Grabber Blue was one of three colors available on Ford’s special-edition Explorer pickup for 1973, and this appears to be a really nice truck, having traveled just 14,944 miles since it left the factory 53 years ago. This gorgeous, ultra-low-mileage truck is posted here on craigslist in Shoreline, Washington, and the seller is asking $14,995. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Curvette for the tip!
If I had any brains at all, which we all know I don’t, instead of wondering what some weird company (Amazon) expected to accomplish by selling books on this new internet thing, I would have heavily invested in that company back in 1999 when I first noticed it. Then I could have gotten a 1973 Ford F-100 with the Explorer package in all three colors: Grabber Blue, Burnt Orange, and Bright Lime. They would all be on velvet turntables in our living room. This truck appears to be loaded with Explorer package C, which includes, as you’d expect, everything in packages A and B, and also air conditioning and tinted glass. The sixth-generation F-Series was made from 1972 for the 1973 model year until the end of 1979 here.
The seller doesn’t mention any paint or bodywork, so I’m just assuming this beautiful truck is all original. Being in that neck of the woods (Pacific Northwest) and having so few miles, it’s possible that it’s original, I think? And it isn’t 100% mint everywhere, as they show inside the bed, where it’s showing some wear and surface rust, along with the diamond-pattern metal on the inside of the tailgate and on the front side of the bed up by the cab. I don’t see any flaws on the exterior, but the photos are pretty small. This is a familiar dealer, and I’m sure they’d send any additional photos to a serious buyer. Oddly, the right-side bed rail isn’t shown in the photo above, but it’s visible in the other photos.
The special color-matched seat fabric looks perfect, and even better, this truck has a 4-speed manual transmission! Not to mention, power steering, power brakes, and air conditioning. The only thing I would add would be a 38″ curved monitor on the dash. No, what? I’m kidding, obviously. I wouldn’t do one thing to this truck other than keeping it maintained and driving it. The price seems almost too good to be true. Hagerty is at $13,733 on the low end and $23,267 on the high end. This truck looks great from what I can tell, and the low miles should add to the value. Here’s a brochure showing the 1973 Ford Explorer package lineup for the F-100, Bronco, and Ranchero.
The engine is Ford’s 360-cu.in. OHV V8, rated at 196 (gross) horsepower and 327 (gross) lb-ft of torque when new. Backed by the 4-speed manual sending power to the rear wheels, this truck looks super nice overall. Some of the details (engine compartment and bed) aren’t up to the body and interior, but what are your thoughts on this truck?
Wow. I’m right there with you SG, this is an outstanding truck. My favorite generation of F-Series, flashy color, the specialty Explorer package, 4-speed, in excellent condition. And given the rise in prices for classic trucks in recent years, the price seems reasonable.
Great find, and great write-up SG.
Worth every penny! Gotta wonder whose garage it’s been squirreled away in the last 50 years. I’d have to check out the underside, I’ve seen them look this good yet the floors and cab mounts still be gone.
This for real? Would prefer an F250 but at my age if I bought it would be the last I would buy, this seems too good to be for real. Bought an F250 new in 76 but 3 sons used it as they proceeded through high school, guess you can figure how it ended up. It was a camper special, dark metallic blue, 390/4 speed/locking rear end/2wd, the perfect truck at the time. This one is awesome even with surface rust in the bed, interesting diamond plate on ends of the bed. If it is as presented here then an awesome opportunity for someone that hopefully will appreciate and not change or modify it.