Boys' toys from Brazil

By ALASTAIR SLOANE

Ford New Zealand is aiming its new line-up of F250 and F350 pick-up trucks at the "Southern man" - the mythical tough guy marketing people say is different from the rest.

Ford talked about engineers and contractors, landscapers and farmers, growers and towies as potential buyers, too. It talked also of "dual-purpose buyers looking for a vehicle to take on to the worksite during the week and to tow the boat or horse-float on the weekend".

But it said nothing about Neanderthal man. Not even in jest. Even when it was suggested that the F-Series trucks, for all their practicality and popularity in the United States, are getting long in the tooth.

They're big and bulky and their interiors are old-fashioned. The chassis and leaf-spring suspension are from another age, too. All this in a world going green?

What blasphemy, said Ford. The F-Series trucks are made by modern man, goldarn it. Henry Ford, bless him, would be proud of the F-Series.

Okay, so there haven't been any major improvements for a few years but these trucks work, by golly. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, remember?

More than 900,000 Americans bought an F-Series truck last year. It's the best-selling vehicle in the United States, from Wall St to Whistle Stop, New Mexico.

Without the F-series, the American car industry would turn turtle. Neanderthal man, indeed. A fella should be horsewhipped for saying such a thing.

Yes, the F-Series is the best-selling vehicle in America. And, yes, old Henry would be proud of it, mostly because he redesigned the leaf-spring suspension it uses - 40-odd years before the F-Series even appeared.

Back in the early-1900s, according to an obituary, Henry was looked on as an inventive but day-dreaming mechanic who preferred to tinker with odd machines rather than take a full-time job.

But within a few years his mass-produced Model T car changed the American way of life. Much of its continued success as a large-quantity, low-cost product had to do with changes Henry made to the assembly line.

Under the old factory system, a single workman built an entire leaf spring, using several different tools and performing many different operations in the process.

But Henry, ever the innovator, substituted an arrangement under which each worker performed a single specialised operation.

To make a single leaf of a spring, for instance, 11 workmen stood in line, each using a single tool. A moving conveyor belt carried the steel from which the leaf was made along the line, at waist-high level.

The workers never had to stoop or move to get anything, and the speed at which they worked was controlled by the speed of the conveyor rather than the desires of the workmen.

These days, the assembly process is different. But the leaf-spring remains. It is not the most comfortable suspension system, but it's simple, as tough as a trail boss and good for towing and carrying big loads.

And that's why Ford reckons its F250 and F350 will find a special place in New Zealand.

"These trucks cross so many barriers," said Ford's light truck manager, Jane Winterman. "There's nothing else quite like them in New Zealand, so they will really be creating their own market segment.

"They also have an almost legendary status in the marketplace. Their presence on the road is awesome and people just genuinely seem to love them."

The F250 and F350 are built at Ford's right-hand-drive plant in Brazil and come in four-wheel-drive and two-wheel-drive with two body (pick-up and cab/chassis) styles and three cab (single, stretch and crew) styles. The four-paw models have a shift-on-the-fly system, good for up to 88km/h.

There are two engine options - a 5.4-litre petrol V8 producing 194kW at 4500rpm and 475Nm of torque at 2500rpm, and a 7.3-litre turbo-diesel developing 175kW at 2600rpm and a whopping 684Nm at 1800rpm.

Both engines are fed by fuel tanks with a capacity of between 113 and 152 litres. Of the 12 models in the range, 10 use a four-speed automatic gearbox and two a six-speed manual. Braked towing capacity across the range is 4.5 tonnes.

The F250 and F350 are priced between $80,100 and $102,500 and come in two specification levels XL and the more upmarket XLT. All vehicles come standard with air-conditioning, power steering, power mirrors and dual airbags, while the list of XLT extras includes power windows, cruise control, remote entry and alloy wheels on F250 models.

Ford Australia developed what it calls a "Quadra-shock" rear suspension system, uprated shock-absorbers for better comfort for F250 passengers on Down Under corrugated dirt roads. Ford says the system also handles bitumen surfaces without making the ride too firm.

A day behind the wheel of both vehicles to put them through their paces in the Coromandel revealed a suspension system that is simply dated. But Ford wouldn't have it any other way. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, remember?

The two-wheel-drive F250 with an independent front and rear leaf-spring set-up was much more responsive and accurate in comparison.

Over farm country, the four-wheel-drive models quietly went about their business, the torquey engines delivering lazy oomph.

So why did Ford bring the big workhorses into New Zealand? "It's entirely market-driven," says Winterman.

"F-Series represents a terrific opportunity for us. The nature of the vehicle is such that not only does it span a number of existing segments, but it also provides us with an opportunity to meet the needs of customers looking for a vehicle somewhere between the smaller Japanese one-tonners and larger, full-scale trucks."

So far, so good. The first models have gone to buyers in the South Island. Southern man doesn't give a hoot about Neanderthal man.