This heavy-duty cab-over nameplate appeared in Ford’s North American medium/heavy truck lineup by the 1987 model year and remained in use through the 1997 model year. It was part of Ford’s forward-control work-truck family, aimed at vocational and fleet buyers who needed maximum maneuverability and a short overall length for municipal, construction, refuse, and service applications.
Unlike Ford’s pickup-based F-Series, this truck was built as a true cab-over-engine design, placing the cab above the front axle to free up chassis length for bodies and equipment. That layout made it a familiar sight as a cab-and-chassis platform, dump truck, sweeper, fire apparatus, and other specialized upfits. In period use, the nameplate was associated with medium-duty diesel powertrains and commercial-duty components rather than passenger-truck comfort or styling.
The model belonged to Ford’s last generation of North American COE medium/heavy trucks before the company moved away from this cab-over format at the end of the 1990s. Because it stayed within one continuous production run, there is no separate revival or second era in its history.