This 3-ton, five-passenger, 20′-8″ long, one-ton 4×4 truck would look great parked next to my tiny 2,500-pound, 15′-4″ Dodge D-50 Sport pickup. If a person needed a truck-truck for heavy hauling inside and out, it would be hard to beat this 1997 Ford F-350 XLT Crew Cab 4×4 Diesel. Even the name is long! The seller has this gorgeous truck listed here on eBay in Boring, Oregon, and the current bid price is just $22,100. I’m assuming that isn’t even remotely close to their reserve price.

Jeez, what a truck! My puny two-seater, orange Dodge (Mitsubishi) D-50 Sport is a whopping five feet shorter, over a foot narrower, almost 1/3 the weight, and 1/1,000,000th as cool. Just as a comparison, here’s my “truck” compared to this one; yowsa. Ford offered the ninth-generation F-Series for model years 1992 through 1997 here and a year longer in Brazil. The underside looks fantastic and parts of it appear to have been coated, as seems to be the trend these days. There isn’t anything wrong with that, it’s just an observation. I like the look and the idea of that and might do that to my tiny truck.

I think even I would need those steps to get into this rig. With gas shocks and “air lift load-lifter air springs”, this truck appears to be a bit higher than normal and that’s the one tiny nit I have to pick about it, but it sure looks cool. I just don’t need one this high. The rear needs extra heft because, as you can see, this truck isn’t just for show, it’s for hauling a fifth-wheel trailer. Check out the surgically clean bed (other than a couple of leaves) with the fifth wheel. In 1915, Charles Martin of Martin Rocking Fifth Wheel Company invented the fifth wheel, for a bit of barside trivia. I mean, not that I’m at a bar right now, as far as you know. (kidding)

The exterior looks like new to me, and the seller gets an F-350 Crew Cab 4×4-sized gold star for providing over 180 outstanding, in focus, nicely-exposed, overall and detailed photos! Very well done, seller! They do show a couple of dings and the usual wear on a truck that’s almost three decades old now, but it looks much better than it should. The same can be said for the beautiful interior. It looks great both front and rear, but they show some carpet damage in the rear seating compartment. Hagerty is at $38,200 for a #3 good-condition truck and a mind-blowing $61,200 for a #2 excellent example! Wow. At $22,100, this auction is barely started and there are only two days left.

This is no measly 2.6-liter Mitsubishi four-popper. No, sir, this is Ford’s optional 7.3-liter V8 turbodiesel, which originally would have had 215 horsepower and 405 lb-ft of torque (according to a 1997 Ford brochure), but with the seller’s list of modifications, they put it at around 500 horsepower. That’s quite a jump, I wonder what the torque number is?! It sends that power through a rebuilt (in 2020) four-speed automatic transmission to all four wheels and is said to give a “robust and reliable driving experience.” I do not doubt that one bit. One thing I noticed in an engine compartment detail photo is what looks like a rust hole. Is that what it is, or am I seeing things? Any thoughts on this gigantic diesel 4×4? What will it sell for, or will it even meet the seller’s reserve?