So maybe less radical than this Ford patent where the cab is pushed basically all the way forward, but still something with a shorter hood that has more conventional truck like styling?

It's possible, but everyone else has already revealed their body designs for '26 and '27 so it would be weird for Ford to not to at this event imo.

From my understanding, the first CE1 product will release in the second half of 2026, so we're basically a year out. A lot of Ford's rivals revealed their 26/27 products months, or even years ago.    I don't disagree with what you're saying, the thought has occured to me that this could be basically nothing despite it being this big event. But for the life of me, I can't really think of anything significant Ford can reveal that doesn't revolve around revealing something tangible.    Like Ford's told us what the platform is, where it will be built, what sort of vehicles will use it, what group has engineered it, the vehicles it's trying to compete with, and what price point they're targeting. They've already basically told us everything they can tell us without actually showing us the vehicle. It's possible this event is just them saying the same stuff they've said for 2 years and that's it, but I don't see what you would hold a special event if that's all you were gonna do. 

I agree, especially after hearing Farley's interview that I just posted.  He called out "show everyone the platform", and didn't mention actual vehicles.   I'm guessing we'll see the "skateboard" and they'll talk about how we can put xyz bodies on it.   That said, it wouldn't be the first time Ford shows a vehicle and has an excessively long gap between debut and on-sale date.

No, just a few hints, possibly short hood to make use of different packaging but may not be as extreme as I previously imagined, I’m coming around…

So, here's a Farley interview...   Watch Ford CEO on Earnings, EV Offerings, Tariffs - Bloomberg   A few highlights: Farley specifically mentioned EREVs on "3-row crossovers like Explorer and some of our trucks", and talked about 100 miles of EV driving, but still making a 700 mi trip.   He said on August 11, quote "show everyone the platform".........so we'll have to see if that actually includes the bodies or not.   He reiterated Ford's focus on the low end, super affordable EVs, and commercial business with urban duty cycles, as opposed to big expensive EV models. He said he views larger more expensive models are going more hybrid than EV.

My guess is that Ford will release additional details about the platform but not pictures. The truck is still 2 years from being on sale. Why show it now? It would be old news by the time it is available to buy. 

Couldn't agree more, the cybertruck definitely pushed the limits, anything less radical than that is gonna be less polarizing. Out of curiosity, have you had a chance to see the CE1 designs yet internally?

Actions have consequences and I get that Ford wants to reposition itself for best advantage but there often seems to be collateral damage which feels like self harm. 

A few thoughts on this....   1)  It'd be a very Ford thing to hype this up when it's just "here's our plan" (again) and then not show actual product. 2) I'm cautiously optimistic.  It sounds great from what's been described, but since we've also heard about it so long, I'm safeguarding myself of potentially being disappointed 3) those renderings are laughable