100 Years Of Ford's Greatest Tailgate Innovations

100 Years Of Ford's Greatest Tailgate Innovations

For almost a century, Ford trucks, wagons, and SUVs have advanced the art of tailgate design.

Ford is celebrating almost a century of innovation for its various tailgate designs, be it on pickup trucks, SUVs, or station wagons. It all culminated in the new Pro Access Tailgate introduced for the 2024 Ford F-150, which we initially discovered in a patent filing. With an integrated swing gate, it allows for easier bed access, even when towing a trailer, and can open in 37-, 70-, or 100-degree increments.

But long before the Pro Access Tailgate, Ford was coming up with ways to make the cargo areas of these family haulers as practical and accessible as possible. Let’s discover some of Ford’s tailgate innovations through the decades.

In 1925, Ford’s first factory-assembled pickup debuted. With a cargo box and adjustable tailgate, it was the most basic worker imaginable, but it set the tone for decades of hard-working Fords.

Four years later, the Model A arrived as Ford’s first factory-built station wagon, a body style Ford has largely abandoned. It had a fold-down tailgate and no rear window, partially illustrated below. A wide variety of Model A body styles were available, including coupes, convertibles, and trucks.

In the second half of the 1940s, the first generation of F-Series pickups changed everything for Ford. The F-1 from 1948 had a tapered, rolled-edge tailgate. It features anti-rattle drop chains that could keep the tailgate flush with the floor or allow it to drop down. In an ad for the truck, it had 45 cubic feet of load space, not too far off the space available in a modern F-150 with the smallest bed.

The tailgate design didn’t change much in those early years, with Ford’s only significant change in 1959 being the addition of a reflector on the right side of the tailgate, making it safer when using it in the dark. This can be considered the most primitive form of modern night vision systems, which use infrared radiation on luxury models to identify animals and people.

Several wagons in this decade arrived with new tailgate designs, including a push-button release in the early 1950s.

Tailgate innovations went back and forth between Ford pickups and wagons in this decade. Ford hasn’t had a traditional wagon on sale in the United States for some time, but the Falcon rose to prominence in the 1960s. In 1960, the Falcon wagon became the first Ford with a single-piece tailgate with a retractable rear window, which would later be adopted industry-wide.

A year later, the Blue Oval’s pickup tailgates were marketed as “grain-tight,” and one-handed instant-lock capability was introduced. Steel chain locks were phased out with Instant-Action latches, which also increased the width of Ford’s tailgates by 13 inches, facilitating the loading of wider items, while being easier to lock.

In 1964, the F-Series introduced husky tailgate support straps fashioned from steel. These folded into the tailgate, out of sight. Also advertised at the time was the one-handed tailgate.

In 1966, the Magic Doorgate that could open either down or to the side became standard on Ford and Fairlane wagons (optional on the Falcon). This design made it easier for kids to jump in and out or to load longer items. Three years later, the Magic Doorgate gained three-way functionality for wagons – it could be opened as a door whether or not the rear window was up or down.

To start the 1980s, a removable tailgate became standard on styleside F-Series pickups. More enhancements followed for the Granada wagon, which gained a two-way liftgate that could open as a single piece or via the window only. In 1987, a completely fresh tailgate design followed for the F-Series.

Although not a practical advancement, upper F-Series trims in this decade gained an optional brushed aluminum overlay trim panel to distinguish them from more basic models. To this day, pricier Ford truck trims like the Platinum have retained this styling feature.

It took some time before any new notable improvement was made to Ford tailgates, but in 1997, all F-150 pickups came with a standard locking tailgate. Using a single key, customers could unlock all locks, including the tailgate.

Other than this, it was a surprisingly uninteresting decade for Ford tailgate design. The tenth-generation F-Series that arrived in the second half of this decade was notable for its all-new body and the debut of the new SuperCrew body style. This was also the first ground-up redesign of the F-Series since 1979, but despite that, the tailgate remained relatively untouched.

Lincoln entered the conversation in 2003 with the Navigator, which came with an optional power liftgate for the first time. Today, every Navigator has a standard power liftgate.

A year after that, the F-Series pickups came with Tailgate Assist. A segment-exclusive feature at the time, it has a built-in torsion bar that compensates for the weight of the tailgate, so it requires less muscle to open and close. F-250 and F-350 pickups received a quick-release tailgate in 2005. That same year, the colossal Excursion came with a Tri-Panel door system. This setup featured a lift-glass rear cargo door with twin swing-out doors.

The final innovation of this decade was optional on Super Duty pickups. This was a tailgate step with a stowable bed extender. It made loading easier and allowed customers to haul cargo with the tailgate down.

Eight years after the Navigator arrived with a power liftgate, technology started to change the way we interacted with tailgates. The Escape added a hands-free option. Using gesture-based technologies, people could open the liftgate automatically without the remote or key using gestures, perfect for when your hands are full.

In 2015, Ford pickups gained a new LED light in the tailgate release. This shone light onto the rear hitch on models with the new remote power tailgate release. Further advancements included a power tailgate lock and the capability to lower the tailgate via the key fob or keypad.

In more recent years, Ford has continued making changes that add convenience to the lives of pickup owners. Especially useful for Ford trucks that will spend a lot of time on construction sites, the F-150 can be had with a power tailgate that turns into a convenient work surface when lowered. A hard-wearing grained texture and several holders make the tailgate suitable for these duties.

Every F-150 also received tie-down hooks that double as bottle openers, along with standard clamp pockets.

The most recent tailgate feature is the new Pro Access Tailgate we covered at the outset.

We know that many ideas can take time to reach showrooms. Earlier this year, we discovered a Ford patent for increasing the size of a pickup bed without impacting the vehicle’s size or the space in the cabin. It includes provision for several pivoting floor sections that can be unfolded, or floor portions stacked against each other in a line. Besides some packaging challenges, it’s a smart idea if Ford can bring it to market. An earlier patent sees a conventional three-prong outlet integrated into the roof rails, which shouldn’t be too hard to achieve compared to the expandable bed floor.