This sleek 2006 Ford F-250 concept is the Super Chief—a design tribute to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway’s Super Chief locomotive. Its “Tri-Flex” V-10 was designed to run on hydrogen, E-85 ethanol or gasoline. The engine’s supercharger only engaged when running on hydrogen. The rear doors were rear-hinged “suicide style.” Roof was full glass with four chrome rails running from to back–and it sported a wood-planked bed floor. Below the bed of the F-250 Super Chief are three high-pressure hydrogen fuel tanks containing enough hydrogen to travel approximately 150 miles.Build it and they will come. Great saying, but hard to execute.
The reality is pickup manufacturers have built a lot of really cool concept trucks over the years.
But none have been produced exactly as the one-off “teaser” model that was displayed at auto shows.
Dodge/Ram and Ford have by far the largest number of concepts, showing they encourage their creative design teams to stretch their imaginations as a barometer to measure the interest of those of us who love trucks.
Every concept truck is a study in balancing people transportation with cargo carrying, towing and/or off-road needs. As you scroll through the gallery of images above, pay close attention not to the truck overall, but to the smaller styling and design cues.
Look closely. Even though the concept truck as a whole never made it into production, it’s possible a number of smaller elements did in the production models that came years later. You might also get some creative ideas to do to your pickup if money and engineering resources weren’t of any concern.
Click through the slideshow below:
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Editor’s Note: Bruce Smith is a Senior Editor at Randall-Reilly
