When you marry into a family, sometimes it’s wise to not open your mouth too soon. Give it a dozen or so years.
There is also the spectrum of wisdom. At one end, you have that which has freshly fallen from the proverbial Ye Olde Turnip Truck; at the other end, the Divine Keeper of all that is wise. Somewhere in the middle of that spectrum falls your humble author, who recently strolled around his in-laws’ six-acre homestead with camera in hand.
Put these two philosophical observations together and you wind up with this delightful article. So let’s go for a walk before anyone finds out what we’re up to. I know the stories of all of these fine machines.
First up is this ’57 Ford Ranchero. It has been sitting in this location since at least 1993, when I first starting dating the wife. It actually belongs to one of her two older brothers, who claims it has a factory 312 cubic inch V8. That sounds plausible, except…
there is no mention of it in sales literature. A few books have made mention of limited availability of the 312 in 1957, so perhaps he is correct.
Sadly, the most action this old Ranchero has seen in the last two-plus decades occurred a few years ago. That same brother-in-law was keeping a few goats on the property, and it seems the Billy was fond of standing on the roof. Having the goats there actually was a good thing, as this Ranchero was nearly covered with foliage before Billy arrived.
Several yards behind the Ranchero is this 1967 Mercury Monterey convertible. One of 2,673 Monterey convertibles made that year, my father-in-law acquired it in the late ’80s from a car dealer who’d taken it on trade–without a drive train.
(He’s) Always meaning to get around to it, but meantime this Monterey has spent years languishing near the woods.
Despite the completely sad state of its appearance, the car has served a purpose as the delivery room for an untold number of cats. I’ve dug around the inside of this Mercury a time or two to retrieve kittens for little people to play with.
While my father-in-law (previously, you met him here) occasionally intends to get around to the poor Mercury, it’s doubtful it will ever look this good again.
Sitting beside the Mercury is this 1950 International 3/4-ton pickup. It also belongs to my Ranchero-owning brother-in-law.
The first time I opened the hood on this International, I was pleasantly surprised to see it possesses an overhead-valve engine.
Perhaps its being an L-120 series explains the engine?
It was found parked in someone’s back yard in downtown St. Louis, in the early ’80s, by which time it had been sitting for about 15 years. My father-in-law tinkered with it for a few minutes and got it running, and they drove it back home. It was refreshed while my brother-in-law was in high school; he graduated in 1983 and promptly joined the United States Army. The truck has been sitting there pretty much since then.
The interior still doesn’t look too bad considering the truck’s storage conditions.
Sitting on the other side of the Mercury is this F-100 pickup; I want to say it’s titled as a 1962 model. While this truck is referred to as a unibody, it really isn’t one.
This Custom Cab model is also the only “unibody” I’ve seen with a long bed–I don’t know how rare or common that was.
The wraparound rear window is another item of uncertain commonality.
Opening the hood does not reveal the original straight six; somewhere along the way, the tiny six hit puberty and grew into a 429 cubic inch V8. I heard this pickup run back around 1995, when my brother-in-law was driving it, and it sounded great at the time. It’s been here since the late ’90s.
Last, we have this boat. Yes, you’re right, we don’t cover boats here–but we do cover automotive-styling fads over the course of time.
And it’s certainly apparent that a boat with tail fins has exerted some influence on automotive design.
Here’s a closer look at one of those fabulous marine fins.
Watching these vehicles deteriorate has been painful; still, presenting them to all you CC readers does seem like a great way to preserve them.
Speaking of marine tail fins, my grandfather has a (working) small boat engine with…You guessed it! Marine tail fins (or maybe they should be called tail flippers, for that matter)!
Dunno ’bout St. Louis, but the last time I left a vehicle out here, just west of Pittsburgh – it became scrap in about ten years.
This is the automotive equivalent of “eyes bigger than your stomach”. Fascinating stories but almost invariably the same sad ending…they end up as scrap.
Especially the Ranchero.
In 1998, I promised my wife I’d get down to two car projects (I’d been up to six!) and no more. I’ve stayed faithful to that promise and to this day, while her vehicles sit outside, those two projects – ’57 Chevy Handyman and ’68 C-10 2wd Pickup – await the (now pending) completion of our house, safely out of the weather. Last time I checked up on them, thankfully they were none the worse for having sat since 1999 and 1996 respectively.
Re the Ranchero-get the VIN off it and run the engine code, B is a 272, C is a 292 and D,E or F is a 312. They all look the same externally, FWIW the last Ford V8s with a rear mount distributor.
I guess I’ve been lucky. Living out here in warm, sunny California has been a boon to my car buying addiction.
My ’65 Buick Skylark convertible sat in some guy’s backyard out in the Tehachapi desert for 20 years before I bought it. It’s been sitting in outdoor storage here for the past three. I keep it covered and plan on doing a complete frame-off resto.
As far as the Monterey- cant the guy at least lay a sheet of plywood over the top frame and cover the car with a tarp to protect what’s left of the interior??? Geez.
The frame on that thing will be rotted to powder for sure. it’s a goner.
Regarding that Ranchero,
My very first car was a 1957 Fairlane 500 that I bought in 1969 from the original owner. It had the 312 cubic inch V8. It had been converted to a 4 speed manual with a cool Hurst shifter on the floor.
I know that those old cars sitting in a field seem odd to a lot of people. But to the owners, they probably represent memories and dreams. That’s okay in my book.
Nice write up, Jason.
That L-120 is more like a one ton than a 3/4 ton.
IH had a plethora of model designations that often didn’t exactly correspond to Chevy, Ford or Dodge.
