Have we shown you too many old Ford trucks? Sorry; I just can’t help myself, especially when it’s one still employed at work, like this fine ’68 F250 4×4 hauling a load of firewood. It’s a wee bit rusty for Eugene; I’m guessing it found its way here like so many Oregonians; the Oregon Trail hasn’t exactly ever shut down. With a canvas top over the back, this would have made a fine rig with which to drive the original Oregon Trail.
Something about those gray wheels tells me this owner still takes his truck seriously. And that this truck has a substantial future ahead of it, as long as folks are still burning wood. Which around here is likely to be forever.
With a little preventative maintenance, this old Ford likely will keep going forever. About 2000 pounds of wood in the back likely helps it ride a lot smoother, too.
Sweet looking truck. There’s just something about American full-sized pickup truck I’ve always liked. The Toyota Tundra and the Nissan Titan may be good vehicles in their own way, but they’re not the same. They don’t have American names, like Ford, Dodge, or Chevrolet. Besides that, American full-sized pickup trucks have a wider choice of engine sizes than anything Toyota or Nissan ever offered. Everything from gasoline to diesel, from 3.5 litre six cylinder to 7.5 litre diesel engine. That works in the American pickup truck’s favour.
“A wee bit rusty”. That’s what I remember the nice ones looking like in the Midwest…in the 80s. 😀
Correct you are. My father had a ’70 F-100; in 1985, the underside was rusted to the point where the body fell in on the frame putting the shift linkage in such a bind he couldn’t get it out of first gear.
Ha ha. It’s not restricted to the mid-west. Here in Pennsylvania, I have seen the rocker panels and body mounting points on the cabs of the 80’s and 90’s so rusty that the cab sags on the frame and keeping you from depressing the clutch enough to change gears. A customer at the shop that I worked at had this happen to an old and beat up diesel 4×4 F-250 that he used to plow snow with. It was rusty, but it was a beast that just wouldn’t quit. It got so rusty that it was a challenge every year to get it through our state safety inspection. Usually involved a lot of cutting and welding 🙂 Was a perfect plow truck though.
Ford AU tried galvanising these things to make em last sure the body stays intact then but the rest falls apart, original wheels means he still works it wide wheels on the front mean you constantly buy draglink assemblies every inspection and that gets old real quick the ball joints cannot stand the extra weight, the engines go for a long time but subject to yearly inspections the rest of them doesnt.
No such thing as too many old Ford trucks. Keep them coming. Please.
Well said. +1
++!
My favourite Ford trucks have always been the F250 and F350.
Very nice, I always like a small flatbed truck that looks like a scaled down big (class 8) truck. Very clean “form follows function” too, no shiny crap hanging around.
These model were a popular ambulance conversion in Aussie with 240 cube 6 except rust ate the cabs, keep em coming very few left alive here, though Ive seen a Ranger sporting this cab recently a 72 by the rego label.
Nice to see an unpretentious old work truck that hasn’t been decked out with cab roof lights or stacks for example. It’s refreshing to enjoy.
If it wasn’t for the rust, Ford pickups would age very well.
Fords of this vintage are among my favorite trucks, and it’s great to see one still earning its keep. Take good care of it, and there’s no reason why it can’t keep hauling wood (or whatever you ask of it) for a long time yet. Another vehicle with a home in my dream garage.
This Ford for me was when they were real trucks. I think the attached image is the end of an era of real Ford trucks. 1996 f350
It is not possible to show us too many old trucks , no matter what brand .
This is lovely .
-Nate
I agree. Keep ’em coming. I also agree with twalton, the era of true trucks ended when style became more important than substance. Gimme an older Ford with the 300 I-6 any day.
I am in agreement with the other commentors. There is no such thing as too many old trucks. I always liked this generation of the F series. I have never owned one, but drove many back in the day while in the used car business. They were workhorses.
This one must come from a rough neighborhood. I see a padlock on the hood, a locking gas cap, and what appears to be locking lug nuts. The photo gets fuzzy when I zoom in that far, but I see one mismatched nut per wheel, which could be a lock.
These original, working old trucks are rare in my corner of the world, so please keep them coming.
Another fan of this generation of Ford truck. Like many of you, i have never owned one. My only Ford pickup was a 63, same generation as Pauls. So, even if this is a late model, I like it. 🙂
A friend’s uncle had a ’69 F-250 “Camper Special” that we would borrow from time to time. Top of the line Ranger model with the 390, Cruise-O-Matic and factory A/C, but oddly, no radio. Remembered it as a serious workhorse and brute, nothing plasticky at all about that interior. He only put few thousand miles a year on it and kept it for at least 20 years. Recall the Ford pickups of that era were far more popular than Chevy, especially with contractors and tradesman. No one drove the Dodges.
