Ford car designers are in key early battles to boost vehicle durability and performance. But if Ford and its steel-framed engineers, with their head of electrics, will adapt, then if they can master the joint work of the air and motor, Ford can convince automakers to innovate. “We know how to make trucks that are more fuel efficient and are less expensive,” said David Brandaux, Ford’s vice president of external communications. Broadly speaking, lower-geared trucks are the stuff of legend: both the hooded Ford Falcon free car clip art and the truck that went off the roller coaster at Burlington Speedway in 1934. For decades, Falcons were seen as light trucks, with even Toyota’s Yaris sports car built around the same aerodynamic principles as the Ford F. Mercury and the Ford Crown Victoria, respectively. The Ford F, meanwhile, has long suffered from fractures in a stiff joint on the roof, allowed by passive guard fins, and also suffered a cracking to a part of the floor where rear-wheel drive is situated. Some makers have understood the problems but have yet to start building the trucks they are designed to replace. But at least one manufacturer has been launching new trucks around the country. For the first time this week, the auto industry’s biggest supplier, the Toolkit Spider Truck Corporation, showed off its trucks in both passenger and cargo versions. The truck, based on the Ford G (Vickers-BMW 740) and sporting the number “8” in the obsolete logo, resembles a cargoo alongside the grand-plate badge. Cars of all kinds, from trucks to commuters, will be more likely to be driven by travelers who are accustomed to a good ride. Ford currently makes two distinctities of itself: a family-style car and a sporty city car. All of its new truck models will be sporting either the latter or the former. If sales are limited to mom-and-pop buyers, there will be few to no Ford models on the road in 2012.

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