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What I see coming - Trucks, suvs, cuvs are Ford badged. Cars are Mustang badged. Mustang is the sub brand for the cars that Ford builds.

Speaking from the vendor side, this is what happens when there is a continuing squeeze on pricing. To keep a contract one must continually reduce the cost per unit. One way is to offer a less expensive material, and I have seen it approved (probably without input from engineering). It is a constant race to the bottom.

BEVs do have a place. Back in the 90s and early 00s I drove a BEV pretty much every day. The '98 was old tech with a 40 mile range (27 in winter) with the old flooded lead acid batteries. The one I had before that was ancient tech (circa1975) but it did the job. It made sense for me back then due to several 5 mile and under trips per day. (And I loved the instant heat in the winter). If we want to reduce the use of carbon based fuels, hybrids are a big part of the picture.

The range is good. But not enough for me unless charging stations are spread around like gas stations. A regular trip I take is 350 miles in one day. 6 or 8 times a year I will put on 600 to 700 miles a day. So 330 miles with fast charging might make it for me in fair weather. But cold, especially below freezing is no go. A friend has a Tesla Model S, in warm weather he can get a solid 220 or so miles on a charge. When temps are in the 20s it is another story. He makes a trip to downtown Pittsburgh about once a month, about 150 miles. When it is in the 20s, using the heat, wipers on most of the trip, etc. he can only make it to the Pittsburgh airport where there are some of the Tesla superchargers, and then takes an Uber to downtown. There are chargers downtown that he can get to in warm weather, but cold is another story. With the hybrid I drive my refueling range in warm weather is just about 500 miles, and it drops to about 450 in the 20s. Ford is doing the wise thing by offering BEVs for those who they will work for, and hybrids for those who need to or want to go further between refuelings.

I have seen some of the International CVs around here, mostly with utility/service bodies. It is a good looking truck. Been in upstate NY and VT this week, I have seen some of the Chevy 5500/6500 on the road. There is a Chevy dealer in the Montpelier/Barre area that has quite a few of the 5500/6500 on the lot, so it looks as if some dealers are going to be aggressive with them. Also have seen quite a few of the Chevy Isuzu mediums on lots north of Saratoga.

Right, even the 429 2v in a Galaxie was different from the 429SCJ which was different from the 429HD. Same basic block but different cranks, pistons, manifolds, etc to suit the application. When Ford designed the 385 series engine they covered many bases.

Am I the only old fart around here? the 460 was the replacement for the old 462 MEL in the Lincoln in 68. A luxury car engine. The 429 was the Ford version that started out in the TBird in 68. The 429 then spread through the Ford lineup and the 460 spread to Mercury. Sometime around 73 the 460 showed up in Fords ( I drove a 75 Country Squire with a 460). Then in the mid to late 70's the 460 showed up in pickups (a friend had one in a 78 F350). So an engine can be adapted to various uses, hey there was an HD version of the 429 (along with the 370) in medium trucks. Now, do I expect Ford to expand the 7.3 to cars? No

Looking at the torque and power ratings on the one link, the derating for the mediums is due to the lower speed (3900 rpm for both torque and power). This is what I have seen in the past for MD and HD engines to ensure longevity in severe service applications.

Notice they pull railcars - steel wheel on steel rail has about the lowest coefficient of rolling resistance, and railcars have good axle bearings to lower friction even more. Notice they did not pull a haul truck on rubber tires- much more drawbar pull required.

Interesting on the Hino 7s and 8s. And to the F650/F750 for the municipal market, it is a non starter until a heavier front axle is available. For the beating they take around here the price of admission is an 18Kto 20K front axle. Stouter engine and transmission combo would also help. For many municipal trucks around here the mantra is that if it doesn't have an Allison, we don't want it.

Reminds me of the 58 Edsel engine designations - The E400 was a 361 FE and the E475 was a 410 MEL, the numbers were the torque ratings.

I guess I will put this here for the lack of a better place. Recently read a news release on the "Tesla pickup" and it mentioned a 300,000 lb towing capacity ??? Guess they want to cover classes 2 thru 8 and then some.

Around here (NE OH) just about every municipal dump is also a plow/spreader. With a 10 to 12 ft heavy plow, around here an 18K to 20K front axle is pretty much standard. F750 is nowhere near that. And the frames on the SA International plow/spreaders around here are more than a bit heavier than the F750 frame. F750 makes a nice landscaper/contractor dump, but is nowhere near the spec needed for a municipal dump/plow/spreader. Hey even some school districts spec a 20K front axle for the school buses.

I spent some time after the presentation talking with the guy that gave the presentation. From him being from the dealership side he seemed to have the opinion that if you have to do heavy towing where you have a trailer heavy enough to need a 30K + GCWR you need a class 6 0r 7 truck. I tend to agree. And his presentation was limited to the class 4 and 5 units - nothing at all on class 6. And he stressed that the cabs, interiors and engine were GM, frames are international, trans is Allison, axles and transfer case are Meritor and Dana. And the crowd was really interested if/when air brakes and 22.5s would be available. Also, no mention at all on gas engines, he said that initially the Internationals would be disel only.

Well, the presentation yesterday was interesting. These trucks are being built in Springfield, OH, and one interesting thing is that the exhaust aftertreatment system and exhaust piping is from Cummins (surprising to me). One thing the guys attending picked up on was the availability of an engine mounted air compressor, and then there were questions about if and when air brakes would be available - especially in the heavier GVW ranges. Answer was that the option was being considered. One thing the guy from the dealership was clear about was that the frames were not as strong as those in the Ford and Ram class 4 & 5. He said this was because they were concentrating on suitability for the GVW ranges, not towing. To have the highest GCWR was not a priority. Also he mentioned that these would sticker between $48K and $63K for just about all configurations. One of the guys there was from an upfitter specializing in plow and spreader setups. I spent some time talking with him, and he said that in class 6&7 he preferred setting up Internationals to any other brand because they could be ordered with the frames predrilled for the install, and the wiring was easier. He told me that on a 5 ton chassis it would take him about three days to do an International where other brands would take him over a week. An interesting thing is that International provided a feed so that the speed of the spinner (the thing that spreads the salt) could be synchronized to the road speed automatically, so that the driver would not have to monitor and control that.

I was recently invited to an event where the topic is the new International class 4 &5 trucks. These guys must be planning a real push as these are introduced as they are doing this one on a Sunday in just over a week. About all I know other than the topic is that someone from a dealer in Y-town will be there.

There never were FT versions of the 427/428, closest was the FT 391. 427 was an all out performance engine, 428 was originally meant to power large cars and later performance versions evolved.

If I remember right that was done by Seamaster, not by Ford.

In regards to a performance version of the 7.3 gas - ever heard of performance versions of the old 401/477/534? There is a reason some engines are designed for certain duties.

Sometimes a bit more than that. Around here if you cannot get a Cummins in it , the departments do not want it. Sort of like "the Cummins/Allison has worked so well over the years, why change".

A new one - decontenting before the first sale!

Instead of flathead, why not Y block?

Silence.

When I dove by on Friday, there were six at a display lot, two box trucks added. The dealer is Hometown Chevy. It seem that mediums are a regional thing - either there is an aggressive dealer in the mediums, or just several who will do a medium if a customer specifically asks, and maybe have one of the larger mediums on the lot.

How about some more wild speculation - stacked intake ports, deep skirt side oiler block, and mushroom tappets anyone?