Yes, I recall the conventional wisdom of that time – if you want something to drive, buy the Chevy pickup. If you want something to earn a living with, buy the Ford. And you are right, almost nobody bought the Dodge. I would see a smattering of International pickups back then, but then I lived in Fort Wayne, a city with a big International factory.
Are there sales stats to back that up, that Ford far outsold Chevy back then? My understanding is that historically Ford and Chevy trucks each sold much better in certain geographic areas; for instance Chevy trucks were historically much more popular in Texas and the Southwest in general. And conversely, Ford was more popular in other parts of the country. That may or may not still be the case to some degree or another.
In the sixties and early seventies, it was already getting hard to find old Ford trucks like the F1 or so. But the “Advance” Chevies from 1948-1954 were absolutely everywhere; there’s not doubt that the Chevies from that era both outsold Fords, and lasted longer to boot.
IMHO, Chevy trucks from this era (60s) are about as good as the Fords. And around here, and in CA, one sees just as many old Chevy trucks still working as Fords. I particularly like the ’67-’72 Chevy trucks, and would have equally gladly had one. After ’73, not so much so.
We’ll, here are some productions stats from the catalog of light duty trucks:
Ford Chevy
1967 – 330,581 381,562
1968 435,619 435,334
1969 504,260 530,721
1970 506,094 465,243
1971 537,957 386,406
1972 644,529 527,673
Pretty close for ’67 – ’70, then Ford pulls away, and they have usually won the annual sales battle ever since. Not really being a truck person, I wonder why? Both brands seem to have had good features throughout the years. I’m sure some of our resident truck experts can enlighten me.
Paul, you might be onto something about the regional biases regarding pickups. Here in the east where I live the Fords always seemed to be more popular, but I’ve heard anecdotally that Chevys dominated in Texas and throughout the south.
I understand Chevy is reported without including the GMC line. That can make a big difference. Don’t know if your stats break them out or not.
These are Chevy figures only. GMC sales were listed separately. I know Chevy and GMC trucks are almost identical now, but didn’t the GMC’S have (at least at one time) unique engines and features that made them a bit different?
Yes back in the day GMC offered different engines than the Chevy version, the most notable was their big V6 in the 60’s.
Yes that is true. My 68 model C10 was no different than a GMC. 68 was the year the 283 was dropped for the 307 and the 327 was essentially replaced with the 350. I actually think 327 and 350 engines were both being produced. The 67s were the same engines as the prior design IIRC. But 67, before the engines were changed the trucks started being produced on the same line with the only difference being the grill. I just googled that to make sure I wasn’t having brain gas.
http://www.pattson.com/maych/67_72_gmc.htm
Not including GMC is going to misrepresent things but Ford advertising does that ever year. They are both pretty good trucks afaic.
The Fords were more popular with the hot rod crowd starting with the 48 F1 through the 56 F100 so a lot more of them were taken out of daily driver mode and customized in the 60s and particularly late 70’s. Look at old hot rod magiznes of that era and you’ll see a lot more of the F100 gracing the pages. Of course they were usually sporting a SBC frequently sitting on a Nova sub frame that was grafted on.
I’ve always liked the 1967-1977 Ford F250 and F350. My dad had a 1968 Ford F100 and my grandparents had a 1976 Ford F350 Camper Special. 🙂
Ford trucks of this generation, and the one following, are still all over the southeast. Tons of them here in Richmond, 4 or 5 of these late 60’s/early 70’s models in my neighborhood alone, a couple restored, a couple still looking mostly original. The Triangle region of NC was full of them also. Curiously you see the Chevy equivalents far less often, and the Dodges almost never.
Despite the (valid) complaints about rust, I think the Chevy trucks may have had it worse in this climate. When I was a kid I remember seeing so many mid/late 70’s Chevy pickups, and they seem to be all gone now. Still plenty of 80’s and up but the earlier ones seem to have disappeared, compared to the still-common Fords of the same era.
I saw a ’68 F250 Camper Special Ranger today while waiting for the streetcar. It was in great shape, and with most of the salt gone, it was time to go for a drive. This was the first “real” Ranger I’d seen in a long time, with a nice V8 rumble and a two-tone paint job. It brought a smile to my face – I always thought they were cool trucks when I was a kid, and as an adult I still do.
I’m not only no expert but I’m also an un ashamed Bowtie Guy and all ’round GM Fanboi .
That being said , the simple facts remain that beginning in the 1967 model year GM dropped any pretense of rust protection on the trucks , from there through the 1987 models all trucks had good chassis but terrible mud traps built in and paper thin body sheet metal that wasn’t properly primed so they dropped like flies from day one ~ I’ve had them and currently own a ’69 C/10 , I know and love these fine trucks but the facts are what they are and the rust belt ate them up like tissue paper , even here in Los Angeles they rust in the garage .
I have also owned and worked Ford trucks from 1931 > and none ever had the same rust issues .
Still and all , I will always choose a Chevy truck before a Ford , I’m stupid that way =8-) .
-Nate