My dad inherited my great grandfather’s 55 Chevy pickup that was used on the farm and at his Case dealership.I was born in 1957. We had full time working farms in both sides of the family. They raised some cattle while farming was the largest part. Everyone I grew up knowing in the area who had trucks , really USED trucks for the intended purpose trucks were developed for. WORK & the outdoors life. All had a rifle in the window rack behind the seat. Today trucks come with interiors almost as luxurious and limosines. I do not think many who pay close $100,000 these days for one of those gigantic trucks (with near show car finish paint jobs) and interiors as plush and nice as little studio apartments intends to do any thing close to work with them or even much of what is called off roading. Certainly not mudding. Yet to each his own.
Short bed, standard cab.
235 ci straight 6, manual trans with a granny gear
2wd
Bench seat, no radio, poor heat, no AC
Granted, farms and farm equipment were smaller then, but, there were lots of loads of things to haul. It wasn’t meant to do the work of a tractor or a straight truck with a dump bed.
I was on a farm in the 90’s that used 2wd D150 pickups for everything. It wasn’t until the early 2000’s that extended cabs and 4wd became the norm. Limited slip axles were needed, but not 4wd back in the 90’s.
Europeans farm vehicles tend to be small trucks, vans, or station wagons that pull trailers, or they have a big truck designed for the job rather than a daily driven pickup.
People have decided they need the big stuff. Money was cheap and jobs were plentiful.
Give me an F150 LT with vinyl interior anyday!