Ford / Ford COE

Ford COE- the brand name for coolness
COE- what is it?
COE stands for cab over engine and represents a truck manufactured by Ford which was used for medium duty purposes. The Motor Company took initiative in building the vehicles during the period 1957 to 1990. Though the Ford COE was mainly used for delivering fire apparatus and goods in local areas, magazines never felt shy in boasting about its flexibility. Some versions belonging to the fire trailers came simply in the form of windshield and cab models. The trucks belonging to this series had the shape of a helmet, which was extremely similar to the trucks manufactured by other brands in the early 1960s. They were cab forward trucks which shared gears with pickup trucks, known as the F-series.
Incorporation of original design
The manufacturers went for COE models of the F-8, F-7, F-6 and F-5 during the period 19548-52. However, they were named by the C-series in the year 1953 despite being renowned as modified forms of F-series trucks. The models launched during this period included C-900, C-850, C-800, C-750, C-700, C-600 and C-500. The C-900 had the model of a Big Job and was similar to the F-900. The manufacturers incorporated the designs required for the cab overs that were much different from the remaining portion of the truck lineup launched by Ford. The design came with a little grille in the vicinity of the bumper in the front that had a star emblem at each end. Underneath the windshield was the term FORD stamped whereas the cog and lightning bolt crest symbol was present in the middle of the headlights.
Changes in the design
Very fine changes were incorporated into the actual design in due course of time. Such changes generally included those in badging and cowl symbols. During the period from 1958 to 1960, the Ford COE series utilized a quad-headlight portico. The additional headlight bezels were extremely useful for the fire department which used them as emergency flashers. However, the manufacturing company changed back to the solo head design in 1961. The modern Super Duty version was included along with a trivial sleeper cab. When Ford entered into the class eight cab market, it raised the height of the cabs and introduced a larger grille which was similar to the upcoming trucks from N-series and already existing T-series. After moving the axle at the front end forward, the trucks were commonly known as Two-storey Falcon. This marked the entry of Ford into the market of heavy duty COEs. This existed till 1966 and was substituted by the COE trucks belonging to the W-series.
Useful for other companies as well
Yes, the Ford COE was known by the name of Budd cab due to the reason that it was available for everyone. The C-series trucks, though, were a result of Ford’s design and tooling expenses. They were then manufactured by a company known as Budd which took care of the specifications mentioned by Ford. Other than Mack, every truck manufacturing company had to seek approval from Ford before purchasing them. Statistics say that the Ford COE series of tilt cabs were used by a minimum of four truck manufacturers.