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A pickup truck is a light duty truck having an enclosed cab and an open cargo area with low sides and tailgate.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher = Merriam Webster )〕 Once a work tool with few creature comforts, in the 1950s consumers began purchasing pickups for lifestyle reasons and by the 1990s less than 15 percent of owners reported use in work as the pickup truck's primary purpose. Today in North America, the pickup is mostly used like a passenger car. The term pickup is of unknown origin. It was used by Studebaker in 1913 and by the 1930s ''pick-up'' (hyphenated) had become the standard term. In Australia and New Zealand ute, short for ''utility'', is used for both pickups and coupé utilities. In South Africa people of all language groups use the term ''bakkie'', a diminutive of ''bak'', Afrikaans for ''bowl''. ==History== In the early days of automobile manufacturing, vehicles were sold as a chassis only, and third parties added bodies on top. In 1913 the Galion Allsteel Body Company, an early developer of the pickup and dump truck, built and installed hauling boxes on slightly modified Ford Model T chassis,〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.coachbuilt.com )〕 and from 1917 on the Model TT. Seeking part of this market share, Dodge introduced a 3/4-ton pickup with cab and body constructed entirely of wood in 1924.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.pickuptrucks.com/html/history/segment1.html )〕 In 1925 Ford followed up with a Model T-based steel-bodied, half-ton with an adjustable tailgate and heavy-duty rear springs. Billed as the "Ford Model T Runabout with Pickup Body," it sold for . 34,000 were built. In 1928 it was replaced by the Model A which had a closed-cab, safety glass windshield, roll-up side windows and three-speed transmission. In 1931 Chevrolet produced its first factory-assembled pickup.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.thetruckersreport.com/trucking-timeline-vintage-and-antique-truck-guide/ )〕 Ford Australia produced the first Australian "ute" in 1932. During the second world war, the United States government halted the product of privately-owned pickup trucks.〔 In the 1950s consumers began purchasing pickups for lifestyle rather than utilitarian reasons.〔 Car-like smooth-sided fenderless trucks were introduced, such as the Chevrolet Fleetside, the Chevrolet El Camino, the Dodge Sweptline and in 1957, Ford's purpose-built Styleside. Pickups began to feature comfort items like power options and air conditioning.〔 Trucks became more passenger-oriented with the introduction of crew cabs in the Toyota Stout〔"Toyota Vehicle Identification Manual", Toyota Motor Corporation, Overseas Parts Department, Catalog No.97913-84, 1984, Japan〕 and the Hino Briska, was introduced in 1962. Dodge followed with a crew cab in 1963,〔(【引用サイトリンク】 Ram history page on Allpar )〕 Ford in 1965, and General Motors in 1973. Many modern pickups are considered luxury cars, having such features as AWD/four wheel drive, Bluetooth and DVD Players, front and rear cameras, heated/cooled leather seating, sunroofs, 22-inch polished aluminum wheels, and remote-release powered tailgates. In the U.S.A., the 1963 protectionist chicken tax distorted the light truck market in favor of American manufacturers, stopping the import of the Volkswagen Type 2, and effectively "squeezed smaller Asian truck companies out of the American pickup market." Over the intervening years, Detroit lobbied to protect the light-truck tariff,〔 thereby reducing pressure on Detroit to introduce vehicles that polluted less and that offered increased fuel economy.〔 The US government's 1973 Corporate Average Fuel Economy policy sets higher fuel economy requirements for cars than pickups. CAFE led to the replacement of the station wagon by the minivan, the latter being in the truck category which allowed it compliance with less-strict emissions standards. Eventually, this same idea led to the promotion of the SUV. Pickups, unhindered by the emissions controls regulations on cars, began to replace muscle cars as the performance vehicle of choice. The Dodge Warlock appeared in Dodge's "adult toys" line,〔 along with the Macho Power Wagon and Street Van. The gas guzzler tax, which taxed fuel-inefficient cars while exempting pickup trucks, further distorted the market in favour of pickups. In the 1980s, the compact Mazda B-series, Isuzu Faster and Mitsubishi Forte appeared. Subsequently, American manufacturers built their own compact pickups for the domestic market: the Ford Ranger, and the Chevrolet S-10. Minivans make inroads into the pickups' market share.〔 In the 1990s Pickups' market share was further eroded by the popularity of sport utility vehicles.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Pickup truck」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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