The 2015 Ford F-150 King Ranch Is Beyond Ridiculous Luxury

When I was a teenager, there really was no such thing as a “luxury pickup truck.” The words “luxury” and “truck” were polar opposites, never to meet in one phrase. Even the more expensive truck options of the day were more like sport utility vehicles than pickups. Cadillac and Lincoln, offshoots of two of the largest pickup truck makers on the planet, had no concept of a truck on their drawing boards. Fast-forward to 2015, though, and every popular full-sized truck brand has a luxury edition.

These Cowboy Cadillacs as we’ve dubbed them are plentiful, and I’ve driven most of them in the past couple of years. But with a newly-minted 2015 F-150 this year, Ford had to get busy with the top-shelf edition for the truck, the King Ranch. They’ve done two very intelligent things here: one, they’ve kept it as posh as possible; two, they split it into two luxury models.

The first is obvious. Anyone who looks inside the F-150 in its King Ranch model will immediately realize that you aren’t looking at the workaday pickup shown in commercials. You’re looking at a luxury car that happens to have a cargo bed instead of a trunk. In many ways, the 2015 Ford F-150 King Ranch is on par with many luxury sedans. But turn to the new Platinum trim and you find the same, but in a way that is a lot less cowboy and a lot more luxury premium. This gives buyers two choices for the F-150 in terms of top-shelf luxury trims and that’s really smart, as there are buyers who don’t necessarily want “cowboy” in their truck version of a Cadillac.

Personally, I’ll take the King Ranch. If you’re going to drive a pickup truck in a luxury format, it needs to look like it just came off a Ranch. That’s my belief.

Here’s a few specs that set the King Ranch apart from lowlier grades of F-150: a high dead-cow ratio to the interior, floor mats that hint that they could be made dirty, and power-retractable running boards so you can look like you had to climb in but not actually have to do so. You can also get retracting side steps so you can access the front of the cargo bed (in case you actually do haul anything), and an integrated rear tailgate step and handle so you don’t have to put your knee on the gate to climb in. Once inside, you’ll find adaptive cruise control, a heated steering wheel, power-adjustable pedals and steering, and an option for automatic parallel parking assistance. You know, in case you have to park between horses when you pull up to the post.

Now I realize that I’ve made all of this sound ridiculous, which in a way it is, but I happen to live in the heart of truck country where actual cowboys still exist. In my little town in Wyoming, I can name at least a dozen people who own not just one, but often two, even three luxury editions of various pickup makes. I know one guy with at least two King Ranch trucks and another with one for himself, one for his wife, and one for his ranch manager. These aren’t rich people by most people’s way of accounting, but they are people who know what they want out of a truck. Mostly they know that they spend a lot of time driving on the highway or down long dirt roads and that gets plenty tiresome in a standard, no frills truck. Luxury is where it’s at.

One thing they all scoffed at when I showed them the F-150 King Ranch I was given as a press loan, though? Massaging front seats. Even those who own this truck think it’s a ridiculous option. I tend to agree, since it also made the front seats uncomfortable when it wasn’t being used. It was one of the few flaws I could find in this truck, really.

One thing nobody laughed at with this new F-150 was its body style and capability. They’re all interested in the aluminum body and how well the truck performs. The 3.5-liter EcoBoost engine is a solid choice for this truck and most of them are converts to this already. The aluminum body? Not so much, but these are people who like to know what’s coming and this isn’t something they know well. Most of them remember the early 1990s when Ford trucks were known to buckle under pressure after a redesign of the frame proved to be disastrous. They don’t like change. Unless it’s good change. Upon riding in this truck, most of them liked the lighter feel and the higher towing capacity with the same engine.

If you’re looking at buying a pickup truck, you’ve probably looked at the Ford F-150, since it is the best-seller. I could throw specs at you, but you likely already know them. Every truck on the market has its own pros and cons. For the 2015 Ford F-150 King Ranch, it’s major high points are its light feel, car-like drive dynamic, beautiful interior (that doesn’t go over the top), and plentiful features and options.