Red, white and blue oval

Red, white and blue oval

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Photos by -Autonet.ca
Published: 15 08 2007

In the electric steambath of a Tampa night, the faithful are emerging from SUVs, stretch limos, and pickup trucks.

There are even some sedans.

We’ve got enough sun-bleached blonde manes to start a wheat field.

Everywhere are denim shorts, western boots and well-sculpted straw cowboy hats. And that’s just the ladies.

This distillation of Republican Florida, ice-cold Bud Lites in hand, is here to see Toby Keith, the king of redneck country rock who’s also the long-time face and voice of Ford truck TV commercials.

He’s performing at the Ford Amphitheatre in front of a mammoth rendition of an F-series Super Duty grille, complete with blue oval, and the jumbo screens will between sets flash images of America’s best-selling pickup while urging "WIN A FORD TRUCK. WIN TOBY FOR A BACKYARD CONCERT."

This, y’all, is Ford country ...

Scroll back a few hours and 10 miles, to the muted confines of a well refrigerated small convention hall.

Besides the usual array of tables and chairs, buffet lunch is laid out for some Ford product managers and a handful of journalists.

In sharp contrast, the rest of the room contains the bare-naked chassis of a Chevy Silverado, a Toyota Tundra, and — naturally — an F-150.

On nearby displays are the leaf-spring assemblies of all three, and the assorted bolts that hold those bits together.

We’re about to see a demonstration of comparative torsional rigidity, along with testimony that the Ford springs are bigger and tougher; and that the bolts, which do indeed dwarf the others, are stronger.

There’s also a video showing box shake on a test track of speed bumps.

By cantilevering weights off the side of the frames and measuring movement, and by twisting the life out of the bolts with an enormous torque wrench, we do indeed witness some numbers that indicate advantage Ford.

I note that there are no Dodge underpinnings in the demo and ask the Ford guys why, Ram trucks being a big player in this field. The official response: the metal on hand was all from products that will carry over into 2008, and as Dodge are reworking their lineup a comparison would not have been valid.

Hhmmm.

Everybody here has noted by now that Tundra, the new kid on the full-size pickup block, is taking some stick. A journalist from San Antonio, Texas, where the Toyota trucks are made, leans over. She tells me that the state of the art plant there can barely keep up with demand.

Outside in the heat, another demo shows how cutaways in the front bumper lend easier access and articulation to F-150 tow hooks.

Again a Tundra is the stooge.

In a short sitdown Todd Eckert, Ford truck and SUV communications honcho, maintains that the Blue Oval is not looking over its shoulder at Toyota nor watching what they are doing.

“We respond to what our customers need,” he said. “ But ... we never take anything for granted.”

Certainly the customers have been loyal: the F-150s have been the best-selling trucks in the U.S. for 30 years, and Canadian numbers match that.

They are the stars of the less than stellar Ford sales that has forced the company onto a recovery footing.

There are no core changes for 2008 but a refining process continues, particularly with more versions of the luxury F-150 models.

On show, but not for driving, was a stunning Chip Foose Design truck.

I drove a new Lariat Limited that’s close to a King Ranch on the luxo-scale. The quality of the leather and standard amenities are tough to argue with, as are the 22-in. polished and painted wheels.

A new cargo management system with strong extruded aluminum rails and cross bars, waterproof storage bins, etc., appeared very sound.

It’s available from the factory on any 6.5-ft. Styleside box.

Well worth a look is a rearview camera mounted in the tailgate handle bezel. The video image plays in the rearview mirror and should be invaluable to anyone lining up on a tow hitch or simply reversing the big boys like a full-on dually King Ranch.

Some work has also been done on the badass Harley-Davidson F-150 as both Ford and the motorcycle maker celebrate 105 years. The Saleen supercharged and intercooled 5.4 Triton V-8 now makes 450 hp and 500 lb.-ft. of push. It’s the quickest Harley F-150 to date.

How quick? Well, this is a large heavy vehicle from any angle, but 500 lb.-ft is just what it says. Think low-flying bungalow, but surprisingly nimble, and the whoooop of the blower is addictive.

Too bad the boost gauge isn’t more in the driver’s line of sight. In the big F-450 Super Duty, the 6.4-litre Power Stroke turbo diesel now joins the 6.8-litre V10 Triton for heavy hauling.

Back at the concert, Toby has the partisan crowd in his palm, and when he launches into his anthem dedicated to U.S. troops in Iraq — and brings some servicemen and women on stage — raw emotion mingles with the euphoria and sweat.

He’s a third-generation Ford truck owner singing to a crowd that speaks Ford.

The Blue Oval’s bosses are clearly anxious to keep it that way.

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