Ford 24.7 Concept

The 24·7 concept pickup is ready for any adventure its occupants desire - whether it is climbing rocks by day or listening to a favorite band at night.

"The 24·7 pickup is designed to be like a backpack," says J Mays, Ford Motor Company vice president of design. "It can be loaded up with all of the necessary adventure gear for a weekend out in the wilderness, or you can fill it with books and roam around campus during the week."

Like the wagon, the pickup concept features customer-focused technologies that allow the driver of the vehicle the ability to access e-mail, hands-free mobile phone, real-time route assistance, weather reports and custom features such as stock readings.

"The 24·7 pickup is not just a truck that can take you where you need to go," Mays adds. "It is your connection to the world - a companion to help you explore its endless possibilities."

The technology in 24·7 allows the driver to personalize the instrument panel to suit his or her personality and needs. Voice technology coupled with a reconfigurable projected image display - developed by Visteon Automotive Systems - gives each driver the ability to customize the instrument panel by changing the layout of the gauges and engaging additional functions, such as e-mail, GPS and video phone as needed.

The pickup's exterior design, like the wagon, features simple geometric shapes and machined surfaces that give the vehicle a technical look and feel that complements the advanced communications and telematics technologies that make up the essence of 24·7.

The two-door, two-passenger pickup truck features 17-inch, six-spoke

The doors feature elongated rectangular push button handles and additional glass panels that allow for increased driver visibility. Once the front doors are open, the half doors at the rear can be opened from the center to the back providing unrestricted access to the rear of the cab.

The headlamps and taillamps are made up of white and red Light Emitting Diode (LED) lamps that illuminate instantly, last the lifetime of the vehicle and consume only a fraction of the power that traditional halogen lamps require. The 24·7 badging mounted at the center of the grille area is lighted orange to match the exterior oracle orange body color.

When the key fob is clicked to unlock the vehicle, a light panel mounted in the interior headliner glows orange - showing that this pickup is always ready for any adventure.

The interior features specially designed bench like seats that resemble a clamshell in their construction. The exterior seat surfaces are covered in a light beige leather while the inner parts of the shell are painted the bright orange accent color seen throughout the interior. The parts of the seat structure that are exposed are aluminum finished. The bench features a unique center console that, when raised, functions as an armrest and reveals a cupholder.

Like the wagon, the pickup instrument panel is a high-definition projection screen. Once the vehicle has been powered up and the driver has been selected, the gauges appear on the instrument panel in the ideal configuration for the specific driver.

Using voice commands, the driver is able to choose which gauges are active when needed. The available choices include: speedometer, oil, fuel, GPS/map, Internet, e-mail, mobile phone, compact disc/tape/radio and clock. All of the operations are voice activated, allowing the driver to keep both hands on the wheel.

24·7's one-spoke steering wheel includes the controls for the auto/manual shift feature that allows the driver to shift gears by pressing a button. In addition, the voice activation button is mounted on the opposite side of the steering wheel. A camera mounted below the rearview mirror can be positioned to transmit images of the driver and passengers while in the vehicle and using the hands-free videophone capabilities.

The pickup's floor, like the wagon, is covered in rubber matting that has a unique pattern with randomly alternating circular shapes in the bright orange accent color. 24·7 is built on the all-new Ford Focus platform that has been lengthened two-inches and is powered by Focus' 2.0-liter Zetec I-4 engine.