A pickup truck (or pick-up truck or simply pickup, also called bakkie in South Africa and ute — an abbreviation of "utility vehicle" — in Australia and New Zealand) is a light motor vehicle with an open-top rear cargo area (bed) which is almost always separated from the cab to allow for chassis flex when carrying or pulling heavy loads.
The first factory-assembled pickup was based on the Ford Model T car, with a modified rear body. It debuted in 1925 and sold for $281. Henry Ford billed it as the "Ford Model T Runabout with Pickup Body." The 34,000 built that first year featured a cargo box, adjustable tailgate, four stake pockets and heavy-duty rear springs.
Eventually, the utility of pickup trucks disappeared and individuals who made too much money and did not know what to do with it spent extra money they could have used for leather seating or frapocinos to purchase large trucks. After the demand for such large vehicles increased, automobile manufacturers decided to offer luxury models of their truck line including closed cargo units also know as sport utility vehicles (SUV). The ultimate step was to remove the usability of the bed and replace the metal or hard plastic lining with carpet such as in the Lincoln Mark LT.
The Lincoln Mark LT was one of the most highly discounted new cars ever with many dealers settling on $10,000 under the MSRP (Manufacturers Seriously want to Rape you Price). This lead to Ford (Lincoln's parent company) to discontinue the line as of the 2008 model year (though Congress tried very hard to pay them off to make more of them).
Currently, driven by demand from middle class desires to connect with their redneck past, pickup sales continue to be one of the largest shares of the automobile industry.
~DB
Source: Wikipedia (where I can make stuff up too)
