How the Ford F-Series became the world's favourite truck


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The UAE has a long love affair with trucks that extends to this day, but the Ford F-Series predates even the formation of the Emirates – as demonstrated by the fact this year marks the best-­selling pick-up's 70th anniversary.

The Ford F-1 that started it all back in 1948 was a very different beast to the modern flagship F-Series truck the F-150, but it was available with a V8 engine, a hunk of American motoring birthright that set a standard that remains strong today.

One of the oldest F-Series trucks in the UAE belongs to Younes Ali Akbar, a 30-year-old businessman who lives in Dubai. His striking turquoise 1955 F-100, the model that replaced the F-1 in 1953, is a splendid example of the F-Series' second generation. Naturally, it is a V8, although it is no longer powered by the original engine. Instead, this F-100 uses a 4.2-litre unit taken from a 1972 Mercury car.

Fittingly, both the truck’s origin and the inspiration for buying it were particularly American-centric.

"I saw the F-100 first in a movie, The Expendables," he says. "I saw it in the cinema, and I said: 'I love that car, that's what I'm looking for.' I love trucks – I don't like sports cars. The best truck in the world is the F-100."

That particular Hollywood truck was driven by Sylvester Stallone's character Barney Ross – "the Rambo car", as Ali Akbar calls it, with a smile. The seed was sown.

Sometime later, after trawling the internet, he found this 1955 example on sale in Texas. It had been fully restored and customised – including US$15,000 (Dh55,097) spent on that eye-catching paint job. A month or so later, in November 2015, after negotiating with the seller and having the truck shipped from the US, it arrived in the UAE.

“When I looked at the car, I could understand this is something special – the colour, the design,” he says.

It isn’t, by his own admission, the most practical ride.

“I don’t drive it every day,” he says. “And right now, during the summer, it’s really hot – there’s Jeep air conditioning, but the problem is the body is old and there’s no insulation to keep you cold. Even inside, if it’s OK for you, the carburettor temperature’s going to go up – because of the engine size and everything, I can’t add any more cooling.”

But when he is able to take it on the roads, onlookers are lining up to cast admiring glances toward the F-100.

“We were in a group with my cousins in Lamborghinis, McLarens,” he recalls of a trip through Jumeirah. “When I was passing people, everybody was taking a photo. The reaction to a classic car is something different to a sports car. Everybody’s happy and enjoying the car. I love this car.”

Owners of the modern F-Series trucks are just as fond of their vehicles. Shomyza Shamrez, who is a member of the UAE's F-150 and Raptor clubs, grew up in Saudi Arabia, legally unable to get behind the wheel herself. But "as a little girl, I was always interested in cars", she says. "I didn't get to drive [when I was younger], but I always had exposure to cars. I always looked at sports cars. I was into the sound of the car, the roar of the engine."

After she arrived in the UAE 10 years ago, she began to attend car shows, and her gaze started to turn from sports cars to trucks. Five years ago, her current motoring beau came into her life, sourced by her husband, Rizwan Ihsan.

“He was like: ‘Why don’t you give it a shot?’” she says. “It’s such a big car and it’s so hard to turn, but I remember my first drive – I just fell in love with it. From that day onwards, I feel the same – every day, I switch it on and just feel that power and that connection with the car.

“Everywhere I go, everyone’s pretty surprised when they see a girl pop out of the truck. I’m used to it now, but initially it was pretty funny because even the guy filling my fuel was shocked and asking: ‘Oh, you drive this car?’ A lot of people are giving me thumbs up and honking me, so it’s fun.”

She set about modifying the bright-red F-150 Hi-Rider, with accessories including fender flares, custom headlights and a Roush air intake. When I park my Mustang next to Shamrez’s own Ford, I feel rather minuscule by comparison.

She isn’t the only female family member who is enraptured by the F-150, either. The couple’s 2-year-old daughter, Delylah, is a big fan.

“She’s always seen me driving a truck,” Shamrez says. “She always says ‘mummy’s truck, mummy’s truck’, whenever I pick her up from nursery.”

Delylah loves it so much that the couple bought their daughter a red model toy version large enough for her to sit inside. "We thought it would be cool to have matching trucks. We have to literally hide it otherwise she wants to sleep in it," Shamrez says with a laugh.

A family road trip is in the offing, too, back to Saudi Arabia, now that women are able to apply for driving licences in the kingdom.

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“My family’s still in Saudi, so my dad keeps telling me: ‘Why don’t you bring your truck?’ Shamrez says. “So I’m really looking forward to that.”

In the meantime, after five years with her F-150, Shamrez’s love for her current truck isn’t showing any signs of diminishing.

“We had a look at the new F-150s recently,” she says. “I was really impressed and we thought we wanted to upgrade, but we have too much attachment to this truck. I’m not sure we would ever change it.”

That kind of bond with her truck begins to explain why the F-Series has endured for seven decades and found such loyalty with motorists around the world, not least in its native US. It's a habitual best-seller stateside, and annually generates US$41 billion in revenue for Ford. That figure puts the F-Series brand above the value of such household names as Coca-Cola and Nike. And after seeing Ali Akbar's F-100 at close quarters, the oldest examples of the range are pieces of automotive history that might very well also be the best-looking trucks of all time. It's quite a legacy.

How to join and use Abu Dhabi’s public libraries

• There are six libraries in Abu Dhabi emirate run by the Department of Culture and Tourism, including one in Al Ain and Al Dhafra.

• Libraries are free to visit and visitors can consult books, use online resources and study there. Most are open from 8am to 8pm on weekdays, closed on Fridays and have variable hours on Saturdays, except for Qasr Al Watan which is open from 10am to 8pm every day.

• In order to borrow books, visitors must join the service by providing a passport photograph, Emirates ID and a refundable deposit of Dh400. Members can borrow five books for three weeks, all of which are renewable up to two times online.

• If users do not wish to pay the fee, they can still use the library’s electronic resources for free by simply registering on the website. Once registered, a username and password is provided, allowing remote access.

• For more information visit the library network's website.

Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill

Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.

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• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”

• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems

• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.

• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%

• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade

• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels

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FA Cup quarter-final draw

The matches will be played across the weekend of 21 and 22 March

Sheffield United v Arsenal

Newcastle v Manchester City

Norwich v Derby/Manchester United

Leicester City v Chelsea

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1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull

2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight

3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge

4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own

5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed

Pad Man

Dir: R Balki

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor, Radhika Apte

Three-and-a-half stars

The specs

Engine: 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6

Power: 380hp at 5,800rpm

Torque: 530Nm at 1,300-4,500rpm

Transmission: Eight-speed auto

Price: From Dh299,000 ($81,415)

On sale: Now

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets