at the publication date of the book.
Sadly, that means that the last 18 years of history are not covered.
That is kind of sad, but hopefully another, updated edition of this book will be produced.
The book is a comprehensive history of just about every company that has manufactured or even sold pick up trucks in the United States, even if the total number of trucks is only in the hundreds.
There are some interesting accounts in the book, like how Henry Ford got into the truck game when his customers put a truck body on a Model T chassis. Ford would not build trucks themselves until 1925. A number of vehicle manufacturers got into the pick up truck business this way.
One story that I discovered here was that of the "Dodge Brothers" who were often used for decades, up to the 1980's to market their trucks. They began building complete automobiles under the "Dodge Brothers" brand in 1914, predating the founding of the Chrysler Corporation. John Dodge died from the Spanish flu in January 1920, having lungs weakened by tuberculosis 20 years earlier. Horace died in December of the same year, perhaps weakened by the Spanish flu, but the cause of death was cirrhosis of the liver. Their company was sold by their families to Dillon, Read & Co. in 1925 before being sold to Chrysler in 1928. You are never told this part of the tragic story, but you see it here. They were building trucks for less than a decade.
The story of the Willys-Overland Company and the creation of the JEEP brand is told here, and the tale of International Harvester and their popular pick up trucks is well worth reading too.
One of the only drawbacks of this book is that it is mainly populated with photos of restored vintage trucks. There are very few stock photos of what the trucks originally looked like. Sometimes the author has to resort to photos of old trucks sitting and rusting away in farm fields. There is one way this book could have been improved, digging into the archives and publishing some original, historic photos.
So who should read this book? The people who find themselves attending car shows and really, anyone who has to stop a gawk when a beautiful old truck drives by.
It is loaded with color photographs of mouth watering photos of pick up trucks going back to the beginning of the 20th century. The timeline stops sadly in 2006 at the publication date of the book.
Sadly, that means that the last 18 years of history are not covered.
That is kind of sad, but hopefully another, updated edition of this book will be produced.
The book is a comprehensive history of just about every company that has manufactured or even sold pick up trucks in the United States, even if the total number of trucks is only in the hundreds.
There are some interesting accounts in the book, like how Henry Ford got into the truck game when his customers put a truck body on a Model T chassis. Ford would not build trucks themselves until 1925. A number of vehicle manufacturers got into the pick up truck business this way.
One story that I discovered here was that of the "Dodge Brothers" who were often used for decades, up to the 1980's to market their trucks. They began building complete automobiles under the "Dodge Brothers" brand in 1914, predating the founding of the Chrysler Corporation. John Dodge died from the Spanish flu in January 1920, having lungs weakened by tuberculosis 20 years earlier. Horace died in December of the same year, perhaps weakened by the Spanish flu, but the cause of death was cirrhosis of the liver. Their company was sold by their families to Dillon, Read & Co. in 1925 before being sold to Chrysler in 1928. You are never told this part of the tragic story, but you see it here. They were building trucks for less than a decade.
The story of the Willys-Overland Company and the creation of the JEEP brand is told here, and the tale of International Harvester and their popular pick up trucks is well worth reading too.
One of the only drawbacks of this book is that it is mainly populated with photos of restored vintage trucks. There are very few stock photos of what the trucks originally looked like. Sometimes the author has to resort to photos of old trucks sitting and rusting away in farm fields. There is one way this book could have been improved, digging into the archives and publishing some original, historic photos.
So who should read this book? The people who find themselves attending car shows and really, anyone who has to stop a gawk when a beautiful old truck drives by.
April 23, 2020
I have always loved pick-up trucks and came across this small coffee-table book. Brilliant, beautiful, glossy photographs that cover a variety of companies, years, and styles. But looking at the pictures was about all I was interested in doing at this point -- I am a visual person. I may have read a little while flipping through the pictures, but the font size was very small and a strain on the eyes...so I am putting it off until another time.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews