If you want a V-6 engine and manual gearbox, Ford will continue to offer the current pickup--called the Heritage F-150--alongside the new model, for several months, as the company's many F-Series plants change over to new production tooling during '04.
Nissan Titan
On the off-road course, we sampled the electronic shift-on-the-fly transfer case; a manual system also will be offered. The former moves easily in and out of four-wheel high and low modes without drama or sticking, and it turns the polished new pickup into a veritable mountain goat on uneven and broken-trail grades.
Our proving-ground foray gave us a good overall read on Ford's important new truck. Based on this first experience, we believe the '04 F-150 has the potential, smarts, and good behavior required to stay at the head of this multimillion-unit sales class. It's great looking, has more power (though still not as much as the competition), offers many innovative details, and resets the meter at an altogether higher level in terms of light-duty-truck interior design and execution.
Thinking Big
Nissan isn't mincing words with its all-new full-size pickup. The name itself conveys bigness: big truck, big country, big market segment, and big opportunity for Nissan.
The company that first introduced America to the compact pickup some 45 years ago will finally be giving its truck buyers a move-up property when the Titan hits dealer showrooms this December. Nissan's been chasing Toyota ever since it lost import-brand sales leadership in 1975. Now, Nissan is finally playing in one of the biggest parts of the market with its first-ever full-size pickup truck.
Nissan afforded us an early look at two development "mules" with cobbled together interior and exterior pieces, but close-to-production drivetrain and chassis bits. We poked around underneath a 4WD Crew Cab on a lift, examining the stout-looking fully boxed frame, hefty Dana axles, outboard rear leaf springs, and other purpose-built hardware. As Titan Chief Product Specialist Larry Dominique puts it, "Nissan needs to earn full-size truck credibility." Parts is parts, as they say, and the scale and gauge of the Titan's vitals leave nothing to the imagination.