Classic pickup trucks are a hot commodity these days and the rounded look of 1950s era pickups are at the top of most shopper’s lists. A nice looking, 6,000 mile 1955 Ford F250 stored away in a barn since 1976 is for sale on Craigslist in Louisburg, Kansas for $20,000. We’ve featured this one before, but it’s been on the market for a while now so perhaps the seller is ready to hear realistic offers?
The seller of the truck tells us in his ad that the truck came into his family’s possession in the early seventies when his dad – a car dealer – bought it. He gave the truck a repaint in its original red since the factory paint had faded. After the paint job, the truck was parked in the dealership body shop where it stayed until the seller moved it to his property in 1976 where – again – it was parked and left.
The appearance of the truck’s interior tends to support the claim of 6,000 original miles, since there is little obvious wear visible on the seats, floor mats or pedals. There is some odd discoloration on the steering wheel and we do not know what caused it. Overspray, wear or something else? The seller tells us that the interior paint is original and the photos show a fairly nice looking interior space.
Outside, the body is covered in the expected barn dust and it does not let us see the actual condition of the 1970s repaint. The photos of the chassis show more barn dust but the surfaces are not corroded to any great extent. There is a flatbed installed on the chassis at the moment, but the seller has “…an excellent pickup bed, tailgate and rear fenders,” that will go to the buyer.
Power comes from a V8, possibly the 239 cubic inch Y-block “Power King” cranking out 132 horsepower. The seller, however states that the engine in the truck “…was the same motor that was in the 1955 Thunderbird.” I’ll bet our sharp-eyed Barn Finds readers will be able to identify the engine from the photos in the ad. In any case, the engine bay is in need of a good detail job to bring it up the same standard as the rest of the truck.
If this F250 is everything that the seller claims it is, it would be a fine driver and would not take too much to make it perfect, if that is how you like your old trucks. For me, a good cleaning and a going-through of the mechanicals would be all I’d need to enjoy it. Now, about that asking price: The seller might be a bit optimistic but I hope he finds a buyer at his price.
I think if the seller was serious about moving it along he’d pull it out of the crap pile that it’s in clean it up and get it started. If you want people to pay top dollar then maybe the seller should put in some effort. Steering wheel looks worn so milage is suspect to me. I’d also put the truck box on and repaint the whole thing again. That would also make it more marketable.
I agree the steering wheel wear makes me suspicious of the mileage claim, as does the engine replacement. Why would you need to replace the engine if it only had 6000 miles on it? Overall it looks in good condition but there are several things that make me suspicious of what the present owner claims. I feel you would have to be very careful if you are interested in this truck.
We pretty much took this thing apart the last time,,,speedo cables broke all the time on older trucks.( or disconnected, farmers aren’t stupid)
Yep, that steering wheel wear looks consistent with 75K plus miles to me. It would have worn a bit quicker than a car due to the massive effort to steer a truck this size with no PS.
I have been known to be wrong about T-Bird engines, but I really don’t remember seeing the exhaust crossover pipe in one. The 239 OHV truck had it, and I think the cars with that engine had it up to ’54. Could be wrong. But saying there’s a Bird engine in a truck might enhance the value a little.
1954 was the first and only year for the 239CI Y block. T Birds did not use the crossover pipe because they all had dual exhausts. All single exhaust Y blocks came from the factory with this crossover.
What Howard said….been around the pasture a few like his….
First the craigslist ad says nothing about the engine being replace, it said it’s the original engine and Thunderbird people want to buy just the engine but he doesn’t want to piece it out.
Why do people with this kind of vehicle always ask top dollar for a project! You can buy the same truck restored done ready to drive to a car show for the same amount of money.
I tell everyone that ask me to find a project vehicle for them, go buy a finished restored car of there dream. In today’s market you can buy your dream vehicles for 20k-30k. You cant restore a vehicle at that price even if you do most of the work yourself. Body Shops would charge 35k-60k and might take 3years or more. You hear horrible story from people that have restored cars and started a project and never finished.
This truck will take at least 20k to get back on the road in restored condition. So that me you will have 40k in a truck that is worth 25k at the high end. Some people dont care because that is his dream truck. He will keep it and pass it down to his children.
If the seller spent time cleaning and gets it to be a daily driver, brake, trans, engine, electric and tires maybe $18,000 but it still need work to bring to a show truck.
That is my opinion anyway
First the craigslist ad says nothing about the engine being replace, it said it’s the original engine and Thunderbird people want to buy just the engine but he doesn’t want to piece it out.
Why do people with this kind of vehicle always ask top dollar for a project! You can buy the same truck restored done ready to drive to a car show for the same amount of money.
I tell everyone that ask meto find a project vehicle for them, go buy a finished restored car of there dream. In today’s market you can buy your dream vehicles for 20k-30k. You cant restore a vehicle at that price even if you do most of the work yourself. Body Shops would charge 35k-60k and might take 3years or more. You hear horrible story from people that have restored cars and started a project and never finished.
This truck will take at least 20k to get back on the road in restored condition. So that means you will have 40k in a truck that is worth 25k at the high end. Some people dont care because that is his dream truck. He will keep it and pass it down to his children.
If the seller spent time cleaning and gets it to be a daily driver, brake, trans, engine, electric and tires maybe $18,000 but it still need work to bring to a show truck.
That is my opinion anyway
Third time around on Barnfinds for this truck…
Yep, we mentioned that it had been featured before in the first paragraph. Thanks though.
No way the mileage on this thing is original. That filthy engine bay gives it away. Who in their right mind purchases a truck, drives it for 6,000 miles and then parks it in a barn for several decades? I am always suspicious of the super-low mileage vehicles featured here. Who, for instance, buys something like, say, a late-Sixties 427 Corvette, drives it 953 miles and then parks it for 40+ years? Answer: no one.
We are supposed to believe a 16 or 17 year old truck only had 6000 miles on it when his father purchased it?
I would bet it was on its second go around.
Is there a bed to it?
Having grown up on a farm, the low mileage is possible. You use the trucks mainly in spring and fall, with occasional trips to town in between. May never be driven at all in winter.
Any chance it could have been a retired fire service vehicle?
The engine was all over the map in the last post. 239, 272, 292, and 317.
Nice old Ford. Definitely not a $20,000 nice old Ford. Despite the acclaimed low milage, which is not even a point at this stage, it does look to be very clean and dry. At that price it’ll gather another 1/2 inch of “barn find” dust before it moves out of the barn. $6,000-$8,000 is more than fair money for this old Ford.
With Budd Duplex wheels it is more likely a F350 and F250 had single rear non duplex wheels.
1954 was the first and only year for the 239CI Y block. T-Birds did not use an exhaust crossover because they all had dual exhausts. All single exhaust Y blocks came from the factory with this crossover.