Thanks to regular reader Jim S for the tip on this fine looking and rarely seen 1960 Ford four wheel drive stepside F-100 pick up for sale on eBay. It’s located in Utah, which may be the reason why it has not rusted into the ground during its more than 56 years as a working truck.
This old blue Ford has a great look about it, and comes with a PTO and Koenig winch. I think the seller knows this is an unusual truck, and I am guessing the reserve reflects its solid condition, its high option status and overall rarity.
According to the seller, this truck was special ordered from the factory with some highly desirable options, including the 292 cubic inch Y-block V-8, the large rear window, two-tone paint, PTO, factory AM radio and more.
The seller provides solid information about his truck and a good set of pictures as well. According to the ad, the running gear is in good condition.
The 4 speed manual transmission shifts cleanly with no grinding but the linkage is a little loose. The Dana 24 transfer case shifts in and out of 2WD/4WD and Hi/Lo range properly and the Dana 44 front and Ford 9 inch rear differentials both appear in great shape. The PTO lever shifts smoothly and the Koenig winch works.
The truck also has a new master cylinder but the brakes still need to be bled (I do wonder why the seller has not just gone ahead to do that before advertising this truck?)
The interior is said to be all original other than the seat upholstery (although it’s only in fair condition I think). The dash is perfect, and all buttons, knobs and switches (minus two on the radio) are still there. The door windows roll up and down properly. The gauges and idiot lights on the instrument cluster still work; the aftermarket tachometer does not.
At some point in its history, the truck was painted blue over the original Holly Green and white. The doors are said to open and close solidly, the side and rear glass are good other than some delamination in the flat vent windows. The windshield is cracked and will need to be replaced.
The vintage grill guard is a really nice feature. This old Ford has new tires mounted on period correct rims. And it still has the original wood flooring in the bed, which is dry and looks fairly solid. The odometer shows 102,683 miles, and while this truck has plainly worked for a living, it’s in remarkably decent condition for a working truck.
As for rust, while little about the body is mentioned in the ad, we can see that the floor boards have rust-through, which likely indicates there may be other rust issues lurking on this truck. The seller says that rust is limited to front fenders and cab corners, but this picture tells us quite a bit.
This is a very nice old pick up that will need a reasonable amount of work to be a reliable and enjoyable driver. If it were mine, I’d fix the rust, replace the window glass, and drive it as much as possible.
The stick shift, V-8, four wheel drive and step side long bed press all my pick up buttons. This one looks like a winner if the reserve is reasonable, which of course is a big “if” and if the rust is not too bad.
Love this rig. Fix the rust and drive.
Love it! Patch the holes, make it run and drive it.
YES fix the rust, make it safe & reliable then use it as a truck like it supposed to be.
The front right wheel seems to have some ‘toe out’ issue that could be a problem.
Got to come to my place. Can’t seem to get this other guy to part with his truck. Trouble is, this truck is sitting on the old ranch where I grew up. Original owner bought it (new) for hunting.
Bolt a few old license plates in the floor over the rust holes and enjoy. Somethings should not be restored.
Maintained, but leave it alone and let it age gracefully!
I had a Tonka truck this style when I was a kid. This had Ford’s own 4×4 setup, new from ’59. Before that, Marmon-Herrington supplied the works. I’d make sure to check those front cab mounts, that were right under the floor, where this is rusted. Bad spot for these, but you can buy replacements. Big job, though. Great find. 4×4 pickups were pretty rare back then, not like today, usually only municipal or utility companies ( or military, which is what I suspect this was) had them for off road work. Someone replaced the “arm burner” crossover exhaust pipe at some point. Cool find.
Had a 60 2-wheel drive step side as my first vehicle. Rust in the same places and cab mounts were rotted out. 223 straight six with a 3 on the tree. Great memories.
For 30 years I’ve been on staff at Strawberry Music Festival which was held at Camp Mather next to Yosemite until we were burned out by the Rim Fire in fall of 2013. The camp is owned by the City/County of San Francisco. There is an old work truck there that is the spitting image of this truck except painted orange. 4×4, pto winch, 4 speed and all.
I watched that truck do some amazing things over the years. The best was when the old caretaker, Bob Murray, removed about a 10 ton boulder from the middle of the road to our main food concession area about 2 days before the festival opened. He dug around it with a shovel and a little John Deere riding mower with a blade. Mind you the top of the boulder was only 8-10 inches above ground,just enough to rip open transmissions.
He got down far enough to find cracks in the boulder and split off pieces. The 3 biggest ones he wrapped a cable around, hooked it to the winch cable which he ran through a cable block tied off to a tree. He then used that old truck to pull the pieces to the side of the road where they set today in front of a restroom.
I have slides of the whole operation and the truck in action. I believe it is still in use to this day.
Watch the cab mounts,when gone the cab rests on the air cleaner!
I think that cab might be from a heavy duty truck. 35 years ago I changed cabs on a 64 F100 4×4 .The donor cab was from a F350,had those steps inside like I see on this one.