I’ve written a number of Barn Finds articles about old surviving workhorse pickups from the 1950’s that have spent most of their lives working on an orchard or rural family farm. This is the first one I’ve written about that earned its keep for most of its working life on a large family cemetery. The current owner is scant on details, but says the old F-1 retired from cemetery duty and is now being used for farm duty, just like the truck’s FARM USE plates say in bold red letters. The seller says the Ford’s 239-cubic inch V8 was “professionally rebuilt several years ago by a man who specialized in these engines. He was the best.” Located in Vesuvius, Virginia (I’m from Virginia and have never heard of this town. It’s about 100 miles northwest of Richmond.), this solid old pickup truck is for sale here on eBay where seven bids has the price sitting at $8,200.
Speaking of cemeteries and all things that go bump in the night, Ford offered a Raven Black as a color option (no Graveyard Gray unfortunately), but this old F-1 left the factory in Sheridan Blue. I wish there was another word for “patina”, but I can’t think of one. The 72-year-old paint has the authentic look of fading and oxidation and comes with the usual amount of dings, scrapes, and chips, but nothing major. It doesn’t appear to have rust issues but the original wooden bed is toast and needs replacing. The glass looks good, it appears to have its trim pieces (including a fancy-shmancy grille guard), and the tires are described as “practically new.”
The blue-and-ivory interior looks good and has some character, but looks like it needs a cleaning. The bench seat has been reupholstered and doesn’t show any rips or tears, the rubber-mat floor appear to be solid, and the instrument panel continues the “patina” theme of the truck’s exterior, paint chips and all.
I checked online and replacement window cranks are pretty cheap (some costing about the same as the current “vice-grips ventilation option.” The steering wheel shows some of the usual cracking which might explain the brown leather wrap around it. The large white ball at the end of the column shifter isn’t original (1951 was the first year the gear shift moved from the floor to the steering column) and the truck needs a speedometer cable, but overall, the interior hasn’t been monkeyed with too much.
The seller doesn’t supply any engine photos but says the rebuilt 239-cubic inch, 100 horsepower V8 “runs and drives great.” These are my favorite kind of ’50’s-era pickup trucks and based on the photos, this looks like a good, solid survivor that’s ready for a new home. Maybe after seeing cemetery and farm duty for 70+ years, this reliable workhorse is ready to be pampered and put into a garage. I’d fix the wooden bed, take off the grille guard, replace the vice-grips window crank, and leave the rest just like it is. What would you do if you were the lucky next owner?
Grille guard in case you run into a tombstone.
Fix the bed and window crank. Keep the grille guard.
I agree, keep the grille guard.
Grille guard is the coolest part.
Nice old truck. Wouldn’t change much either but my history would tempt me to leave the vise grips. A senior in high school, I was in my ’32 coupe with a pretty girl at a drive in movie. As the coupes are pretty small I took the steering wheel off and hung it on the outside door handle. Someone stole it and l wound up diving my date 21 miles home with a pair of vice grips to replace the steering wheel.
Now THAT is a funny great memory. And it worked!!!
Long ago, I once was driving my 71 Pinto wagon late at night and pulled the shifter into second gear but the lever kept on going and promptly fell off. In those days I kept my tool box in back. I was able to get the vice grips to bite on the remaining 1/3rd inch of intact shifter lever and drive the car home. And yes, I was probably drunk.
wished still had my 52, 289 auto under hood was fun , that was 47 years ago ,clean up mechanicals & drive it looks good ,
Another advantage of leaving the Vice Grips where they are: How often have I wasted time wondering where my Vice Grips are? Shoot, this solves the problem! They’re on the door of the truck :))
And why didn’t you notice someone talking the steering wheel? Hmm…
Don’t see how the steering wheel would get in the way of watching a movie.
Windows were fogged up….
This thing would be a bear to drive in the city for either a man or a woman.
Only if you are a lady who likes crawling under the truck with traffic whizzing by as you reconnect the muffler with a coat hanger or change the tire. I do not even know the truck and the answer is a big “NO.” I personally love it but doubt you would see me even thinking of driving it to work, grocery store, post office and the hospital when you suffer from heat stroke without air conditioning or to the garage once you hit a pothole and snap an axle. It’s an old truck. A beautiful ‘ol truck. Period.
??
Are you a member of the alphabet mafia? Why are you even here?
ahhhh . . . . but the difference is, between this and a new truck: If this ol’ truck breaks down on the way into town, you can probably fix it yourself–perhaps using that coat hanger, a Zip tie and some duct tape. More serious than that? I bet 90% of the people reading this would still fix it . . . and more. IF your new truck breaks down . . . what do you do? Call the tow truck and have it taken to the dealer, or hopefully a good, independent garage.
Yup. That’s about right.
And a healthy bank account to boot
Just deep clean and polish out the paint.
Repair the speedometer cable, get a new crank for the window.
Drive it to car shows in summer.
Price is a little high but if he can get it, more power to him
The price shown is what’s already been bid. It’s an auction.
