I’ve just assembled most of a Ford Fathom, sort of.
Not much is known about the upcoming EV, aside from the fact that it will be priced under $30,000 and have a footprint similar to the Ford Maverick.
But after receiving a promotional mailer from Ford, I may know a little more about the upcoming electric truck than I did this morning.
Alongside a baseball cap and a t-shirt was a box containing some 3D printed toy truck parts. And no assembly instructions. Once the pieces were fitted together, it resulted in what is presumably about half of a Ford Fathom in 1:32 scale.
In short, Ford has handed me two puzzles. One is a model to assemble, and the second involves closely inspecting the model itself. The print seems to match spy shots of a Ford prototype that emerged earlier this year. If the rest of the model is equally accurate, we can now confirm a few things.
First, it definitely has four doors and two rows of seating. There was always a chance the back bench would be sacrificed for increased bed length, cut costs, or a smaller profile. But that’s obviously not the case here. The top of the windscreen also extends back into the cab well beyond the dashboard. So it’s very likely the truck will feature a panoramic windscreen.
The overall profile of the vehicle is pretty low, and the bed itself is incredibly shallow. Its depth is roughly a quarter of the vehicle’s overall height. We’re likely dealing with a modern, ultra-compact, street truck.
It also has a cab-forward design, with the front wheels placed right in front of the front bulkhead. This allows for better balance and a more controllable vehicle overall. As the front is missing, it’s impossible to tell if Ford plans to sacrifice frunk space for a shorter overhang. But that is a possibility and would make a lot of sense.
The floor panel’s texture makes me think it’s an analog for the vehicle’s battery pack. There’s nothing battery-like below the bed or up front, and the central positioning is better for weight distribution.
What appears to be a simplified rear subframe is also clearly present on the truck. Despite Ford’s shift to Gigacasting, this isn’t a shock. Subframes reinforce the bed, distribute towing loads, and improve handling on unibody trucks. As a result, they’re pretty standard. The ladder-like part looks nothing like a Maverick’s subframe, but there’s every chance Ford just cut complexity for the print.
The model isn’t expressly detailed underneath, but the front end includes some parts that could represent motors, while the back wheels are pressed right onto the subframe. So it’s possible the affordable truck is front-wheel drive only.
We don’t know everything about the Ford Fathom, yet
Despite the model answering a few questions, there are still some mysteries to be solved. There’s no tailgate, lights, or adornments. The entire front end is also missing.
As mentioned, we do have some spy shots to go off, but almost everything on a prototype vehicle is subject to change.
There’s also a chance that the overall compactness is exaggerated in the model, and the final dimensions would be far different. But designing something completely different, printing it out, and sending it to journalists would be a bit odd.