100 was the half ton
110 was the 3/4 ton
120 was the one ton
130 was the ton and a half
Some call the 130 a one ton, but it generally came with dual rear wheels and overload springs and used for heavy jobs like a dump truck.
But you could mix and match springs and axles such that there were no specific dividing lines.
All models had overhead valve engines.
Interesting info Norm, thanks for sharing.
No the 120/1200 series trucks were advertized and sold as 3/4 ton trucks. In the years that they offered a 100 it was just another 1/2 ton. For a couple of years they actually offered 3 half tons. The stripper 900/908/Compact as a price leader, the 1000 with IFS and the 1100 with the straight axle.
Here is add for the L-110 “half ton”.
Good writeup Jason. I must say that I resemble some of those remarks.
Your brother in law has good taste. Just probably not enough time to do all he wants. I had a 1940 (actually made late 1939) international with a flathead six and it now resides with my nephew. I gave it to him when, like your brother in law I just had more steak than I could eat.
I had a friend in High School with a ranchero with a 312. At least it had 312 valve covers so he claimed bragging rights. Personally owned a fairlane 500 about four years later that I know had a 312 so probably your BIL is right. I may be wrong here but I think a version of this engine was available in the tbird in 56. I am too lazy to research. There was a hot version named after the tbird and it may have had a shortage in 57. All I know for sure is that two existed in a small burg like Dodge City so there couldn’t have been too much of a shortage.
Like Chas 108 I have house projects keeping me from my 57 210 Handyman. The 10 step program helps but I did just acquire a 1975 Yamaha DT175. It’s ok that I did because I ridded our yard of two other projects (delta trike and reverse trike) before I did that. The yamaha is actually not a project because it runs. Keeping that current may turn into a project. Every time I talk about a project my wife talks about property value (boondocks/ east texas so it’s moot). A wife is perhaps a better control on this disease than a 10 step program.
I’ve always been a sucker for abandon car pics. The old soldiers here seem to want nothing more than to melt back into the earth. The right side of the Mercury emblem is in the act too, trying hard, straining even, to join the tires. Love that picture.
The F100 doesn’t look too far gone. Would be fun to give it a max refurbishment budget of say $3000 and use it as a work truck.
The collection has actually thinned in the last 18 months. Just in that time two ’70 Mustang coupes, a ’63 F-350, a ’65 Chevrolet 3/4 ton whose frame had been stretched to create a car hauler, and a ’67 F-350 dump with a 300 straight six went to happy new homes.
The runabout has that Amphi-Car feel to it with the rear fins and that trunk-like outboard motor well deck. That Evinrude Starflite is an interesting motor in it’s own right. But I have to agree with chas108, on the first look, I think most of us can picture that Ranchero in our own hands, contemplating the ground up restoration…listening to that big block Ford fire up for the first time….until the reality of it all hits.
Ashes to ashes and rust to dust.
I had a Cornbinder that model a 110 flat deck OHV motor was normal in modern vehicles by 1950.
The Ford truck is a “unibody”. No seam behind the doors separating the cab from the bed. The curved rear window + the bright panel below it are unique to the “unibody”.
That last photo of the Mercury emblem is priceless. It sums up the entire history of the brand in one image.
I find auto-graveyards very sad.
Many years ago I got to explore the farm accross the road from my house, and every car the farmer ever owned ( except his current ride) was sitting beyond the orchard, gently rusting away.
Thank for sharing. I would love to roam around on their property. I too love to see abandoned cars, though these are not technically abandoned. The problem is that I would want to save them.
A lot of sad sights there.
That boat…nothing wrong with it that a good burning-up wouldn’t solve. The V4 outboard, though…that might or might not be worth some coin. OMC two-strokes, you just can’t kill them…but power-boating is somewhat out of fashion these days.
That Ranchero, though…makes me ache. That’s so rare it’s newsworthy; and it doesn’t look to be consumed with rust. Which ALONE makes it outstanding. With all the Tri-Five Chevys rolling around…when was the last time you saw ANY 1957 Ford?
I’d winch it out and advertise it on Ebay. You won’t get too much in that condition; but probably more than it was purchased for, and the in-laws will have the joy of knowing it’s going to a good home.
These vehicles have been a real source of contention in the wife’s family for years, which is why I started this article the way I did.
I won’t even go into the detail on the offers I have made for these things to be saved. Twenty years ago, these were all highly ready for being saved; now, not so much.
I didn’t realize the ’67 Mercury’s IP was so cool. I hate ribbon speedometers…
Sad that these cars probably are beyond help, but great pics! Thanks for sharing Jason. That Monterey convert is my favorite.
Seeing that Ranchero in the weeds brought back a memory of a friend in 1969 who lived in Times Beach, MO, and had a 1957 Ford Crown Victoria glass top. All it needed was an engine, otherwise it was in very good shape. My buddy and I wanted to take it and put an engine in it, and after mulling it over for a week, we went back down to see my Friend, and the car was gone.
Turned out the friend dumped it in the Meremac River, near his parent’s house! We were pretty mad about that, as it was a nice car.
In the mid-1990s, at our local Wal-Mart, there was an impromptu car show and this couple were the proud owners of TWO glass-top Ford CVs. When I told them my story, he and his wife practically jumped out of their lawn chairs and cried: “Where is it?” I laughed, and told them what had happened to the car many years before, and there were sad faces all around.
As for the boat above, there was a boat for sale in Florissant, MO, a few years before we moved that had a wrap-around windshield and tail fins! I wanted to buy it for those reasons alone!
That F100 pickup should be saved….unibody trucks are pretty popular these days
Hi Jason. Did the unibody Ford sell? I might be interested.
Tom
Just wondering if I could get a part off the Mercury Monterey the front of the top frame just the Peace that connects to the windshield