KING OF THE HIGHWAY

WE PUT A FORD F-150 ON THE FLEET TO SAMPLE LIFE WITH A FULL-SIZE AMERICAN PICKUP

- MATT RAUDONIKIS

WITH the popularity of full-size American pickups continuing to grow in Australia, we wanted to take a closer look at what the attraction is, and what it would be like living with one in suburban Melbourne.

With that in mind we picked up this Ford F-150 which we'll be driving over the next three months.

This example is the base-spec XLT and we chose the short wheelbase variant thinking it would be a bit easier to park around town. The F-150 XLT SWB starts at around $107,000 plus ORC.

While the plan is to see what the Effie is like around town, we admit that these full-size trucks do their best work out on the open roads and highways, and that's what we did first up, hitting the highway for an interstate road trip and lakeside camp.

This might be the SWB model but that only limits the length of the cargo tub, leaving plenty of space in the cabin. With rear-seat passengers and the seat squab folded up, there's a ton of flat floor space to carry your gear inside the cabin where it is secure.