(First Posted September 2, 2013) Back in the eighties, living in tony Los Gatos, I used to gaze longingly at photos of old American cars and trucks still hard at work in Cuba. But within days of moving to Eugene in 1993, I came across this very truck, hauling its daily cargo of recycled cardboard. And it planted a seed in me, to document the old vehicles still earning their keep, which finally came to fruition with Curbside Classics. Although we’ve strayed from the strict interpretation of that mission a few times along the way, no other vehicle more perfectly embodies the original ethos than this 1956 F-350.
I’ve seen this rolling relic coming and going all these years, and tried to catch it since starting CC, even searching futilely in the Yellow Pages for “B&L Recycling”. But then on our daily walk, there it was, with its owner loading up a week’s worth of cartons from Cafe Zenon. After a hard-enough first life of twenty-five years as a farm truck, since 1979, “Gus” has been earning a living for owner Mike McCool, hauling cardboard to be recycled at the local pulp mill five and six days a week, year in and year out.
Let’s get the preliminaries out of the way first: either you “get” Gus and his owner, or you don’t. If you do, you can skip this paragraph. If not, I’m not sure I can change your perspective, but at least give Mike the credit that every aspect of his truck and his life’s work is deliberate. That goes for his precarious-looking load in the back: he’s been at it so long, he knows exactly what it’s doing; hasn’t lost one yet in thirty years. Mike’s hardly some marginal or pathetic character to either pity or wish the hell he’d get his battered eyesore off the road. He’s a successful independent small businessman who’s found a niche that allows him to make a reasonable living while living his passion for recycling. And keeping old things running forever.
It’s a way of life that I can relate to, even if I chose not to live it quite to Mike’s level by a long shot. Although my similarly battered ’66 F-100 isn’t getting worked quite as much anymore as it was during my old-house moving and rebuilding days, let’s just say Mike and I share at least an old Ford truck in common, and we hit it right off. He was happy to show me the various tricks employed to keep a fifty-five year old truck running happily, like the original oil-bath air cleaner that never needs replacing.
He did just mount an alternator to the old 223 cubic inch six, and recently splurged for some new custom-made 16″ front wheels to replace the 17″ split rims that are such a pain. After he’s amortized that rare and pricey investment, he’ll buy some for the rears too. Finally having radials on the front were like suddenly getting power steering. I know the feeling.
Lest I forget, Mike did rebuild the engine after he first bought it in 1979. Burning a quart of oil every hundred miles was a strong incentive. He used high quality parts, and it’s still running strong. The 223 six started life in 1952 as the 215, Ford’s first modern OHV engine. It developed a rep as a rugged work horse; but then that pretty much applied to all of Detroit’s sixes back then. It’s definitely the way to go if maximum reliability and minimum upkeep are high on the priority list and V8 power isn’t. Gus sticks to the surface streets, and the six purrs contentedly.
These old American trucks used a healthy grade of steel throughout. They come from a time when American trucks were still exported throughout the world, as paragons of durability, power and utility. And it really isn’t hard to keep them on the road pretty much forever. Except for some rust on the lip over the windshield, Gus is good to go for…as long as Mike wants him to.
Although it may seem that Mike lives in a world a bit different from ours, he’s actually as or more intimately connected to world affairs and the global economy than most of us. The global price of cardboard fluctuates dramatically, based obviously on the demand for cartons to ship the world’s products, especially from China. Having weathered a crash in the price down to $5/ton in the worst months of the recent recession (living debt free and cheaply made it possible), its been climbing again in the past couple of years and is currently at around $125/ton (8/13), near all-time highs. According to Mike’s cardboard price index, the recession is long over, and happy days are here again. But he’s not running out to buy a new F-350; more like another set of two new wheels and matching tires for the rear axle. Enough chatting; Mike and Gus have work to do.
That is so cool. The last picture brought a smile to my face.
So nice to see old cars and trucks doing what they were meant to do.
He’s smart cause the cost of running that truck versus a comparable modern one is probably very small. Just the cost if something broke in a modern one would probably almost cover a refresh on that one.
Glad to have read this.
Would have been interesting to know how many miles Gus has done.
What got me was how clean the engine was!
Me too. What’s with the tinfoil down by the exhaust pipe and steering gear? Is that keeping something from getting too hot, like the fuel filter maybe? Crude but effective I’m sure.
