There are certain things in life most of us don’t like to think about. For most of us with a bit more seasoning these would be things like prostate exams and colonoscopies (those seem somewhat related, don’t they?). But think bigger. Bigger. Yes, the one thing nobody likes to think about but it’s going to happen. The day your car ultimately dies and it heads to the salvage yard.
As misfortune would have it, I recently had the opportunity to spend $300 and then install a hot water heater. Not wanting to keep the carcass, I hauled it to an auto salvage yard that doubles as a non-automotive scrap metal collector.
I do enjoy going to auto salvage yards. Much to my family’s chagrin, it can be attributed to my DNA as my grandfather owned one briefly back in the 1950’s. Some fond memories are from salvage yards and what I have found there. So, let’s take a journey through a salvage yard in Hannibal, Missouri, hometown of not only Mark Twain, but also Colonel Sherman Potter and The Unsinkable Molly Brown.
As I unload the water heater, looking around, I realize no salvage yard these days is complete without a couple of dead catfish…
Or even a solid looking Ford F-350…
For the more sporting type, here’s a Miata, although a wise choice would be to replace those wheels.
However, my personal favorite is the two engined Buick Roadmaster. I think you can pound those dents out.
Upon going into the office to collect my $9.60, I spot this F-700 behind the office. Yes, salvage yard finds are a bit outside the normal realm of Curbside Classics, although you don’t see a heavy duty beauty such as this with any frequency anymore. Plus, it was sitting there for sale to any interested party.
This was also a Custom Cab model.
I’m not sure of the year, however, I will go out on a limb and say it is a 1961 to 1965 model despite a “7” being the second digit of the warranty number. Comments are sought on this; a google search has not proven fruitful.
You might also notice that the data plate says it has 173 horsepower at 3800 rpm (click on the picture for a larger version). Not having looked under the hood, might this be a 292 cubic inch (4.8 liter) V8?
I did find another road tractor just behind this F-700. Stay tuned for an outtake on it. It is even more scarce than this truck.
Looking at that Ford truck, I believe it is an “N” model, made from about 1960 to about 1968. A little too old for me to have any practical experience on but I do remember seeing them around. It could have anything from a 292 V-8 to a NH-220 Cummins, but I suspect you are right and this is a 292. Looks pretty solid too.
Those N-model are now very rare. I saw mainly the big “L-series”.
Is the cab on the F-700 the same one used on Ford pickup trucks? From the firewall back it sure looks like a pickup.
Wouldn’t shock me. That was fairly common practice for years, at least from the Big 3.
It certainly is. It’s called a “cab forward” and has been done commonly by the big full-line truck makers for ages. They have a shorter hood, and a higher-mounted cab to help clear the back of the engine. It’s in contrast to the “conventional”, which has a conventional configuration. The idea was of course to shorten the tractor or front end to meet length restrictions, or allow a longer bed. This one is a semi-tractor so it could haul a longer trailer.
I never knew about “cab forward” trucks, always great learning something new, thanks Paul! Looks awesome too, I love it.
The N-series was built from 1963 through 1969, to fill the gap between conventional and cab-over models. They came with a wide range of engines, everything from the 223 inch six, the 292 and FE-series V8s, the big Super Duty V8s, as well as several diesel options.
Since this truck does not have the Super Duty or Diesel badges, it has a V8, and given the power rating, it was the FE 332 incher that was very popular in medium trucks at the time. Drove lots of those. That makes this a medium-duty truck; probably hauled a trailer around a metropolitan area, likely in transfer work, and not an over-the-road truck.
Nice find; these are getting fairly rare.
Transfer, certainly. OTR rigs had, almost always, dual drive axles to comply with per-tire weight restrictions.
The only exception would be the short 30-foot trailers; and they’d mostly be hauled as doubles and later triples. The tractors used exclusively in such service had single drive axles; but they tended to be heavier duty and made by one of the well-known truck makers…White, Freightliner, Peterbilt, Kenworth, IH.
The automotive Big Three never really cracked the heavy-duty truck market. Even Daimler, which bought Freightliner decades ago, kept it a separate company from Chrysler and still owns it.
On second glance…I doubt that was a tractor.
Doesn’t have air brakes.
Look at the pedals…I know that Fords of that era with air-brakes, used a treadle pedal. I worked with one, a 1968. It’s only been in modern trucks that air-brakes come with a suspended pedal.
