photo posted by Eliminator
It wasn’t just Falcons and LTDs that were built in Brazil and Argentina for many years with the same body but updated grilles and such. This F4000 truck’s body dates back to the 1967-1972 US version F-Series, but this is from sometime in the mid 1980s or so, as the grille makes all-too obvious. That grille design instantly reminded me of a similar F-Series grille twenty years earlier.
I found a Brazilian site that has the history of the F-Series, so I’ll give you a very condensed version.
It reminded me of the 1965 F-Series, which has a grille I’ve always thought was the best of that generation. I don’t know if the Brazilian grille was an intentional update or just a coincidence, but the similarities are pretty obvious, although the ’66 does have two more egg crate openings than the newer one.
The early history of the Brazilian F-Series is somewhat predictable: Ford simply sent its tooling for the prior generation US F-Series to Brazil when a new one was in the works. The first generation built in Brazil was in 1960, and it was obviously the generation that had ended a few years earlier (1958) in the US.
In or about 1961 or 1962, the next generation’s tooling was shipped down to Brazil, and that one was made through 1971, with some updates on its front end styling, like this one from 1971.
Somewhat curiously, that pattern changed in 1970 or 1971 or 1972, depending on the source, when Brazil adopted the same generation that had been made in the US since 1967, and was due to be replaced in 1973. Why this happened a year or two early is a bit of a mystery. And of course the prior US generation (1961-1966) did not make the trip south.
It should be noted that diesel engines, first a Perkins and later a Ford FTO 4.4 L four were available from the beginning of this generation along with the venerable Y block V8.
A restyle which brought the grille our featured truck has was undertaken in 1985 for the 1986 model year.
For MY 1992, the F series adopted the US eight generation’s (1987-1991) tooling, returning to the pattern of earlier generations.
1997 brought the restyle that the US versions had received in 1992.
Since 2002 (?) the Brazilian F Series was analogue to the American Super Duty generation that started in 1999. And apparently, this one is still in production there, or was until recently.
OMG that grill is fugly! Looks like something out of MAD magazine.
This particular 70s-80s Brazilian F-Series grille is, to my eye, weirdly reminiscent of the ’81-2 Chevrolet C/K grille. Also, the Chevrolet D Series truck facia of that era has the same sort of bluntness that you’d see on a ’87-91 F-Series. Some real uncanny valley stuff was taking place down there at the time
I thought Chevrolet as soon as I saw it!
The Brazilian front end reminds me of a lot of things…and one thing it makes me think of is the grille and lower valence of the contemporary (83-88) Ford Ranger.
I would appreciate some help in understanding something about these…
I know next to nothing about the sheet metal stamping process, but I’ve always been led to believe that stamping dies wear out after (some number of) uses. Certain vehicles (Crown Vic, maybe?) were rumored to have been discontinued in part because the stamping dies wore out and it didn’t pay to create new dies.
And I would think – the F-series being so popular in the US – that by the end of a given generation those dies would be worn out. So how/why were the worn out dies of use to Ford of Brazil?
Typically there are multiple dies and/or stages involved in creating each part. Typically the shearing or blanking dies which cut out the shape of the part, either first or last step, wear more causing rough edges etc, than the forming dies which just stamp the curved portion of the panel. So perhaps they re-tooled part but not all of the dies, repaired them, or switched to a different, more labor-intensive but lower capital cost tool for those process steps. I’m just speculating as someone who has a lot of engineeringexperience with commercial sheetmetal but not high-volume automotive stamping.
The original Jeep Wagoneer/ Grand Wagoneer kept the same basic body for 28 years….From 1963-1991.
Perhaps the lower production numbers of these compared to a Ford F series meant less wear issues with the tooling and dies for the Wagoneer.
Yes, I know it’s a working vehicle for an emerging economy, but that simple stamped out grille, while echoing earlier designs, is a pretty poor effort. The earlier US versions visually worked better with the trim across the bonnet/hood edge and the 3D effect.
Looking at a well known website of reference (that usually a second to verify), I see there have been 14 generations of F series trucks over 75 years. I can’t immediately think of a European vehicle that has kept a designation running that long or through that many iterations.
@Paul – Big Yellow is Gen 4?
Do those 14 generations include the BEV Lightning? Although it looks like an F150 and shares some body and interior parts, with a new chassis/suspension/powertrain I’d argue that it’s a new gen. And, I saw one on the road yesterday … I also saw three Rivians and a Lucid on the same highway. But those will be CC’s for our grandchildren.
older vehicles that get a ‘modernized’ in developing markets almost invariably end up with somewhat dodgy styling.. it may be as headlamps and other parts available locally are quite different, but why they try and make them look newer is a mystery as i doubt its fooling anyone.
The landrovers lifespan was close, (the series models through to the original Defender) but production “only” lasted 65 years.. with a gap of a number of years between the last and most recent model, which is a completely different vehicle in design and market that only really shares a name
Roger, while I am loathe to link to another car-related website, here’s something I found quickly regarding the various generations of F-series.
https://automotobuzz.com/classic-cars/ford-f-series-trucks-a-quick-visual-guide-to-all-14-generations/
Paul’s is a fourth generation.
Thanks Jason!
Very well written story Paul. This one works daily hauling produce for street fairs.
As for the grile, the one in the top picture looks really awful, but it’s not original. The stock one (red truck in the post and the one here) looks much better in my opinion
I’d noticed that too, thanks for confirming it.
I also thought the top pic trucks grille had been tampered with. I’ve researched these trucks before, since I own a Ford truck of this generation, and I remembered the grille, while different, didn’t look so odd.
hi guys, i’m brazilian and i agree with some weird versions of f150. Regarding the engine, the most used engine in the f4000 was the MWM 229/4 diesel. FTO 4.4 and Perkins were not well accepted here. The Y-Blocks were all replaced by diesel engines by their owners. The OM-314 Mercedes, the MWM 229/4 themselves were used and some used the OM-352, also mercedes-benz. The F4000’s first rival was the Dodge D400 and later was the Chevrolet D40
Saw one on youtube recently floundering in South American mud I recognised it as a Ford but with hard worked diesel engine only one set of front lights it appeared to have led a hard life the grille didnt really fit and almost looked like a homebrew replacement but NO they actually made them like that.
My memory is a little fuzzy but didn’t Brazil also make a 4 door sedan based off the F Series trucks,complete with a trunk? I remember seeing them on the net but I can’t find any now. One picture I remember was a rear view showing what looked to be a supersized 1st gen Focus sedan.
You’re right. Starting in the 80s, at least until the slashing of import tariffs, in the early 90s, there was a small but relevant and profitable niche of “special” vehicles made by small businesses. It consisted in rebodied fiberglass full size trucks turned in to “SUVs”, double cab trucks or vans. Another niche, born in the 70’s, consisted in sporty cars based on the VW bug frame/power train and sometimes GM Opala too (see Puma GTB for example).
The thing is, some bespoke trucks were made to look like sedans, with enclosed trunks…
4 door SUVs, as well as “sedans”, were aftermarket produced by several firms in Brazil while imports were forbidden, restricted, or outrageously expensive. So, you may remember seeing some of them (Ford and Chevrolet, F and C). But none of them was factory produced, though I think I remember there were brand dealers who would sell you the finished vehicle.