Thanks to reader Jim S. for this unusual and neat find! There weren’t a lot of full size cab pickups back in 1960, let alone F250 4 wheel drives! This rough but ready truck is located in Lewisville, Texas and is for sale here on eBay, where low bidding hasn’t met reserve yet as I write.
I own a full-size crew cab pickup and I’m fully aware how nice it is to be able to carry five people in comfort and tow a trailer and carry a pickup truck bed load of parts! This particular truck is an ex-USAF truck with the military ID still on the dash, and according to the seller is one of only 4 or 5 with its original drive train left. The seller also tells us that they are in Australia and have never actually seen the truck in person, but are now selling it after having spent 18 months persuading the previous owner to sell.
The bed looks nice and solid for a truck that has been stored outside. Between the two rows of seats and the big bed, this would really be a useful classic! I think in this case I’d go for a repaint, though. The owner is included a set of four brand new Coker reproduction tires that are pictured in the bed in the eBay auction pictures.
The interior is pretty plain. I think the control on the left hand of the column is for the transfer case. The transmission is a three-speed manual. I’m wondering if the blue apparent in this shot is the original exterior color–it resembles some air force command cars I’ve seen over the years.
The 223 cubic inch six-cylinder engine isn’t going to set any speed records in a truck this heavy, but I doubt that the stock gearing would allow that anyway; we’re not looking at a highway cruiser anyway. The seller tells us that the truck runs and drives, but they have no idea how well. It will require a battery to get it started, though. Would this fill your need for a tow/haul vehicle like it would mine? Let us know!
A lot of these were used in railroad maintenance & had the wheels run off them & then scrapped. Yes they are uncommon.
Kinda cool
How about a USAF paint scheme
Even Blue Angeles
How about US Forest Nervous Zombie Unit
The Ford’s must have been expensive as compared to the IHC’s or Dodges. I don’t think I have ever seen this vintage Ford crew cab that had not been a government or big corporations truck. Off course, GM 4 doors of this vintage are rare too.
Why are so, so many sellers “sad to see it go”? International made quite a few of this type of truck back then, and they were definitely not less expensive than a Ford. International Harvester made more rugged small trucks than Ford ever thought of making, but their styling went all to hell around 1960. Plus they were never high production vehicles to begin with. Oh well.
I am in total agreement. No one ever built a pickup the overall quality of the IHC. I have 3 of them in my yard……and to my thinking, Fords were the bottom of the pile. They were the cheepest built on the planet. Maby still are. The reason Fords sold so well, they were inexpensive. Like the Mustang vs the Camero…….did you ever try to align a Ford “better idea” twin I beam suspension? You have to bend therrm with a pry bar or install a 300.00 Moog kit. I was thinking Ford must have charged an exhorbabant premium for the crew cabs.
Found On Road Dead? Fix Or Repair Daily? Ford definitely has high production down cold, but as for quality, forget about it. I’ve had many Ford trucks but found them to dangerous on the highway because of the weird random steering – as in Extremely Dangerous. My 84 4X4 Ford F-250 Diesel had such a bad front suspension that the front end was unalignable. IH were very solidly built and actually kept a predictable trajectory on the road – plus they carried more weight gracefully (as did Studebaker, by the way). I wish they were both still in business!
IHC is billed (today) as the largest truck manufacturer. I suppose it depends on your definition of truck. I always thought it was a shame that IHC sold there excellent 7.3 diesel to be ensconced in a junk Ford chassis. There is a lot of Ford history that has been sanitized since WW2, like old Henry being very friendly with Adolph and the boys. He was a socialist through and through. Ford was the only auto manufacturer that was not nationalized by Hitler. Ferdinand Porsche, a well known Hitler supporter, learned assembly line construction techniques during extended visits to Detroit and the Ford factory, he used the knowledge to set up war production factories long before he built his first car. Ford was really upset at how well his early cars held up. His intent was to sell you a new one every few years as the old one wore out.
My 7.3 is still running great at 190,000 miles in it’s 2001 “junk Ford chassis”. It’s been by far the most reliable and maintenance-free vehicle I’ve ever owned.
Good truck but not desirable with a 223 and a 3 speed. I’d want a 4 speed with granny gear to move this thing around.
All things can be modified for those who want.
I have to disagree with the onslaught of negativity on Ford trucks. I’ve owned many a 4×4’s made by Ford since 1976 when I purchased my first new one and I have had no problems with any of them at all and I use mine as a truck plus beat the crap out of them 4 wheeling. Everyone has their favorite and mine has always been FORD “First On Race Day”.
Amen, JW!
Heh heh! Nothing to get people’s dander up than a “what’s best” discussion. OK then… I sold my 84 6.9 to a guy who drove it way down into Mexico for ranch use. It had 300,000 on it when it left, but ran pretty well (with a new engine). The thing went through glow plugs like nobody’s business, polluted like a coal burning power plant, the interior was disintegrating like so many Fords did in the 80’s, and it was slow as hell on steepish grades. It was a love/hate kind of thing. The front suspension was smelly, soft brown stuff. The front tank didn’t like taking on fuel much either. I would have to label it as “cheesey”, I think. The best pickup I ever personally owned was a 60 Studebaker 3/4 – 1 ton with the 245 flathead six and T-98 transmission and locking rear-end. It easily carried way too much weight, was comfortable even on long trips, would go virtually anywhere and got not too bad MPG. Never any problems at all. I launched a 50′ X 35′ trimaran on an enormous trailer – at a launch ramp, no less, with it. I carried over a ton of furniture in the bed and another ton of trailer and stuff with it, up a loose rock 25 degree road without a hiccup and then drove 500 miles on the highway – and got 18 MPG. The 60 MPH cruising speed might be an issue today, but to me it was the absolutely pefect truck.
A ton ( 2,000 lbs) of furniture! I don’t know what kind of furniture you have but I don’t think you could ever get that much furniture in a pick-up bed! If it was made of steel a pick-up bed full of furniture would not weigh a ton!
Gotta love all the BS from the seller.. “never seen it”, “tried a year and a half to buy it”, reserve is “less than I paid”?? What kinda crap business appeal are all these quotes about. Oh yeah–than “sad to see it go”. You’ve never seen it based on your BS ad!! Guy is a flipper–bought the trucks and is now just trying to dish them to a guy who loves them–needs to come up with a better storyline about how he came into ownership of them…
All the love-hate stuff and seller BS aside, it is a rare, tough old truck. Restorable Crew cabs are tough to find. 2wd or 4×4. All these flippers are dreamers! My crew has been done for a few years now. Lots of fun to drive. Forget about parallel parking one!
I’m currently resurrecting an old ’60 F250 crew just like the one here – Air Force truck and everything. I guess mine may be the 5th in existence with the original drivetrain! 223 I6 with 3-speed on the column (which is one of the coolest of all the many cool things about a 4X4 crew cab from this era). Dana 24 t-case (hi-lo) and 4.56:1 gears.