Checking almost every box, at least for me, (spoiler alert, it doesn’t have a diesel), this 1997 Ford F-250HD XL SuperCab 4×4 is one great-looking, real, working, non-trailer-queen pickup, with “normal” wheels and tires, a few dings here and there, and it’s posted here on craigslist in historic Santa Fe, New Mexico. The seller is asking $6,000. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Jack M. for the tip!
Even with 169,000 miles, this truck will not be available long with a $6,000 asking price. That’s crazy cheap money for a Kia these days, let alone the last year of what’s generally known as the OBS (Old Body Style), and they’re pretty desirable. If you like your Ford trucks square (I know the new ones are somewhat squareish, but I mean your old Ford trucks), this is the last one before Ford jumped on the melted bar of soap era. The F-250HD has an 8,000-pound rating, a good half-ton+ more than an F-250.
I wouldn’t need a 3/4-ton F-250 HD for anything really, but I just love the look of this truck. The ninth-generation F-Series was made from late 1991 for the 1992 model year until the end of 1997. This is the last year, so I hope the next owner treats this one with respect, yet still uses it as it was meant to be used.
Roll-your-own windows! This is one basic truck, despite its XL trim-level designation. Air-conditioning was standard on the XL, as was the cloth bench seat and another small cloth bench seat in the SuperCab area, which, sadly, we don’t get to see at all. Here’s a 1997 Ford F-Series Heavy Duty/Super Duty brochure for your viewing and drooling pleasure. In case you wondered why we sometimes make mistakes here on Barn Finds, Wiki says that the XL package includes a cloth bench seat, but page 4 of that brochure says a vinyl seat was standard, and a cloth/vinyl seat was optional on the XL F-250HD SuperCab.
Another thing we don’t get to see: the engine. Sadly, the seller didn’t bother to pop the hood to show us the standard engine for this truck, Ford’s 351-cu.in. OHV V8. Bummer. They did show us the 5-speed shift lever, so that makes up for a portion of the disappointment in not seeing the engine. This V8 would have had 210 horsepower and 325 lb-ft of torque. It rolled through a 5-speed manual and transfer case to all four wheels. This is one of my favorite trucks in a long line of favorite trucks shown recently here on Barn Finds. At $6,000, this one won’t be for sale long. I wish I could grab it.
Gone in a split second!
Perfect….5 speed 4wd, and the 351 marginally better gas wise than the 460, roll up windows and a reasonable price, even for Santa Fe. People who list these at $12,00 ‐ $15,000 are dreaming….it’s a work truck!
I’m sure the first person who saw it bought it.
Great truck. I owned a ’93 with a 5 sp/6.9 diesel combo – it got 19 mpg – it’s too bad that diesel fuel is now priced out of this world.
I’ve owned both a 351 powered and a 460 powered OBS Ford. The 351 is a slug in these things, the 460 is well worth the 2 or 3 mpg penalty.
Throw a plow up front for winter duty, ❄️ no problem..
Yep, it didn’t last long. Author deleted the ad
Does not surprise me that it is gone already!!! This is a great weekend workhorse in good shape. I had a 96 F150 with the 351 and 4th over automatic. in 2000 I moved my cousin from Bar Harbor ME to Sitka AK pulling a 12 foot U-Haul trailer, squatting so much I did not dare weigh it!!! That 351 did a good job in the hills of western Ontario and going over the mountains on the Alberta / British Columbia line.
Sayonara, my old friend, ( the truck), you served us well. I never knew the term “OBS”, but certainly hits a nerve, last of what I would consider the “traditional” pickups. This was a work truck, front lock-outs, ( what the heck are those,gramps?) no glory, no info screen( gad, how will we know what’s what) a heater/ac with what appears to be “control knobs”, that you must have to turn somehow, I kid, but really,,not really. After this truck, things, for me, took a churn for the worse, truck wise, and has very little what I think a modern pickup buyer would want today. You bet some old fart jumped on this, I would have too. If you wait for a media posting on something like this, probably already too late. Too bad there just aren’t enough to go around. I tell you what, had we known the fate of what transpired in pickups,,oops, cars with a box, I guarantee more would have hung onto these longer,,,like this person, I bet.