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1953 Ford F-100 Pickup V-8 Anniversary Edition

We have seen several promising F-series pickups on these pages recently. Here is one more, on eBay, a 1953 Ford F-100 anniversary edition truck for restoration. Bid to $2,650, it is located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. We have prolific tipster T.J. to thank for this one! The year 1953 marked a restyle for the F-series. The grille was distinct to this year. But all second-generation trucks benefited from roomier cabs with an adjustable seat wide enough for three across, bigger windows, and a host of options such as sun visors, dome lights, armrests, lighter, and radio. To punctuate the new look and celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of this legendary truck, Ford changed its naming convention: the “F-1” became the “F-100”.

These 1953 trucks still bore the 239 CID flathead V8 in their engine bays; the new Y-block V8 was just a few months off. The flattie made about 100 bhp. This truck runs, but barely; compression is said to be low in one bank. The seller is including a spare motor and transmission in “good running order” – no word on whether that’s also a 239 or not. The existing transmission is a three-speed column shift. The Ford-o-Matic automatic was an option starting this year.

The interior is only moderately worn, thanks to its simplicity – there just isn’t a lot in here that can get torn/dirty/punctured except the seats. Ok, they’re a bit rough but hey, this truck is almost seventy years old. The anniversary trucks were fitted with an appropriate horn button. The photo of the inside of the roof shows the dome light option; I think I see a sun visor too. The front windshield is cracked and scratched. One intriguing anomaly is that the F-100 didn’t come in white in 1953. Fleet owners often special-ordered colors, though, and white would be a logical choice for a fleet.

The body needs a little help. There’s rust in all the corners, and the bed wood has rotted away. Luckily, the seller will supply two good doors – also in white – to aid in making repairs; the worst part of the bed repair will be removing the old hardware. The undercarriage is heavily rusted but the seller indicates that the frame is not rotted. In short, we have a truck that needs motor repair, some interior repair, and lots of rust repair, and we don’t know what we might find out about the brakes, steering, and other components once it’s driveable. This truck has a lot of charm but a prospective buyer will need deep pockets or plenty of skills to bring it back from the brink.

Comments

  1. Avatar Denny N. Member

    Fiftieth anniversary – Big Deal. Every 1953 Ford truck is a 50th anniversary model so I’d save the commemorative horn button and junk the rest.

    Like 4
  2. Avatar Bob C.

    Patch up the body and throw any ol’ 302 in it.

    Like 2
    • Avatar RBCJR

      LS Swap!

      Like 2
  3. Avatar Joe Haska

    I agree they are all the 50th Anniversary, however only The Deluxe Cabs had the Anniversary horn button. They also had sun visors, extra chrome trim on the dash, Custom Cab emblem, chrome drip rails. There are many other things like fresh air heater and blower, radio, overdrive, automatic, turn signals, cigarette lighter, dome light ,that I believe were on top of the deluxe cab option. I don’t know for sure how they were ordered. I have had six of these trucks and they were all a little different. The B/F truck is not a deluxe or any sort of Anniversary addition. I had one 53 which was the nicest original I have ever seen, and it had all the things I mentioned. It was a 3 speed O/D with an O/D emblem on the grill. As nice as the truck was it had no paper to show how it was ordered or with what the extras were.

    Like 6
  4. Avatar ROBERT L BURWELL Member

    I grew up driving a Ford Jubilee tractor on our family farm, it had a round chrome anniversary emblem on the front of the hood. When I see one it always makes me smile, so does this truck and it’s close by but I’m too old start another.

    Like 5
  5. Avatar FOG

    Restored one of these in the late ’70’s. Later, added overdrive. Loved it! Cruised the highways with ease getting thumbs up along the way.

    Like 3
  6. Avatar George Birth

    This one has a great amount of rust to tackle. It will take a great amount of work to fix this one.

    Like 1
  7. Avatar Tim

    Interesting 50th anniversary horn button – note a search for images on these horn buttons – most had fiftieth spelt as ’50th’. I have a 53 Canadian Mercury M100 and the anniversary horn button on it also has Fiftieth spelt out… Perhaps this was a Canadian thing…

    Like 0

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