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 Livable
is not an adjective we often hear - in fact, I cannot ever recall
hearing that word - used during television commercials for full-size pickup
trucks. Big. Tough. Strong. Durable. Those are attributes truck makers
proclaim for their products.
But livable is the
word that keeps coming to mind as I drive a 2009 Ford F-150. Livable -
and luxurious - because this truck has a "supercrew," styleside,
long-wheelbase configuration with Lariat trim.
When I was a kid,
my grandfather, who could ride, rope and shoot just like those television
and movie cowboys, would take a length of rope and twirl it into a circle,
and then would step into and out of that circle as he spun the rope, and
when my cousins and I would take off running, he'd lasso us as though
we were skitterish calves. It was like magic, the way Grandpa would transform
an ordinary rope into what we thought of as a "lariat."
Also remarkable is
how Ford takes an ordinary F-150 pickup and transforms it into this Lariat
I'm driving.
We tend to think
of full-size pickup trucks as work vehicles -- and for very serious work
-- designed for people working in the trades, or for farmers and ranchers,
or for people who have trailers to tow.
I've been doing none
of the above this week with the Lariat. I've been driving it as a personal
transportation vehicle, which so far has involved carrying myself and
my luggage from Detroit's Metro Airport to my daughter's house in the
middle of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, where the truck has been used for
such heavy duties as fetching donuts, picking up my granddaughter's new
glasses and a couple of new tropical fish to replace the one that succumbed
recently in the aquarium in my grandson's bedroom.
 
I'm happy to report
that the truck has been more than capable of doing such work. I'm pleasantly
surprised to report how enjoyable the driving has been, how, indeed, livable
this truck has been for such seemingly mundane duties.
And I'm sure Ford
would be delighted for me to report that the grandchildren have found
the Lariat so livable that they want their Chevy-faithful father to swap
his extended-cab Silverado for this F-150.
I can't say as I
blame them. After all, this F-150 supercrew cab is huge, livably huge,
with so much room in the second row that you don't have to worry about
the grandchildren leaving footprints on the back of the front seats. Yes,
the cabin is that spacious.
And, when equipped
like this truck, the interior is leather lined and the front seats feature
internal heating and cooling vents to keep you comfortable regardless
of the weather.
But even without
such features, the interior is luxurious, what with a leather-like dashboard
cover, brushed and gleaming metallic surfaces, and dark wood trim, as
well plenty of cup holders and storage compartments plus Ford's voice-activated
Sync audio system technology.
The F-150 Lariat
has a base price of $34,845, for which you get the big supercrew cab;
a flex-fueled (gasoline or E85 ethanol) 350-horsepower, 390-pound-feet
5.4-liter V8 engine linked to a six-speed automatic transmission, rated
at 14 miles per gallon in town and 20 mpg on the highway; auto headlamps
with fog lights; those heated and cooled front seats; power windows; a
trailer towing package with trailer sway control; Ford's Advancetrac stability
control; front and curtain airbags; keypad entry; Ford's East Fuel capless
refueling system; Sirius satellite radio, and adjustable pedals with memory.
The 20-inch wheels
on this truck are listed as a "no charge" option. Options on
the truck that cost include a $300 limited-slip differential, a $435 Sony
six-disc CD changer; $495 chrome step bars; $250 power-sliding back window;
$595 captain's chairs for the driver and front-seat passenger; and a $795
Lariat Plus package that includes a rear-view camera - with the rear view
shown in the rear-view mirror - and universal garage door opener; and
$350 tailgate step that greatly enhances access to the cargo bed.
Total cost for this
truck, including delivery charges, is $39,935, or just less than $40,000,
which may seem to make this truck a luxury vehicle, but then it is, and
I can't think of any other sub-$40,000 luxury vehicle with so much leather
and so much room in the back seat, and also with the power not only to
carry a family, but to haul a load of lumber or to tow a big boat.
Livable, and luxurious
- that's the Lariat.
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