The Pickup Truck - From Farm Wagon to Muscle Truck

The pickup truck is as American as apple pie, the Lone Ranger and Tonto. We associate these trucks with the Old West, American family values, and southern states like Texas. Owners of pickup trucks are usually proud of their vehicles and what they stand for. It's the vehicle of a hard working American.

The pickup truck of today comes in all imaginable makes and models, shapes and sizes. It is found on most any job site, in anyone's garage. The versatility of the pickup truck comes first and foremost from its simple utility. It is as fundamental an innovation to the automobile as the wheel.

And like the invention of the wheel, the pickup truck comes from humble beginnings. Before the days of Ford's Model T and internal combustion engines, there was real horse power. That is, carriages driven by teams of horses. Prior to the introduction of horseless carriages, farmers and industrial workers relied on horse driven wagons to carry materials around a worksite.

With the debut of the Model T in 1908 however, farmers quickly found ways to modify the vehicle, adding a makeshift cargo bed to the back. Motorized vehicles cut down significantly on transportation costs for farmers and industrial workers. Finally, over a decade later, Ford introduced the first proper factory-made pickup truck, which was called the Ford Model T Runabout with Pickup Body. This vehicle was a slight modification to the Model T and included a cargo bed in the rear and an adjustable tailgate, and sold for $281.

Over the years many variations on the pickup truck were introduced including compact pickups which are the most widely used form of pickup trucks worldwide. Made popular in America during the 1960s, the compact pickup was sold primarily by the Japanese manufacturers Nissan and Toyota. A popular, larger pickup truck, the full-size pickup is used for moving heavy loads or personal use. The American full-size pickup is typically sold for passenger travel, and is built by Ford, GMC, Chrysler, Chevrolet, and more recently,Toyota.

Introduced in 1987 with the Dodge Dakota, mid-size to large pickups are very popular in the United States. These trucks feature large cargo beds, but are not as large as full-size pickups. The most powerful pickups in the world, better known as muscle trucks, are built for high performance and hauling capability. Some manufacturers of these heavy duty trucks are Dodge, Holden, Ford, and General Motors.

A sports utility truck, or SUT, gets its name for its similarity to other sports utility vehicles. Depending on the vehicle, it is built for light to heavy loads. If you're in the market for a used vehicle, why not consider the many advantages of driving a truck. Whether you live in the city or the country, a truck can be stylish as well as a real work horse. Only you don't have to feed it.

Best Gas Mileage Pickup Truck - Top 5 by Ranking Revealed

Not only is the economy severely faltering right now but gas prices are through the roof and there seems to be no end in site. An increasing number of states are already seeing prices that are in danger of skyrocketing right past five dollars per gallon. As such, it is vitally important to find the best gas mileage pickup truck; our wallets practically demand it. Truthfully, whether you want to buy a car, a truck, or a sports utility vehicle, getting the best gas mileage for your money is crucial. This is especially true for pickup trucks and sports utility vehicles, however, because they generally haul heavier loads. Trying to haul anything heavy with a truck that gets poor gas mileage is financially disastrous, so you simply have to take the time to find a vehicle with good mileage.

In the world of pickup trucks, there are small ones and standard ones. In both cases, gas mileage is determined in large part by standards and guidelines imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as how many miles they get per gallon of gas for highway driving and city driving. If you are trying to find the best gas mileage pickup truck for a small truck, the top five are as follows:

Ford Ranger, for a variety of years, is usually ranked as the highest, it is a two wheel drive truck with a 4 cyl, 2.3 liter engine.

Next up is the Mazda B2300, followed by the Toyota Tacoma with a 4 cyl, 2.7 liter engine.

The fourth ranked small pickup truck with the best gas mileage is the Chevrolet Colorado with a 2.9 liter engine, followed by the GMC Canyon, which has similar specs.

For standard pickups, a lot of the top ranked manufacturers are decidedly different. In the top spot is the Dodge Dakota with a 6 cylinder, 3.7 liter engine, followed by the Mitsubishi Raider, also a 6 cylinder with a 3.7 liter engine.

In third place is the Chevrolet Silverado; it has an 8 cyl, 5.3 liter engine. Following that is the GMC Sierra, which has a 4.3 liter engine, and last, there is the Honda Ridgeline, which is a four wheel drive truck with a 6 cylinder, 3.5 liter engine.

Basically, in order to find the best gas mileage pickup truck, you simply have to be informed. Do some research on the Internet and practice comparison shopping, and always make sure to tally up how much you can expect to pay for gas for the entire year, even if it is only a loose estimate.