Other than a convertible pickup (I’m looking at you, Dodge Dakota), I can’t think of a more interesting design or configuration than a Ford Integrated Body truck, more commonly known as a Unibody. I’m biased as they’re by far my favorite pickups of all time. This 1962 Ford F-100 Unibody short bed pickup is listed here on eBay in Chino, California and the bid is $11,100, but the reserve isn’t met!
A lot us us are stuck in the past as far as what we think vehicle values still are, as if they should be what they were two or more decades ago. I fall into that trap, too. I still think that I can somehow find a nice, clean, shiny Ford Unibody pickup for $10,000 or less and that’s not going to happen in my lifetime, sadly. Hey, at least gas is cheap(er) again! Hagerty is at $16,300 for a #3 good-condition example and this one is many thousands in body, paint, and interior finishes away from that value. This example looks solid and straight, so that’s a good thing.
Or, mostly straight. The big thing, and it always comes up in Unibody posts, would be the shut lines between the bed and doors. Or, where the bed line would be if there was one. Ford made their integrated bed pickup for 1961, 1962, and 1963 and advertised them so heavily that they listed the regular Styleside pickups as “separate Styleside” pickups. They usually led with the Unibody pickup images if you look at advertising from this era. If you want patina, you’ve got it with this example, the seller says it was sitting in the California desert for many years.
The interior looks surprisingly nice, other than the missing headliner. Blanket seat covers are rarely a bad idea on vintage pickups and it wouldn’t take much to tidy it up inside. As the seller mentions, the underside looks great from the two photos they’ve included. We don’t see inside the bed but I’m guessing it looks similar to the rest of the exterior, sunburnt, sandblasted, and solid.
It seems like we normally see six-cylinder engines in Ford Unibody pickups, but this one has a 292-cu.in. V8, which would have had around 160 horsepower. The seller lists an exhaustive tally of things that have been done to this truck so please check out the eBay link for all of those things. It sends power to a four-speed manual and to the rear wheels and they say everything works. How much would you pay for this Integrated Body truck? $12,000? $15,000? More?
Good write-up Scotty. I do like the Unibody Ford, they were a unique model which as it turned out didn’t work out so well. But I think it’s safe to say that Ford recovered. This example does have ‘nice’ patina, but I’d prefer ‘nice’ paint.
Your point about prices is well-taken. I sometimes think that Car X should cost Y dollars. But that was its price a decade ago. I guess I forget factors such as appreciation and inflation and changes in collector interest and….
Its nice but rides like a 1960s truck as your hands jump off the steering wheel on each bump.
I like these early years and hope someone paints it back to original look.
Good luck with sale.
Scotty , Yes great write up you hit the nail squarely on the head. I have been messing with old pick ups for the last several years and it is exactly what you said, I don’t believe it , but it’s not going to change. I think you and I and Bob_n are on the same page. We don’t necessarily like it but it is what it is. Actually a lot of the heavy lifting has been done on this truck, when you look closely, a buy it now at $12,000 to $15,000 may not be that bad. With some more work this could be a $25,000 plus truck. Again, are you kidding me! No just go and try and find one.
“A lot of us are stuck in the past…”
I think that statement applies to more than vehicle prices on Barn Finds.