The American Spectator

p> SHOP TALK br> Re: Eric Peters’s Why Toyota’s Number One : /p> p>Toyota is no. 1 for an unexpected reason: They never wear out. My Camry has over 200,000 miles on the original engine, so I’ve been out of the market for a decade. br> — David Govett br> Davis, California /p> p> The general thrust of Eric Peters’s article on Toyota and its ascension to major player status in the automobile manufacturing world was very interesting as are most of Mr. Peters’s columns on the auto industry and related topics. I would only quibble with one part of the article. True, the new Toyota full-sized truck has a larger available engine and class-leading towing capacity. In those respects it does indeed outshine the Ford F-150. That being said I must point out that Toyota is obliged to, in essence, put all its eggs in one basket with its full-sized truck. Ford has several classes of trucks in addition to the F-150 that will tow all you need to tow short of needing a class A commercial drivers license. F-150’s are for pretty light-duty work. Need to haul mulch home from the garden center? The F-150 will do just fine. If you intend to haul heavier loads full-time then there’s always the F-250 and F-350. I have driven a friend’s Toyota Tundra, which is almost full-sized. It’s a super nice truck and I wouldn’t mind owning a truck made by Toyota. My own truck is more suitable for hauling lumber and farm equipment on a full-time basis. It’s a 1986 F-350 with the 6.9 liter diesel motor. It also has 296,000 miles on the odometer. Ford has been making good trucks for decades and some of them (like mine) are still being flogged after 21 years on the road. Toyota has some catching up to do but I guarantee that it’ll make every effort to get on a par with the American truck manufacturers. Ford shouldn’t take this threat lightly. It can’t afford to do so if it wants to retain its position as the number one seller of trucks in America. br> — Bryan Frymire br> Louisville, Kentucky.