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Watchdog With A Story: 1960 Ford F100 Truck

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While it doesn’t really add to the value of this great looking 1960 Ford F100, there’s a terrific story that goes along with it! It’s located in Lilburn, Georgia and is for sale here on eBay where bidding is currently just over $1,000 and there’s no reserve.

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The story is told here in detail, with the truck known as “Droopy” used as a security guard for nearly two decades to take care of a rare 1964 Ford Thunderbolt. Now, with the car under restoration, it’s time to give Droopy a life of his own. The truck is said to run and drive well and is actually showing only 36,000 miles, although I’m guessing that odometer’s been around at least once. Note the unusual hood scoops added by a previous owner.

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The unusual rear bumper extension was to accommodate a camper slide in, which also explains the unusual location for the spare tire and the missing tailgate. We don’t know where the camper insert went. The story goes that the truck was being used daily until the brakes felt funny one day and seized solid the next. The owner of the Thunderbolt, which was in an unlocked garage, had happened to park the truck in front of the garage, so they decided to just leave it there to prevent anyone getting to the rare car. Recently the car was sold, and the truck was also sold to a good friend of the owner. They have fixed the brakes and gotten the truck running well.

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Here on the inside, we have just good, honest truck. Not a lot of luxury here! Does anyone know what the clamped-on device to the left of the steering column is? Some form of early trailer brake control? There’s some repairs you are going to want to do on the floor of the cab, if only to keep fumes and the weather joining you for the ride. At this point, I’d leave the hood scoops alone; they’ve been on the truck so long they are part of it’s character as well.

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It looks like a new battery and perhaps carburetor have been fitted to the 292 V8, as well as what looks like a new or rebuilt master cylinder as part of the brake work. The seller makes it plain that the truck had been auctioned previously on eBay and the buyer deferred; I hope that doesn’t happen again. Maybe one of you will be the buyer this time?

 

Comments

  1. Avatar jeff

    I’ve always liked this era Ford truck. I think it’s really the emblem that puts it over the top for me. A gear with a lightening bolt across it. Who wouldn’t want that on their hood?

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  2. Avatar Jim B

    Is that a trailer braking actuator? I think we used to have one on a car when I was a kid.

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  3. Avatar Mitch

    I believe that is trailer brakes. Some friends of mine had similar on their parents’ vehicles as they used them to pull an Airstream. Funny about the ’58-’60s-it always seemed to me the grille design looked older with each year.

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  4. Avatar racer99

    Looks like an extra control cable going from the firewall to the base of the carb — maybe the box is an early “cruise control” or maybe something to increase the idle rpms if they were pulling power off the truck for the camper? Looks like a nice honest solid truck. Not one of the more sought after designs but would make someone a good low cost starter truck.

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  5. Avatar JW

    I love it the only exception is the spare attached to the bed side, on a stepside it’s cool but on a fleetside it sticks out way too much. If it runs and drives as good as he says it would make for a nice pick & pull parts getter. Like the trailer ball on the front bumper, seen this many times in the old days but not much anymore.

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    • Avatar Jason Houston

      That’s some fool’s idea of a “side-mounted continental kit”. Must be fun hearing that appendage scratch the car next to you, as pull in to park.

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      • Avatar Jamie Staff

        An alternative would be to actually pay attention while you are parking your vehicle.

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  6. Avatar RON

    Don’t see any badging indicating it is a custom cab but it was more than the standard had a fancy 2 tone dash an up-scale steering wheel and horn ring. Was a nice old rig when new. I have owned 2 of the old fords , 11 like this and a 66 with the twin-I beam suspension. To me they were terrible handling and driving, such a stiff suspension. The I beam was highly touted when new but I never lied them. They were both nice looking body styles and loved by the young teenagers for a long time for restoring. the only way I could enjoy one would be to sub frame it with modern steering

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    • Avatar Jason Houston

      There’s nothing inherently wrong with the steering that would demand changing it to something it wasn’t made for. All you have to do is take proper care of it and not beat it hard. I had a 1965 Mustang conv. that some idiot replaced with a Mustang II front sub-frame and it was a nightmare. The turning radius was vastly compromised and starters kept burning out because of its closer proximity to the exhaust system. He should have been made to live with it the rest of his life for all his naïve stupidity. This kind of crap is always the shortest route to the recycler.

      That apparatus is a trailer brake actuator.

      This is not a Custom Cab, which is characterized by a full-wrap rear window.

      Hope this helps.

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    • Avatar racer99

      Had a ’66 that I updated using junk yard parts to a 5.0L/AOD combo with ’74 power steering and disc brakes and thought that was a pretty good combo — not as good as the current setups but good enough for me to use it as a daily driver on and off for more than 10 years. Agree that the straight axle design, single pot brake master cylinder, and drum brakes is OK on a occasional driver or show truck but would have to upgrade it if the truck was something I was actually going to use.

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  7. Avatar '72 Spitty

    From the seller…
    Rails are good, floor needs some patch work with several decent size holes, but does not need the whole floor pan replaced. You can stand in both door steps and tell it is solid. Cab mounts are all solid with floor having a hole where it meets one mount. Mount is not affected but it is one area that needs attention. Doors close solid but under both doors is rusty. Slight rust line in front of hood. needs radiator core support but not desperately. Frame is solid.

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  8. Avatar Ed P

    That is a trailer brake controller. The trailer brake can be applied with the handle. The same handle can be turned to adjust braking effort.

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  9. HoA Howard A Member

    Again, another great flipper. And it’s an automatic, greatly increasing your chances of a sale. And it IS a “Custom Cab”. It has many features a standard pickup wouldn’t have. Different horn ring, clock, probably arm rests, sun visors, this was a well optioned truck. And that control is an electric trailer brake. So it probably had a camper PLUS pulled something, so it’s been around the block. My old man pulled trailers and had these. They were terrible. Either they did nothing, or skidded the wheels. You could also plumb them into the hydraulic brake system of the vehicle, and the trailer brakes were applied when you pushed the brake pedal, but then was permanent. That exhaust, I believe, isn’t stock either, as I think there was a crossover pipe to the other manifold. As with most of these, a rusty floor may indicate rusty front cab mounts, a bad spot for these. Patina too, big seller. I’d fix the brakes, get it running good, and ask 10g’s for it. Just sayin’.

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  10. Avatar geomechs Member

    Well, ’57 and ’60 are my favorites of this body style. Full resto would be on the list if this truck was to come my way. Howard, you’re right on the exhaust part; there would normally be the ‘arm burner’ across the front. Interesting on this unit (’53 – ’60 if you’re so inclined) if you want to run duals with a Y-block this is the only way to route the left side outlet; the LH dual manifold will exit right on top of the steering column. Of course you could run headers.

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