Okay, where is it? There has to be some secret factory somewhere producing these solid old pickups that continue to come out of hiding — either that or they are breeding! Regardless, this 1949 Ford F3 appears to be one of the better ones. It’s being sold here on eBay with a buy it now of $8,000 but lower offers are being considered. The truck will have to transported from Eureka, Montana if you are the lucky winning bidder!
The seller theorizes that the truck was “…probably owned by a fire department, state, county, or other similar organization…” as the body is very solid. Given the heavy-duty grille guard/push bumper, rear bumper and storage I think it would have made a great utility truck for an early race track. If someone managed to persuade me to restore the truck (NO!!!) I could see giving it a theme like that.
The seller calls this a factory heavy duty grille guard. I found a similar if not identical guard on eBay going for $650 (!), and this one looks completely unbent. I don’t find it menacing due to the roundness of the features, but I think most cars would lose a parking lot encounter, don’t you?
The seller tells us that there is only one spot of rust on the whole truck, and I can believe it looking at these floors. Obviously, you’d want to do something about the seat eventually. I wonder what color it was originally? Oh, I almost forgot to tell you — this truck runs and drives, with what is believed to be the original flathead V8 running well and the clutch and transmission working “perfectly.” The seller does recommend a carburetor rebuild and to check the wheel cylinders as well. We’re also told an exhaust system and new set of tires would be a good idea.
How cool is this! This is actually only the station indicator for the radio; the actual unit is shown in a separate picture in the auction. So what do you think? Has the mythical “old truck factory” outdone itself this time, or is the price a bit high for you?
This is nice! Buy it and use it while you fix it. An ideal starter project for sure. Can’t think of anything I’d change other than remove those tacky toolboxes. I saw a few trucks with them back when I was a kid. I hate it when buys like this are so close to home; one mountain range over, to the west. It makes me tempted to get in the truck and drive right over to check it out. But if I did, I’d likely buy it. Then there’s the thought of finding myself living at a different location. Too many projects although a man NEVER has too many projects. RIGHT?
If this truck fetches $8K I’ve got three shortbed F3’s trucks to list. Is everything old now selling for over 5 grand?
Looks that way. The economy appears to have spurred an increase for all vehicles. What I could snag in 2008-09 has now doubled in price it seems.
Looks like it sold for 8K…..
Sold.
So cool finding this on here! I was the guy that bought it, and had it shipped to SC. I had it on the road temporarily before getting a rewire done and now a full engine build. I took those boxes off the side and went stock with the rear bumper and lights. Slightly lower now and sporting some whitewalls. I home you like!?