Nice to see it still working I pass trucks all day long and very few old ones though a local vegetable grower still uses a Dagenham Ford Trader from the early 60s for carting produce to Turners transport where I linehaul Fruit and veges.
Old age and horrendous fuel consumption has relegated most of the oldies into retirement now Gasoline powered trucks aren’t really viable anymore.
Back before Toyotas were everywhere, there were American trucks. That were durable and reliable and would run almost forever if cared for. Sadly, salt and rust have taken a lot of the really old ones off the road.
When I was a kid in the early 70s, we visited relatives in Minnesota. One of them ran a resort and used a 1930s era Dodge truck for hauling garbage. It was the only time in my life that I really wanted to go on a garbage run.
I might as well be the one to say it: That truck is seriously McCool. In fact, his whole low-overhead approach to doing business gets a big thumbs up from me.
Interesting to note the Brazilian oddities of these F-series trucks, like that 1960 F-600 who used the 1953-60 body. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ifhp97/6206155897/in/photostream/ or this Brazilian 1957 F-600 who didn’t use the “dog leg” windshield and vent windows. http://antigosverdeamarelo.blogspot.ca/2011/03/ford-f-600-1957.html
As I mentioned in the Falcon from down under thread the other day shipping the old tooling abroad and giving it a second life in another country was the standard operating procedure for Ford back then. So you can find a number of cases where you find old Fords that are the “wrong” year for their body style. So you have the 1957 that is using the 53-55 cab and the 1960 using the 56 cab.
Is this in your Detroit? Is this the Sanford Son show you have?
In Detroit, sadly, even this vehicle would have rusted to pieces before hitting 20 years old.
Rust never sleeps especially in Detroit.
that’s a beautiful thing. Love old Ford’s. Scanning eBay last night and came upon this beauty: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford-Other-no-trim-1973-ford-tow-truck-white-low-mileage-very-good-condition-/111157313216?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item19e17dfec0&vxp=mtr#ht_500wt_1022
Sadly, no pics of “the wench.” 😉
Wasn’t there a truck like that in the opening credits of Sanford and Son?
Yes, from what I saw at http://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gallery/displayalbum.php?albumid=22933 It was a 1951 Ford.
According to one episode, when Fred’s truck got stolen he reported it to the cops as a 1952, not that their is much difference between the two model years.
Yeah, but an F100, not a heavy like this 350.
Hats off to Mike from a fellow traveler!
I would offer a different opinion on the hardware however. Although refreshingly simple, fifties trucks, in general, were vaguely improved reincarnations of 1918 technology: Stubbornly fickle, break for no good reason, hopelessly mired in 3″ of mud, hard riding, hard steering, hard to keep on the road, hold up traffic dinosaurs with primitive electrics and atrocious fuel economy. It wasn’t until the sixties, again in general, that American truck technology corrected some of these age old problems.
The sixties were a very brief Golden Age, however. It wasn’t too long after that that American trucks switched from commercial entities to consumer items. For the past quarter century, people who never worked a day in their life, people who would look down their nose at a trooper like Mike, routinely shell out $40,000 for these chrome and leather rolling palaces.
“Work” trucks today are special order items. Provided you can get past the sales force.
I would have to respectfully disagree with this comment. Having grown up driving vehicles of this era (including a mid-fifties F100 with this motor and a three-speed column mounted shifter, and a similarly equipped mid-60’s C10)), I found these rigs to be very solid, durable, tractable in mud (if you mounted the “mud-and-snow” tires on the back axle), reliable, and relatively economical for the times (typically providing gas mileage in the mid teens). They did require more frequent and extensive maintenance-regular oil changes, tune-ups with plugs, points and adjustments to the timing, and attention with the grease gun-but if you did so, they were quite reliable. They are certainly no match for modern traffic, particularly the drum brakes, but driven at the speeds and on the roads of the time, most of them were surprisingly comfortable and easy to operate. Farm wives thought nothing of getting in one to haul lunch out to the men, or to make a run to town. Updated with modern electronics, with the oils and greases currently available, and kept out of the salt, they will last a very long time. No, they typically did not have the carrying or towing capacity of modern pickups, but for much of what you use a truck for, they will still haul what you want, without fear of tearing off the front spoiler, or getting some mud or worse on your plush carpeting and leather interior.
The 1956 was an odd Ford truck…in that it got that wraparound windshield, no doubt at considerable expense, for only one year. The next year, of course, brought a different body…not sure if the chassis was changed as well.
