Did Ford ever produce a Commercial version of the 35-36 pickup?

[Roothawg]

Ford seems to have dabbled in some oddities, special order type stuff for certain folks.

I was curious, if Ford ever produced a larger pickup on the big truck chassis?

I saw a picture of one on the net once and I am guessing it was a custom that someone built and was just telling people it was a factory Ford deal.

Not saying that it didn't happen, but this is the only one I have ever seen.

Lawson Cox wanna chime in on this????

Here is a pic of the truck in question.

[Lawson Cox]

I have never heard of such a truck, either 35 or 36, but I am not all that familiar with the bigger trucks. I think someone did a nice job in fabricating a bed to look like a pickup on a 1.5 ton frame. Maybe Dave Gunnarson can chime in here.

FWIW, the pickup is a commercial vehicle, so your "commercial version of a pickup" sort of throws me.

Nice looking vehicle though.

[Don Rogers]

Ford most likely didn't build that large truck with pickup bed. There were hundreds of special body makers that made bodies for Ford trucks and other makes also. Here are 2 special bodies made by Hercules Company and Square Deal Commercial Body Co.. for Ford trucks.

[scrapiron]

Single rear wheel C&C were available, as were large panel trucks with single wheels.
Check out Wagner's truck book.

[alanwoodieman]

Ford had a big version of a PU in the AA's (remember the truck on Walton's Mtn) and in 38 and up they had a tonner pick-up built on a big truck frame, so maybe they did

[Karl Wescott]

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We had a similar vehicle stored on our shop property in the late 70's, early 80's? What I remember was it had the same 1/2 ton fenders and extended running boards but on an extended 1/2 ton chassis (smaller wheels). IIRC the story was it was one of several that were either a custom or special order for the US Forest Service.

[Roothawg]

Sorry Lawson, I couldn't think of a term that would fit. I was thinking "heavy duty, industrial"..... Etc. commercial sounded like it fit. Sorry about the confusion.

I knew you guys would have pics.
The reason I was wondering, is that I have a lot of big truck parts left over from a previous build and figured it might make for a neat hauler to pull my vintage travel trailer with.

[Snouts out]

It looks like 1 ton pu to me,later on I think they were called an open express.

[t-head]

In researching an article for The Old Motor recently I ran in to a great listing that also includes some photos of Ford commercial bodies and info on who made them from 1908-1941 at Coachbuilt.com

Here is the link: http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/f/ford/ford.htm

[oldandtired]

It seems to me that they made various trucks like firetrucks, ambulances, wreckers and the like that had dual rear wheels with fenders that were designed for dual rear wheels...I have seen some of those rear fenders and an acquaintance of mine in Forney, Texas bought a pair of them. They also made extended running boards that were both wider and longer and had pieces toward the rear that went out to the wider rear fenders. I would be a bit surprised if they did not make what amounts to an express pickup. Anthony also made beds back then...I had one that I passed along to Jay Temple...it was originally on a 35 half-ton with overload springs in the rear and it used the OEM fenders and boards. It may have been a dump bed at one time, but I did not have any dump mechanism for it. On the pickup, it looked like an express pickup...the bed was longer, a bit higher, heavier and very solid...the tailgate had "Anthony" on it, not Ford.

[Clem Clement]

There was a 39 at Hershey some years back. Different looking thing

[Jeff/Illinois]

THAT is one cool '36 Ford truck!!

I have seen pictures of a '29 Roadster 'pickup' made on a AA frame. Looked factory if it was a special build somebody did a heck of a nice job on it. If I find the picture I will link it here..............

[Model51]

Perhaps I can clear up any confusion. The truck at the beginning of this thread is a 1936 Model 51 truck. It's either the 131 1/2" or 157" wheel base with single wheels on the rear and matching single wheel rear fenders. Single wheels and no helper springs was the standard offering and with standard 6.00 x 20 tires was rated at 1 1/2 tons. Most trucks sold were intended to haul loads and came with dual rear wheels and helper springs boosting the rating up to 4 tons with the most heavy duty tires.

As the post from Don Rogers correctly points out, there were several aftermarket suppliers of beds like the bed on this truck. Ford did not manufacture this bed. According to the Ford literature from 1936, the only truck bodies available directly from Ford were a platform or platform-stake and a dump chassis with a dump body made by Wood or Gallion. Ford sold trucks with just a closed cab and bare frame rails which could accept a body suitable for the job the purchaser intended. Enterprising Ford Truck salesman purchased a "Truck Directory" from Dearborn which was a spiral bound presentation album with pages, similar in size and feel to the Truck Dealer Showroom Album, full of ads for various aftermarket products that when mated to the bare frame rails created a truck suitable for the job. In this case, a great heavy-duty low-sided bed. I wish I had one!

Also, this is a Ford Truck, not a Ford pickup. The pickup was based on the car chassis and Ford classified the pickup as a "Commercial Car" back in the day. The truck chassis is completely different, although it shared the same cab, hood, grille and engine. The maximum rated load for all 1936 Ford Trucks is 15 tons which would crush a pickup. When you compare the truck frame to the commercial car frame, you can see the size difference. It's easy to confuse the pickup and truck because the look the same up front and we commonly use these terms interchangeably today, but they were completely different vehicles back then.

Hope this helps.

[Model51]

One more note. Ford did produce the long running board extensions, single and dual rear fenders and a special running board adapter for the dual fenders. Looks like this truck has the running board extensions too.

[Roothawg]

Excellent information Model 51. Thanks for your help.

[bart78]

[bart78]

Sorry it's so big. But I like this one.

[wingerdinger]

Originally Posted by Model51

Perhaps I can clear up any confusion. The truck at the beginning of this thread is a 1936 Model 51 truck. It's either the 131 1/2" or 157" wheel base with single wheels on the rear and matching single wheel rear fenders. Single wheels and no helper springs was the standard offering and with standard 6.00 x 20 tires was rated at 1 1/2 tons. Most trucks sold were intended to haul loads and came with dual rear wheels and helper springs boosting the rating up to 4 tons with the most heavy duty tires.

As the post from Don Rogers correctly points out, there were several aftermarket suppliers of beds like the bed on this truck. Ford did not manufacture this bed. According to the Ford literature from 1936, the only truck bodies available directly from Ford were a platform or platform-stake and a dump chassis with a dump body made by Wood or Gallion. Ford sold trucks with just a closed cab and bare frame rails which could accept a body suitable for the job the purchaser intended. Enterprising Ford Truck salesman purchased a "Truck Directory" from Dearborn which was a spiral bound presentation album with pages, similar in size and feel to the Truck Dealer Showroom Album, full of ads for various aftermarket products that when mated to the bare frame rails created a truck suitable for the job. In this case, a great heavy-duty low-sided bed. I wish I had one!

Also, this is a Ford Truck, not a Ford pickup. The pickup was based on the car chassis and Ford classified the pickup as a "Commercial Car" back in the day. The truck chassis is completely different, although it shared the same cab, hood, grille and engine. The maximum rated load for all 1936 Ford Trucks is 15 tons which would crush a pickup. When you compare the truck frame to the commercial car frame, you can see the size difference. It's easy to confuse the pickup and truck because the look the same up front and we commonly use these terms interchangeably today, but they were completely different vehicles back then.

Hope this helps.

Thank you very much for all the information, Model51. I am a recent purchaser of a 1935 Model 51 stakebed. I appreciate any information I can gather.

[Kerk]

I believe there was one built in N.H. and was very nice! I think it was sold to someone in the South. Not sure where.

[BlueSunoco]

Nice. VERY well done!