I’m sorry Jay. You really must not know older trucks or most women. My mom in her younger days would have loved this truck and they are far more reliable than you are giving it credit for. Fix the small stuff like that and drive it. My mom had a 60 International pickup she really enjoyed for quite a while until she got an offer she couldn’t refuse and I drove my all original 59 Chevy truck for over 2 years without any problems. Tune-up, oil change. Stuff like that. This truck would be fine for anyone to be a daily driver. Especially because it’s obviously been taken care of during its lifetime. If my situation were better then I would definitely like this one. Much easier and less expensive to keep it going then the new stuff. Good luck to the new owner.
Daily driver? Depends. Hour commute in city stop and go traffic or the freeway, not so much. Fifteen minute ride from rural house to no stop light small town, could work. Of course a back up vehicle would be needed for the days when the hoses leak, the bearings fail, the lights short out, ect, ect. As for a lady, why not? Steven
Why wouldn’t it be?
It depends on the lady, I suppose, if this particular truck could be a daily driver.
I have a vivid memory of my Mom, me, and my two brothers crammed in the cab of our ’46 Chevy 3/4 ton daily driver:
It’s summer, about a hundred degrees, and she’s quite angry with us, whacking each of us on the back of the head for misbehaving, in between double-clutching the crashbox four-speed.
Sounds like my Mom, as I recall, my brother, sister, and I deserved every wack !
It takes a lot of routine maintenance to make a 70 year old vehicle, especially a truck, reliable enough to be a daily driver. Ignition, carb and brakes are all points to be fussed with. No A/c, no power steering, stick shift are daily PITA’s, as is a manual choke and poor cold weather idle and running. Unless you work on it yourself, they are getting very expensive to take to a shop, with most charging $100.00/hr for even routine work. Parts are harder to source and of dubious quality.
Most women ( lady or not) I know these days have too much on their plate to not have reliable transportation. There is no way I would recommend this or any 70 year old vehicle as a daily driver. Occasional driver, you bet.
I agree with you, dear Ron Denny, I also like this type of pick ups.
Great Truck, I had a 51 M1 Mercury pickup. The same truck except 255 flat head. Someone is enjoying it I hope. Left it in the garage with key in it.
If the house was paid for I’d buy this truck and do a professional restoration from the ground up! It has always been my dream to own a 51-53 F-1.
I have owned my 1951 Ford pickup since I was in High School ( graduated in 1968). WE are the same age! It has been completely restored twice, yet never garauged. So, it has a pretty sever patina on it now. Yet, also has an all syncro 3-on-the-tree Mustang transmission. 9″ rear end, 351 Windsor, and a tip-up front end in original steel that is a sleeper until revealed. The hood also opens normally. A real shocker when the whole front end reveals the nicly adorned engine. It’s been in commercials, driven to high school by both my sons, and a workhorse. People always give it the “Thumbs UP”. Likely, I will be buried in it-as I already am!
Wow. Huh?
If that grille guard is a “ smash hit” dealer installed guard it may be worth more than the truck!
The grille guard looks like something found at the head of an ornate bed. Maybe the builder dreamed the thing up in their sleep and put it together the next day.
First glance I thought the guard had a cemetery reference. It’s very cool.
Love this truck. I owned one. It definately rides like a truck. But fun!
Exquisite pickup. Very desirable indeed.
Nice truck ok price, to far away
I had a 1950 F-1. For some strange reason the previous owner put a 1951 grill on it. That was about the first thing I changed when I bought it. Luckily, found a guy with a 1950 who actually wanted a “51 grill so we swapped. Later on I put a Mustang II front suspension in it, with disc front brakes. I used to haul motorcycles all over the country in it, one in the bed and 2 on the trailer. You can’t kill these old trucks.
Not a grill guard. Very rare Zombie Catcher only used on cemetery trucks.
Ron Denny: In 1976, to celebrate the Bicentennial, I rode my bicycle from Astoria, OR to Washington, DC. 4250 miles. I mostly camped and carried my own gear and did 100 miles a day. I crossed the Rockies. I crossed the continental divide several times in one day. I only had to walk two hills. One in Southern Illinois, because it was sandy and I lost my traction The other one was the hill out of Vesuvius up to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Too steep for me. Had to walk it.
I’d keep the grille guard
This ain’t Bicycle Memories, dude.
Bids now up over $10K. I’d fix the bed, new window crank, new speedo cable, and deep clean and drive it around town.
Reliable is not much of a concern with many of these old pickups. Comfort may be an issue but I would replace the window crank, maintenance it and have a ball driving it on weekends with decent weather. This truck won’t go cheap.
I saw this a few days ago, asked for photos and video and was told it’s not going to happen. Sad.
Is frustrating seeing this over and over. What appears to be a great vehicle but with a horrendous presentation. And who are these people willing to spend thousands on a vehicle without seeing an inch of it’s undercarriage and engine or hearing it run? Unless they all looked in person, they have too much money to gamble with or they’re nuts. It’s probably an incredible truck, but neither of those two things apply to me.
The grill guard looks like an old headboard from a bed that I used to own.