There’s little I can say about the enterprise. If it pays the bills and the owner’s happy, that’s all that matters in the end. But just looking at the rig, there’s a number of things I would change right away. Starting with, getting a correct replacement for the driver’s wiper; and putting that one back on the right side where it belongs. Then, the engine fan…go electric, gain about eight horsepower. The alternator was a good step in the right direction. Purists will blanch; but this is a working rig: the wheels are modern; the electrical system; take the best of the old and the better of the new.
Love the oil-bath air cleaner, at least as a concept. Back when there were still some around, I remember reading someone in Popular Mechanics damning them and advising a modern adapter kit to a paper ring. Was it really so inferior?
Interesting, too, that the gauge cluster seems taken straight from the passenger Fords. I remember our 1957 having that same rainbow-arch layout.
I completely, 100% get Mike. Just because he doesn’t have a beer belly and an F-350 diesel doesn’t make him bad. In my opinion, that makes him smart. Living simple is the way to go, it is just so much less stressful. More stuff is more headaches.
Mortgage. French words, “mort” and “gage”. Literally “dead” and “pledge”.
This Ford driver knows how it works. Chapeau !!
WOW. I am SOOOOOO jealous. What a great truck and still working. I too also live simply and could get along with Mike real well. Wish I could find something like that.
Utilitarianism triumphs as seen by the all metal dashboard serving as a magnetic office messaging system….on wheels! Bravo to Mr. McCool & Gus!
Rather than pity him, Mike is my hero. Truly. It’s not the ‘cheap bastard’ part of me; my parents (via my grandparents) fled famine and poverty in 1930; they landed here amid the depression and still thought it was paradise.
You had to work hard, you had to work long, but you could put food (ok, staples like potatoes and cabbage…LOTS OF THAT) on the table. Lots of sacrificing. Better yet, nothing was wasted.
That left quite an impression on me, and recycling and reusing reasonably is forever my mission. As I’m getting older, waste is bothering me more and more.
Retirement, not far off, will hopefully see me grabbing a few acres 100 miles from town and an old pick up to do errands. Grew up in a cow town, been playing the big city for 30+ years, and I’m ready for quiet and calm again.
So, kudos to you Mike!
Great truck! I’m glad you finally caught up with it–and Mike.
Any updates on Mike and Gus?
A 6 cylinder in a pickup? That’s heresy. That’s decidedly poor. That’s ….. smart? Seriously, if you don’t need the speed for in city driving, and you don’t need the power to pull or haul heavy loads, why not a 6?
So cool! The only thing I see potentially wrong are those sketchy looking stake sides and rear. If that fails (and it looks it might) he’s setting himself up for a huge lawsuit…
A heartwarming story I missed in 2013 and 2016; makes me want to know the state of things in 2019. Some cursory Googling doesn’t find “B&L Recycling” in Eugene, but who knows?
Anyone care to ballpark (1) the heaviest paper/cardboard load he ever hauls, vs. (2) payload capacity for that F-350? Just wondering (not trying to make a point)…
Those old pick up trucks were tough, reliable, no nonsense, easy to maintain, good looking work vehicles. About the only thing that would kill them was rust. I just don’t understand why today’s auto company’s can’t build a basic pick up truck without power windows, power seats, and all of that infotainment plug and play crap as standard equipment. And does every frigging truck built nowaday’s have to have cloth or leather interiors? I’ve seen many not too old Ford F-150’s and Econoline vans with the cloth seats in shreds, right down to the chunks of foam missing on the bolsters. What ever happened to long wearing vinyl seats for work trucks? Sorry Ford, GM, RAM, and even you too Toyota and Nissan, if you won’t build a no nonsense truck, then I’ll keep driving my very basic and very reliable ’82 Ford F-250 since it’s a real honest to goodness truck and not some pretentious status symbol.
*Sigh*
You can still get a basic truck with vinyl bench seat, rubber floor, and crank windows from any of the Big 3. But when it comes time to put their money where their mouths are, suddenly these types of commenters are nowhere to be found.
For a short time, I had a ’53. I remember those front fenders as being incredibly strong. Whether it was the gauge of the steel or the stamping curves that gave it strength I don’t know. It seemed nothing would dent them – not even a direct low speed collision.
Ford needs to resurrect that lightning bolt badge over a gear – now.
Sentence structure – let’s try this again. Lightning bolt over a gear badge. That’s better.