This 1986 Ford F-250 is one of those trucks that I’ve seen on the road for so many years that it doesn’t necessarily jump off the page at you when scrolling through hundreds of listings. However, this example is a bit more special than most since it has just under 24,000 miles from new. The asking price is ambitious, however – check it out here on eBay with a Buy-It-Now of $12,500.
Is the price that out of hand? I’ll leave that up to you to decide. It’s not often you find a workhorse like this in such great condition. The interior looks quite handsome for a truck this old, and I can’t remember the last time I spotted one of these in the junkyard with wood-veneer trim worth saving. This F-250 has the rubberized floor covering from the factory along with the venerable 351 motor manually locking hubs.
Even the door panels present super nicely, and haven’t been subjected to years of being kicked by careless passengers. Other neat features include the old-school glass headlights that were later replaced by a single lens set up, and as you’ll see in the photo below, it has a sweet old-school grill with fog lights mounted inside. Simple things, for sure, but most of the F-Series I’ve seen of this generation are missing those original features or they’ve simply been trashed.
The F-250 is also a long bed model, with a custom cap that has likely kept the bed in excellent shape. What I like about this F-250 is it’s a classic you can use everyday, and it likely won’t have too many issues given the low miles. However, I couldn’t make it work at the current asking price as buying a vintage truck just for kicks falls firmly in my below-$10K bucket. What about you – what do you think this survivor is worth?
The 7th Gen 80-86 F Series is nicknamed the Bullnose given the grill jutting out somewhat. They are coming into their own with a strong following as they are considered the last true F Series work trucks. Ford got all fancy with the 87 and on. The asking price is subject to geography. Owning a bullnose and knowing them, the asking price is lofty, regardless of mileage, to say the least. They haven’t come “that” far into their own. The $ is a huge stretch.
I always liked the 80-86 trucks. This is a proverbial unicorn in this condition although the ask is still pretty steep.
Nice truck, but I agree the price is ambitious. I would put the value at between $7500 & $8500.
I agree. I’m actually thinking 7.5k is the top end of it and that might be stretching it. Pretty much a base model.
Pricey yes but I love it. I had a 86 2wd many years ago. I wish one of you would get it for me for Christmas.
I would have to trade off my 84 single cab tow package with dual everything to accomplish this….not likely but a good try.
Love it being a 4×4 but geez it’s a every day pickup not a collector truck and anyone who buys it will use it as one. I scrolled down his ad and clicked on the red 1970 Ford stepside 4×4 ex firetruck now that’s more to my taste as a collector tuck.
With all due respect to DG some guys say 79 was the last good year as others will say 86 and as most of my customers tell me 97 was the last best year for the old body style for which I agree and I guess it just a matter of taste. They didn’t make a true super duty in 98 and if its a 7.3 power stroke from 94 to 03 they are considered collectible by most the diesel guys and the prices on them just keep going up. But I do love my newer 6.0″s as they are over hated and under rated jmo.
My favorite truck ever was my 88 F250. 460, C6, manual locking 4WD. Black and silver two tone. Wrecked by the ex about a year after the judge gave it to her.
I bought a 82 F150 a few weeks ago for $1500. It has 22000 original miles on it and looks flawless with no rust and new looking interior.
Nice! You should have bought a lottery ticket that day too!
I’ll give you $2000 for it!
I would be interested to see what is beneath the drop-in bed liner….(no photos available)
“Estate Barn Find” can sometimes be translated as “I pretty much stole this off the widow who has no clue what it’s worth and now I’m pretty sure I’m going to fund my retirement by finding someone that gullible to buy it at my price”
Yeah. Not gonna happen. A nice truck to be sure, but if he started at half that price he’d probably find a some interest in an auction format.
Bingo!
my pref: the 300/4.9efi, a lill bigger cab & $8K.
The rest? Just right.
Well, ambitious price is good on them….weeds out the weirdos. Just make an offer,..you never know. I really like this one. I’m in the 6500.00 range. Mostly cause I despise fake wood. Why oh why do automobile manufactures believe wood, fake or otherwise belongs in a car? But, further, your gonna spend 12,000 in gas just to push this queen around for the first year of ownership. ..sigh..
I find it sad that this once great page has shifted from genuine barn finds to paying ads for stuff that obviously just rolled out of the garage. There’s no longer a link for sending in finds, just a “how to sell your car” page. too bad.
Jimmy, you can send in your finds to mail@barnfinds.com. We post reader finds all the time–look at the descriptions. Also, this truck, like most of our posts, is not a paid ad–it’s a vehicle that either a writer or a reader was interested enough to generate a post from. In case that wasn’t clear enough, this truck was not a paid ad.
Jamie, thanks for clearing that up but to be fair, it’s not evident that the contact link (in very small type at the bottom) is where one would write to send in tips and it doesn’t seem to figure anywhere else on your page. You used to have an email address starting with “tips” which was clearly featured. Glad you are still accepting users submissions. Keep up the great work.
Thank you!
My favorite Ford truck bodystyle. Looks like a good candidate for a 12 valve Cummins transplant.
I daily drive a 83 diesel 250. Old enough to be different, new enough to be practical.