Posted by Sean on Tuesday, March 04, 2003 at 4:55PM :
One of the primary reasons I was first interested in FFPW's was their appearance
Form follows Function
in a big way - they look like what they are, serious trucks, Farm Utility Vehicles, no false advertising, what you see is what you get, etc.
Which brings me to my subject - Why do trucks look the way they do today? Are there sound engineering reasons, or do they look that way because of Nadarism and Safety Standards and so forth, or primarily because of Madison Avenue - sell the sizzle, not the steak? It seems to me there is a lot of sheet metal there that doesn't need to be.
Is there really a need for truck fenders and pick-up boxes to look the way they do today? Headlights incorporated into the fenders, compound curves etc.?
Is that good sound engineering, or do they look the way they do because in 1947 or '48 the folks in Detroit thought the U.S. Consumer wanted something NEW and IMPROVED and that it had to look that way too? and things have just evolved from there?
Wouldn't it be easier, cheaper and so forth to "make them like they used to" ? The pickup box really a BOX with 3 sides, a bottom and a tail gate? Is it me, or does it seem silly to have to use a body lift to put larger tires and wheels on, when, if the fenders were FLAT FENDERS you could go up to 38" or so without a lift?
Or am I just a curmudgeon with a wild hair up my nose?
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