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Pickup trucks are vehicles with a non-dropping roof and are designed to maximize passenger and cargo space. Wagons were popular in the US but were eventually replaced by minivans and SUVs. Other vehicles like crossovers and hatchbacks evolved from pickup trucks.
A pickup truck is a type of motor vehicle, generally built on the same base chassis as a sedan of similar size, and designed to maximize passenger and cargo space. These vehicles have a non-dropping roof at the rear of the vehicle, allowing a full-height interior to extend from the dash to the rear of the vehicle. A van usually has two or four doors and a tailgate. The rear area of a wagon is generally designed for many different uses and often features seats, sometimes rear-facing, which can be converted into cargo space.
The first carriages to be mass-produced date from the 1920s. Initially, these vehicles, sometimes known as estate carriages at the time, were primarily designed to serve as transportation to and from train stations. These early wagons usually had sides made of wood, and the nickname “woodie” was often used to refer to them. Later models gradually phased out wood as a practical building material, but often kept wood or faux wood accents in a nod to history.
Pickup trucks became one of the iconic postwar vehicles in the United States. They enjoyed great popularity both as family vehicles and as cargo haulers. Many popular sedan models were offered in wagon variants, which retained the same basic structure, engine, and interior design elements, but added additional rear cargo space and a liftgate. Three-way doors were popular for the flexibility they offered, as the window could open on its own or the door opened fully vertically or horizontally.
Wagons became less popular in the United States in the closing years of the 20th century. Minivans and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) came to replace them as the family vehicles of choice, with auto companies favoring these vehicles both because of the higher revenue they generated and the lower fuel efficiency standards imposed on them. Station wagons remained in production and widespread use in other parts of the world, valued for their combination of cargo capacity and economy.
Many other types of commonly used vehicles essentially evolved from the pickup truck. Crossover SUVs and minivans share some characteristics with trucks and were designed to fill similar automotive niches. Hatchbacks sacrifice some cargo space to improve streamlining, but share the truck’s rear hatch access to combined passenger and cargo space.
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