Here's a closer look at Ford's F-series pickup trucks - the most popular vehicles in the US

Matthew DeBord/BI

Ka-ching.

• Ford is basically printing money with the redesigned F-Series.
• The carmaker could sell nearly a million of the vehicle in 2017.
• It's been the bestselling vehicle in the US for decades.

There's no shortage of pickup-truck choices in the US, but when most people think "pickup," one vehicle comes to mind: the Ford F-150.

The F-150 is part of Ford's F-Series, consisting also of the F-250, F-350, and F-450 Super Duty pickups; and there's a high-performance variant of the F-150, the Raptor.

The first F-Series arrived back in 1948 and was basically a work truck. Ever since the early 1980s, the F-150 hasn't just been popular - it's been America's bestselling vehicle every single year.

Now in its 13th generation, the F-Series went through major redesigns in 2015 and 2016. The F-150 went first, getting new, lightweight aluminum construction; the Super Duty followed, it's first major reworking in decades.

At Ford, there is no product that's more central to the business than the F-Series, so the redesign was a major risk. But it has paid off: Ford posted robust third-quarter earnings this week, and the F-Series led the way, with an average transaction price of $45,500, an increase of more than $3,000 from last year.

The truck is going to bring a ridiculous amount of cash into Ford's already cash-rich coffers; CFO Bob Shanks told Business Insider in an interview that the carmaker expected another year in 2017 with a US sales pace of over 17 million vehicles. Nearly a million could be F-Series.

We've reviewed several F-Series over the years, so here's a closer look at the king of pickups.

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