The 1981 Ford Cargo was styled by
Patrick Le Quément, designer of the
Ford Sierra and the later
Renault Twingo. The styling of the Cargo intentionally followed the family look of Ford of Europe's car range with the distinctive louvred black "Aeroflow" grille also used on the likes of the Escort III and the Cortina 80, on both of which Le Quement had worked under the leadership of
Uwe Bahnsen. Another distinguishing feature of the original design was
quarter windows that extend down nearly to floor level (also seen in the
Volvo FL) for drivers in urban locations, the design was intended to better show pathways and blind spots while parking.
Ford Cargo (Europe) With the demise of the
Ford Transcontinental heavy truck range in 1983, British Ford introduced a range of heavyweight Cargo tractor units ranging from 28 to 38 tonnes GCW. The 38-tonners were powered by the Cummins L10, while those at 28- and 32-tonnes had
Perkins,
Cummins, or air-cooled
Deutz diesels. The 7.49-tonne Cargos had
Dorset and Dover fours or sixes, starting with a unit in the 0809. The Dover six-cylinder engines were mounted at a slant in the Cargo. In 1986, Ford sold its European truck operations to the Italian
Iveco group, and subsequent vehicles have been badged Iveco Ford. After the recession in the 1990s, Iveco rationalised its production operations, overlooked by Keith Stanley Jones (production engineering manager). Its Langley plant closed in October 1997, bringing British Iveco/Ford truck production to an end. The original lightweight Cargo was replaced in 1993 by the
Iveco Eurocargo range, covering the 7.5-ton to 18-ton GVW range. It was originally only built in Ford's
Langley (Slough) plant, from which about a third of the production was exported to continental Europe. Cargos were also exported to Turkey and to Australia, while panels were supplied to Brazil for local assembly (these Brazilian trucks were also exported to the United States). between 1999 and 2000) and Venezuelan (also known as the Ford Trader) Ford subsidiaries, Turkey's Ford
Otosan, and India's
Ashok Leyland (as the eComet and
Stallion, respectively). File:Turkische ford cargo.jpg|Ford Cargo 1830 (
Turkey) File:Ford-Cargo-Pritschenkipper.jpg|Prefacelift Ford Cargo in Germany
Ford Cargo (Americas) In late 1985, for the 1986 model year, Ford introduced the Cargo as part of its United States commercial truck range. Intended to replace the long-running C-Series cabover (largely unchanged since 1957) the Cargo was gradually phased in alongside its predecessor, slotted below the larger CL-9000 semitractor. Production of the model line was sourced from Brazil, making the Cargo the first American-market commercial Ford truck assembled outside of Louisville, Kentucky. Following the retirement of the C-Series, production of the American-market Cargo was relocated to the Kentucky Truck Plant in
Louisville, Kentucky for 1991. Alongside the larger Louisville/Aeromax, the Cargo was included as part of the 1997 sale of the Ford heavy-truck line to Freightliner, which renamed it the Freightliner FC and Sterling SC Cargo. Production of the Freightliner/Sterling Cargo was relocated to a Freightliner facility in Mt. Holly, North Carolina. Nearly unchanged (except for badging), the FC/SC Cargos were produced through the 2007 model year. In 2006, Ford introduced the
Ford LCF as part of its Blue Diamond joint venture with
Navistar International. Though not a direct successor to the Cargo (the LCF was a Class 5/6 vehicle, while the Cargo was a Class 6/7 truck), it also shared a low-COE configuration, competing with the
Isuzu N-Series, Chevrolet/GMC W-Series, and
Mitsubishi Fuso Canter. After a poor market response, the LCF (sold by International as the CF/CityStar) was withdrawn after 2009. As of current production, it remains the last COE truck marketed by Ford in North America. File:Ford Cargo box truck.jpg|Ford Cargo box truck (United States) File:Ford Cargo CF-7000, front left, 06-03-2023.jpg|Ford Cargo street sweeper (United States) File:USPS Ford Cargo (14632302406).jpg|Sterling SC/Freightliner FC in use by the
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