Nor are there any hoses or fittings for an air or electrical hookup at the back of the cab. And that’s not a range-control on the gearshift – that’s a control for a two-speed axle. Common in medium-duty trucks, but not the strongest or most durable.
24000lbs is only around 11 tonnes and very short wheelbase it was probably a tipper in a previous life, only a class2 licence here certainly not trailer capable.
True. And the wheelbase is a bit too long for the typical tractor.
Tipper: maybe, although I’ve always seen them with the conventional cab, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be. Frame cuts off abruptly behind the rear wheels too. Who knows? So many possibilities for what was mounted back there. A drilling rig? I could see that.
Whatever it was, I want to figure out a way to make money with it so I can justify buying it and making it run… Is this thing big/heavy enough to need a license upgrade?
Any chance it could have been a wrecker? That’s the body type I usually associate with a total lack of length behind the rear axle.
The lack of a trailer spring brake valve on the dash strongly rules out that this was a semi tractor.
Ford did ok in the medium duty market and with the smaller, short haul fleets in the 70s and 80s. Daimler purchased Freightliner from Consolidated Freightways in 1981, CF used the proceeds from the sale to “double breast” and form the non-union Con-Way subsidiaries. The truck behind me in my avatar pic is a 95 or 96 Ford when I was learning to drive truck at Con-Way Western Express in early 2006.
Ford sold their Heavy duty business to the Germans in 1997. In 2000 they pruchased Western Star and Detroit Diesel.
A few years later Volvo went the other route selling their carmaking business to Ford while retaining the Heavy Truck and Equipment business and using the proceeds from selling the car business to acquire Mack.
That Miata’s a shame, it looks pretty good at first glance. Between the front suspension damage and banged-up unit body, I guess it’s just not worth making it roadworthy. Great parts car.
What’s up with the Mustang convertible behind the truck? Looks good from here…..
Blown head gasket or small engine fire; didn’t look at it that close. It is a mid-90’s V6 model.
I saw that first pic of the N Series and all I could think was ‘wow it’s an early Falcon truck’. Never seen one before! I blame the side sculpting.
Dont recall seeing this model around our Ford trucks mostly emanated from the UK during this era and the bigger US Fords I saw in OZ were conventionals,And the blue rig in the background?
Very good eye, Bryce. I plan on preparing something for it this week.
The blue truck behind the Ford, a Studebaker perhaps?
Yes, I do have pictures of it. And you will see it here soon.
I’ve always wanted to mount one of these tall cabs/hoods on my ’66 F100 chassis, so I can have some status with all the jacked-up F350s around.
Interesting find, I do like the seemingly-endless ways they found to adapt the standard pickup cab, and I’ve never seen one of these before. From the relatively short wheelbase and lack of rear chassis length I’d agree with the possibility of a tipper or perhaps some other heavy/dense load like a tanker or concrete agitator. Who knows.
Re the ID plate, is it unusual that they wouldn’t list a GCW (gross combination/train weight) on a truck like this?
My father started up a scrap metal yard in AL after he retired from UAL — it really created a monster as that place was an endless treasure trove of old automobilia. I still find myself hitting a local scrapyard up here twice a week early in the mornings before work.
I should be taking pictures of all the vehicles that come through there. Medium & heavy trucks roll through too & one of my more recent scores included the same vacuum gauge that the above F700 has, courtesy of an old school bus. The gauge lenses in these old trucks were actually made of glass so my gauge cleaned up like new.
I started “picture-documenting” my scores to help keep track of how much money I spend at the yard weekly. The below lot set me back around $7.
There are some bits below that came from other vehicles. I could have fun supplying a “name what vehicle that part came from” feature.
Junkboy…. what in the hell are you building?
A HUGE estate auction I guess. I used to sell a lot of crap on E-bay before it became the cesspool it is now. Now most of it goes into boxes or plastic fridge bins (courtesy of the scrapyard of course). I tend to gravitate towards small stuff since it’s more fun to strip & less painful to store.
I do plan on lining a large room (or building) floor to ceiling with old analog car clocks, hooked up & working of course! I really don’t know how big an area that’s going to require as the current clock count is probably into the thousands.
It’s too tough to turn down such incredible stuff that’s nearly free. This morning’s run was pretty dry as the price of metal dropped last week. But ten bucks worth still yielded half-an-S10-bed’s worth of shtuff.