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Although it’s essentially an evolutionary update on the 19th-Century buckboard, the pickup truck was pretty much invented by Ford Motor Co., so it’s appropriate that Ford is among the leaders in expanding this all-American species.

Here’s the newest expansion.

The 2001 Ford F-150 SuperCrew, previewed in sunny southern California, is dedicated to the latest pickup truck proposition: You can have it all — four full-size, sedan-style doors; plenty of room for five or even six adult passengers; full-size towing capacity, and a real pickup cargo box out back — in a package that doesn’t require an environmental impact statement before entering a supermarket parking lot.

I should add that this is not the first offering to meet these parameters.

But it’s the first full-size pickup with four real doors, but without the length of a traditional full-size crew cab. It’s also the first full-size crew cab with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of less than 8,500 pounds.

GVWR indicates a vehicle’s maximum recommended operating weight, and it includes curb weight, the driver’s weight and the weight of any passengers, as well as cargo.

When you hear references to a vehicle’s payload rating, it’s the difference between its curb weight and its GVWR.

Until this year, crew-cab pickups were all monsters, with GVWRs in excess of 8,500 pounds and dimensions reminiscent of a soccer field.

But the F-150 SuperCrew, has essentially the same overall dimensions as the F-150 SuperCab — 20.3 inches longer than a standard F-150, but 15.5 inches shorter than an F-350 Super Duty Crew Cab.

Because the F-150 SuperCab also has four doors, you might wonder why the company felt it needed this new variation.

The SuperCab’s rear doors are demi-portals that are hinged at the rear and can’t be opened unless the front door is opened first.

The SuperCrew rear doors are real doors, hinged at the front, and they operate independent of the front doors. Moreover, they’re bigger, which makes it easier to get into and out of the rear seat.

Finally, and most important, the rear seat is roomier than the rear of the SuperCab, making it more comfortable for people or more commodious for cargo you don’t want exposed.

There’s nothing really magical about this.

All they had to do was lengthen the cab by about a foot and subtract a corresponding amount from the cargo bed. Instead of the normal 6 1/2-foot cargo bed, the SuperCrew’s box is about 5 1/2 feet.

That restricts your ability to haul lengthy objects.

On the other hand, you can haul 44.2 cubic feet of other stuff with smaller dimensions, and lots of it. The standard payload is 1,765 pounds, the same as the F-150 SuperCab.

Ford also offers a handy little flip-over device called a bed extender that, when deployed, allows the operator to effectively stretch the load floor out to the end of the tailgate.

(Incidentally, this item is available as an aftermarket piece. You don’t have to buy a new truck to acquire it. And it’ll fit any pickup bed.)

Another interesting feature of the F-150’s pickup box is that its outer shell is fabricated from plastic rather than sheet steel.

While I suspect there might be some resistance to this among old-time pickup buyers, it’s something we’re going to be seeing on more trucks in the next few years.

And it makes sense. Even with plastic bed liners, something every pickup should have, cargo beds take a lot of abuse and are exposed to the elements — including road salt — all the time.

It doesn’t take much for corrosion to get a start, and rust never sleeps. But plastic doesn’t rust, and it resists dents, too.

Aside from its new body-cab configuration, the SuperCrew feels and performs just like any other F-150.

It delivers the same precise (by truck standards) steering, the same ride quality (particularly supple on these sm th California roads), the same generally quiet operation and the same competent braking performance (disc brakes on all four wheels, with antilock as a standard feature).

There are two engine options, both members of Ford’s overhead-cam Triton V8 lineup, both mated to four-speed automatic transmissions.

A 4.6-liter (220 horsepower, 290 foot-pounds of torque) is standard; a 5.4-liter (260 horsepower, 350 foot-pounds) is optional and would be my choice.

So would a SuperCrew fit into your plans?

Price-wise, you’d pay a bit of a premium. The range goes from the basic two-wheel-drive XLT version, starting at $26,755 (including destination and delivery charges), to the top-of-the-line Lariat model with four-wheel drive, which starts at $31,790.

The four-wheel drive, incidentally, is the same switch-operated setup offered in other Ford pickups, as you’d expect.

In any case, what we wind up with in this new shorty crew cab breed is another way to make pickups more versatile and to further blur the line between trucks and sport-utilities.

SPECS
Rating: No rating for preproduction vehicles

Vehicle type: Front-engine, rear-drive, full-size pickup truck

Key competitors: Dodge Dakota Quad Cab compact pickup

Base price $26,755

As tested $26,755

Standard equipment: Four-wheel ABS, air conditioning, AM-FM-cassette audio, overhead console, cruise control, tilt steering, power windows, power mirrors, power locks, aluminum alloy wheels

Specifications:
(Manufacturer’s data)

Engine 220-hp, 4.6-liter V8

EPA fuel econ. N/A

Curb weight 4,850 pounds

Wheelbase 138.5 inches

Length 225.9 inches

Width 79.1 inches

Height 73.9 inches

Assembled Kansas City, Mo.