In Canada, the model line was also marketed through Lincoln-Mercury as the Mercury M-Series to expand dealership coverage in rural areas.

After World War II, Ford's war-time effort toward producing B-24 bombers, jeeps, tank engines, and other military hardware ended.

[citation needed] Dodge's B series, although fully redesigned, retained an outdated semicircular rear wheel well design.

Ford departed from sharing a common platform with its passenger lineup and developed a purpose-built truck frame specifically for the F-Series.

It also included wider doors that were moved three inches forward and extended beneath the cab's floor for better accessibility and interior protection from dust, moisture, and drafts.

A new flat one-piece windshield was two inches higher than the previous generation, which combined with the larger rear window offered better all-around visibility.

To improve comfort, the cab was isolated from the frame using bushings at the front and lever-action torsion links in the rear in order to insulate vibration and noise.

A new channeled steel front bumper was attached directly to the extended frame rails, which provided increased rigidity and a smoother ride.

Standard features included ashtray, glove box, and driver-side sun visor which was unusual on trucks at the time.

The first-generation F-Series was marketed in eight different chassis (based on their GVWR), giving them their model names: the F-1 was the lightest-capacity version with the F-8 was the highest.

The F-5 and F-6 were produced as medium-duty trucks in four configurations: a conventional, A special-order heavier duty parcel delivery version (as the P-Series), a COE/cab-over (as the C-Series), and a school-bus chassis (as the B-Series, with no bodywork aft of the firewall).