Yes, there was a difference between a pickup and a truck with an express bed. It’s pretty irrelevant in the bigger scheme of things, but then we’re all about the irrelevant little anachronisms of automotive history, right? Finding this ’56 F-350 express in Port Orford gives us the perfect opening to delve into this somewhat obscure automotive semantical differentiation.
If one delves into the early days of truck and pickups, there’s a very definite differentiation between the two. Pickups initially were aftermarket or homemade short beds attached to the rear of 2-passenger roadster bodies. Why put that otherwise useless sloping rear deck to good use?
Ford saw the growing popularity of them and started offering a factory pickup on the Model T in late 1925. The key distinguishing elements were the passenger car (roadster) body and a short bed on the standard length wheelbase. It was clearly more of a modified passenger car than a true truck, or in other words, a utility/ute. The modern pickup evolved from that formula.
The express was a significantly older truck style, actually going back to the very earliest days of motorized trucks, as it was really just a motorized version of the very common horse-drawn express wagon, a light, multi-purpose wagon with usually one horsepower.
It could readily be converted to passenger hauling by adding a few seats.
As can also be seen on this lovely restored 1914 Model T Express. Note that the body does not share anything with the passenger car versions; it was built by a body maker and mounted on the bare chassis from the cowl back.
Here’s another by The Mifflinburg Body Company. You get the picture; a genuine light truck.
These two distinct lines of vehicles, one passenger-car based, the other truck-based, began to merge in the mid-30s, as Ford and the other major makers began to use a distinct truck cab for both light duty pickups as well as their larger trucks. This happened in 1935 at Ford.
This is really the beginning of the pickup’s elevation to being a ‘truck”, rather than a utility passenger car.
Despite sharing the same cab, there were still differences, as these 1941 Fords show. The 1/2 ton pickup on top has faired in headlights and fenders similar to the passenger cars, while the 1-ton express below has free-standing headlights and the cab sits a bit taller on top of the frame.
During these years, the 1/2 ton 6.5′ bed pickup was commonly referred to as “The Farm pickup”, thanks to its ability to do basic light hauling and provide transportation. Kids rode in the back, if there wasn’t a sedan on hand too.
The 3/4 and 1 ton trucks with these types of beds continued to be referred to as Express body trucks. More commonly they were used in various commercial settings as well as for heavier duty farm use.
As best as I can tell, the 9′ Express bed appears for apparently the first time in 1954, in F-350 1 ton format. These now had a longer 130″ wheelbase, shared with the platform stakes. Why?
To compete more effectively against Chevrolet, which has been offering a 9′ express bed 1 ton pickup since the mid-late ’30s.
Chevrolet was by far the #1 selling light truck back ten, and its 3800 series 1 ton express filled a niche that Ford decided it needed to compete in too.
So that’s the history, which apparently makes this ’56 Ford F-350 9′ express only the third year of its availability.
This particular truck has a bit of history too, and the graphic on the door might lead you to make a guess.
It’s not exactly the same, but it does evoke the zigzag or lightning bolt on the Grateful Dead logo. It turns out this truck was originally from Stinson Beach, and its owner was involved with the Dead in the early years. I was hoping to get more details from the current owner, but I haven’t run into him yet. But who knows…did it have some role in their seminal song “Truckin'”?
The seats have been recovered, but otherwise it looks quite original. The shifter is connected to a HD 4-speed with a very low 1st gear.
Under the hood is the 223 CID ohv inline six, rated at 133 hp. The only engine option was the 272 CID Y-block V8 rated at 167 hp. This six was new in 1952, and was a well-regarded engine. The new “Big Six” 240 and 300 replaced it in 1965.
It’s a bit surprising that Ford invested in new tooling for a wrap-around windshield for 1956, as these trucks would be replaced by the new 1957s, which had all-new cabs and beds, although still riding on essentially the same chassis as this generation.
This grizzled old vet does have a few wrinkles in its skin.
A bit more serious is rust damage just above the windshield. I suspect it may be from condensation forming on ceiling of the cab and then running downhill and getting trapped there. But I could be wrong. Sitting near the ocean increases the risk. Is this lead sheeting?
Tires are 215/75R17.5. Good to know they’re still available in that size.
It’s big enough to haul a horse, a couple of heifers, a half dozen pigs or a small flock of sheep.
Having done this history of the 9′ express, the obvious question is: When was this last made? According to Ford’s brochures, it was 1972. This is a 4×4 fire truck from that year. And why did it end that year?
Presumably sales were shrinking away to minute numbers, and in 1973, Ford somewhat superseded it with their F-350 Super Camper Special. Yes, the bed was only 8′ long, but used the extended 140″ wheelbase as had been used with the 9′ Flareside bed. Now the market for large slide-in campers had become significant, and the Super Camper Special catered to that. Who still wanted a 9′ Flareside bed? Its days were over.
Related CC reading:
Curbside Classic: 1973 Ford F-350 Super Camper Special – Ford Goes Camping In A Superlative Way
Curbside Classic: 1930 Ford Model A Pickup – The Modern Pickup is Born?
Hmmmm….explains a 9 ft bed in my FC 170 and a 9 ft bed on the M715…..maybe
Learned a new one today – didn’t know these were called express beds. Thanks.
Interesting! I knew that express meant a car-based pickup or ute, but didn’t know that the term later morphed into a long and narrow bed.
Great photos of a nice-looking express example. And excellent breakdown of the differentiation with pickups. I love the look of this example. Very commercial-appearing, as well.
May not be obvious for those doing general automotive research on the web, but CC really is an online single source encyclopedia, as a huge resource of more obscure, and less obscure automotive-related info. If you have to a dig a bit more. Compared to say, Wikipedia. Tremendous amount of valuable data here.
Wow! I’m here mostly to learn, and you came through yet again, Paul….if this information/distinction was ever in front of me before, it passed by without notice.
Fun to see your still-working truck there in Port Orford, with a reminder of how many horsepower used to be “enough to get the job done.”
Pretty neat to see this old workhorse still going .
-Nate
I wonder if the difference between “pickup” and “express” was muddier and more manufacturer-specific in the 40’s and 50’s.
I would argue that “express” had become a more generic term for trucks – it was certainly part of the name of many early commercial trucking lines. Studebaker’s “Coupe Express” would not have been the same kind of vehicle that Ford’s express was. Also, a look at some Chevrolet brochures of the era shows that they used the term “Pick-Up” even in the heavy duty 3800 series, a convention that seemed to go back several years. For 1948, the term “express” was only used for an open-sided panel truck or for a stake bed (flatbed) truck with a gate on the back. Dodge, however, used “Pick-Up body” (in the lighter B series) and “Express body” (C and D series) in 1948, in which the Express body was both longer and wider by five inches.
It was certainly a great name to affix to a longer heavy duty pickup to differentiate it from Ford’s lighter duty versions. And I love that this old one is still on the road.