As seen at the Detroit auto show, the possible "future" F-250 "Super Chief." And from Ford's website, this description of where the styling comes from...
The F-250 Super Chief’s bold, American design, first-class comfort and exceptional traveling range were inspired by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway’s Super Chief locomotive.

So what's next for Chevy???

Man, could that go a lot of different directions! I could see a Chevy Tahoe in SP Daylight getup. Or maybe a pickup truck with a GN Empire Builder theme.Or a Trailblazer with SR Green livery with some gold stripes? LOL--What will they come up with next?

Well known deisgner Raymond Loewy had ties with both the PRR and Studebaker. There were even pr shots of a Studebaker posed next to a Pennsy locmotives. I am sure there have been other times when railroad design inspired automotive or the other way around.

Thanks, Tom. I for one would like to meet the designer of this vehicle...

I think it's great that they're not only using the name, but also publicly making the connection to the AT&SF Super Chief. I was made aware of this from a story on Network Television about the auto show.
Meant to post this link earlier. http://media.ford.com/newsroom/release_ ... ease=22295

Am I the only one that thinks this behemoth might look better with an updated warbonnet paint job?

Sorry...foamer moment. :-)

TB

At one time, many Buick car styles were names of railroad passenger trains.

I owned a Century that went 250,000 miles.
One other was the Limited.
I think the Super was named for the Super Chief.

I do not know for sure, but the buddy's father worked for Oldsmobile and a short time at Buick.

Doug

Well, there was the Lincoln Zephyr in the late 30's (A V-12 engine I think) and a Mercury Zephyr in the late 70's ( I owned one of them) and I thought Ford was going to come out with a new Lincoln Zephyr shortly. They really know how to recyle.

Fred Crissey

Not sure, but I believe the Buick Century was
so named because it would do 100mph.
Not many car could do that back then. It
was the smallest Buick body (Special)
with the large body engine (Roadmaster).
The Limited was the limo model.

My significant other is giving me the "Don't-you-dare" look. Except for the suicide rear doors I like it. Now - how do we mount the Hi-rail gear without ruining the lines of the front end?

GME

What I think is interesting is that the super chief was pulled by EMD F7 A-B-B-As.... I guess they're counting on most people don't realize these were made by GM...

Regards,
Trevor H.

Great point, Trevor! I'll bet the lead designer had no idea his/her "inspiration" diesels were GM.
Frankly in this age of political correctness I'm surprised the Ford lawyers have let the F-250 "Super Chief" get as far as it has.

Am I the only one in America who's ready for a Brooks Stevens-Inspired auto? Just think, the Hiawatha-Inspired auto!

In my opinion, this beast is nowhere near as attractive as any E or F unit, not that they were that beautiful, but at least are reasonably proportioned.
The current crop of pickup designs with their huge grills are apparently engagediin some sort of 'Mine's bigger than your's' race.
Of course, I'm partial to the Alco PA design. I saw the D&H PA's when they were in commuter service here in the Boston area and they were about as exciting to see as a diesel gets. Can a diesel be 'handsome' ??

wonder if BNSF would allow a special "Warbonnet" edition F-250...
And since the Santa Fe Warbonnet F is what the non-railfan masses think of first when you say "train," how many would Ford sell???

Personally, I think a '73 Gremlin looks better than most of the E's and F's! Although I will digress... I've seen a few that looked nice with the right paint schemes.




Ahh, this I will agree with 100% The PA (and even the FA) in my book had the classic lines. I just didn't get the same feeling I got from seeing photos and video of the EMDs as I did the PAs. I'm too young to have seen either in person, but the PA's were definitely one thing that not only got my attention to railroading history, but KEPT it!

I saw that Ford F250 Super Chief Concept Truck at the Detroit Auto Show back in January. All the news crews in Detroit showed it as one of their features, too. IMHO, this year's auto show showed the necessity of especially Detroit's automakers' need to pare down their flash and flair and focus on what they really should. This kind of reflected on a few noticable car models missing from the Auto Show floor this year and the fact that all the displays were MUCH more modest than in the past. Maybe if GM/Ford can get back on their feet again, everyone from it's employees to it's suppliers to the railroads that ship their products will be able to benefit again.

Ford handed out a bunch of brochures and one of the things I received was a "Concept" booklet. It showed the Ford Reflex and F250 Super Chief Concepts as well as the upcoming Ford Edge and Shelby GT500 cars coming out in the near future, but not yet available. As a note, it was reported by Ford during the newscasts that the interior of the Super Chief concept was not only inspired by trains, but actually designed like a railroad passenger car! The tagline on the truck's page in the book is "This F-Series concept tows like a freight train and shows like a private lounge car. Inspired by legendary American locomotives, it takes Built Ford Tough to its boldest level yet." To this railbuff, it sounds like Ford at least TRIED to understand what it was marketing! I'm not sure if you can make it out in the photo or not, but the concept has Brushed-Aluminum/American Walnut floors! I doubt many of these features will see the light of day even if the truck makes it to the showroom floor, but I think it was interesting to see that even though the automakers did their best to pull people from the trains and put them on the roads, at least ONE still hasn't forgotten an important part of American history. I'm not saying that one concept truck is going to change the company's fortunes, but it's nice to see the railroads haven't been totally forgotten in today's fast paced world.

I for one would pay for one of these if it was offered in the D&H blue/gray lightning stripe scheme!! :^)

Oh and regarding Fred Crissey's post regarding the Lincoln Zephyr- it is now out in the showrooms and on roads near you!! It's a nice looking sporty kinda car. It's sister cars- the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan are also out now.