Lil4X

This new version of the F-250 turned up today at the press preview for the Houston Auto show. Although something this radical will never see production, it sure could change my way of thinking about dowdy old pickups. In person, it’s actually stunning – as if trying to occupy more of the planet than any vehicle should. . . .



What makes it interesting is the fact that it would probably be a pretty sorry pickup. The orientation of this thing is the luxury market (OK it does boast a blown V-10, but it’s supposed to be environmentally friendly (as if). It's "Tri-flex fuel" engine, running on gasoline, E85, or hydrogen (with the blower) looks a little out of place in such a massive platform - hey, is this the way to green goodness?

For the purists among us, it needs to be alternately optioned with the diesel . . .and a big air horn on the roof of the cab.

Here’s the prototype - at least the AT&SF version:



The interior is what makes this a luxury vehicle - with the vista-dome roof. Oh, and the bi-level oak-floored bed. It's the new crossover vehicle, a truck-train!

Read more at: http://media.ford.com/newsroom/relea...?release=22295

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

A concept is a concept: I don't think Ford will be the one to actually turn this into a reality. Perhaps Honda or Toyota, who lead the hybrid and hydrogen tech R&D, will be able to pull off something like this.

Leets

... and it's only a matter of time before every kid in OC has one with a 6 foot lift.

Skulinex

I believe that, just as with the toyota truck concept, they simply use them to give an idea of the design direction of upcoming models... exageration of size serves as 'shock value', attracts more attention, BAM, etc ..

Gojirra99

Very nice Will not make it to production in that form though . . .

mmarshall

Change your username again, Amethy?

Lil4X

Talking with a few friends who also dropped by the preview, we came to this consensus: Yeah, it is just a concept, but it is primarily a dipstick in the buying public's willingness to pay lux-bucks for a lux-truck that skews from the conventional interpretation. This is not just a plush pickup, but a luxury Hummer - primarily a style statement that oozes testosterone.

How far is FMC willing to go? Is this the automotive equivalent of the V-Rod, a breakaway style that is unmistakable among dozens of imitators? Finally are they planning to build it?

The answer is a qualified yes - depending on the responses at this year's auto shows. Note that Ford has patented the rear-door knuckle joint, making a pillarless suicide door practical. Forget the engine technology, that Tri-Flex engine could wind up in anything - in fact a dual-fuel powerplant is being tested in fleet service now, and Ford is spending a lot of R&D budget on hydrogen, perhaps hoping to leapfrog the currently trendy hybrid phase altogether. But developing an ecologically sound prime mover is not the critical part of the Super Chief concept - except possibly to deflect criticism like that given the Expedition . . . too big, too thirsty. Pickup guys understand fuel consumption is not an issue. Until it reaches a 1:1 relationship with the odometer, miles per gallon is of no consequence when considering visual cojones. Pickup guys know that.

Most of the exterior features of the Super Chief, the high door sills, the narrow window slits (see Chrysler's latest idiom) could point the way to the next-generation of F vehicles. The grille, the flares, the 22" rims, the wood bed floor - even the vista-dome roof - these are all bolt-ons to the basic new Ford truck. Remember the "Tonka Truck" concept shown a few years ago? As impressive as it was from a styling standpoint, it had no real relationship to anything else in the line. It was doomed to be an orphan because it couldn't be "reverse engineered" back into a practical work truck.

At the end of the day, that's most important to the automaker. They will sell hundreds – if not thousands of stripped 2-door F-150s to us working stiffs for every Super Chief on the lot. Most of us would like that visual relationship to the top-of-the-line truck, even if our model spends most of its life loaded with wheelbarrows and shovels. The Super Chief concept (less the suicide doors and the glass roof, the plush interior and ottomans) could see service as a work truck or a low-cost suburban runabout.

Is it practical? In somewhat reduced form, it could easily be built for the masses. Will it be produced? Probably not quite in the form seen here, but it is a huge step closer to a production item than the screaming yellow Hummer-Tonka.

I want mine in the V-Rod-imitating silver and chrome, and for that authentic Super Chief image, with a diesel engine and a pair of air horns, one facing forward, one back, on the roof. If I'm going to drive a locomotive, I want it to sound and smell like one. I can see me with one foot on the side step, blowing those massive horns and shouting "'BOOOOAAARD!!!" at 6am on Saturday morning.

Oh, it’s going to be payback time for my stupid neighbor who rolled me out before daylight this morning, beeping the horn on his little Durango and screaming at his kids . . .

mmarshall

Maybe HIS kids got HIM up before daylight.

Anyhow, back to the truck. It looks to me, vaguely, like it was meant to compete, at least looks-wise wih the Dodge Power Wagon. The ultra-chunky and square-block lines definitely give me that impression, though the Power Wagon, unlike this truck, is a two-door. We've seen and heard a lot about the Power Wagon, but yet to actually see anything in production.

LexFather

Ford needs to get off its butt and put a damn engine in teh Ford 500 that is not the weakest in class. Its not a bad car, it needs an optional more powerful engine.

My God, the LAST SHO offered a V-8. Now they have AWD AND CVT but a week engine???

THey need to not put their time and effort into this and into things people CAN BUY

Gojirra99

Wallpapers HERE