Ford D series truck

Manufacturer:	Ford
Sales designation:	D series / N series
Production period:	1965 to 1981
Class:	Commercial vehicle
Type:	Truck

The Ford D-series was a range of medium heavy trucks that was introduced in 1965 by the British Ford plants as the successor to the Thames Trader with a long production run. 

History

The bodys were manufactured at the Ford plant in Saarlouis and welded together at the Southampton plant . The final assembly took place at the new Langley plant near Berkshire in the United Kingdom.

 Three new diesel engines with Big economy and big power with four and six cylinders were developed for the model series with 4, 5.4 and 6 liters of displacement, the engine power went from about 80 to 130 hp, there were two exportable 130 and 150 hp petrol engines with a view to non-European export markets , As the strongest competitor, the Bedford TK and even a number of medium-sized US trucks.Inside featuring such luxury items such as Padded sun visors, Insulated rubber mats, lockable Glove box, Heater demister  .

The permissible total weight of the series was between 7 and 14.5 tons. Among other things, construction site tippers were widely used, for which there was also a four-wheel drive . In 1967, the series was supplemented with the model D 1000 upwards, which could reach up to 28 tons total weight as a truck or semitrailer. This was powered by V8 diesel engines manufacturer Cummins , which was later replaced by a license-built Perkins diesel engine. While the D series was a great success in the UK, the N series remained an outsider on mainland Europe.

From 1976, the D series was also produced by the Spanish truck manufacturer Ebro under license as Ebro P series . A small facelift was in 1978, in which the round headlights were replaced by square and the radiator grille was changed. In 1981, the Ford N- or D-series was replaced in Europe by the Ford Cargo , while there was a new Ford N-series in Oceania. Hyundai from South Korea mounted for Ford the D series for the Asian market from 1973 to 1976 and then brought its own model, the Hyundai HD 1000 on the market.Including all licensed buildings, the model series came in its 15-year production period on a number of over 500,000 copies.