The appearance of this truck in the Barn Finds assignments list was slightly coincidental. Just a day before it showed up (thank you, Rocco B, for the tip!), I had a plumber out to the farm. He was 30-ish and had just sold his Chevy C10. I teased him about hanging out with Chevys, and he said, well what I really want is a ’50s Ford truck. And lo and behold, here we go! Aside from that, certain Barn Finds readers are keen to see more trucks in our repertoire. Lo! again! Ok, enough of that. This 1955 F100 is available here on craigslist for $24,500, and you can drive it home from Sacramento, California, because it runs, starts, stops, and drives “like a dream”. Certainly looks the part!
The truck has had four owners since it was first sold out of the San Jose plant into Northern California, and each seems to have shared a “keep it stock” philosophy. The original 223 cu. in. straight six remains in the engine bay after a rebuild within the last nine years; the four-speed manual with granny gear was also factory-fitted. The truck has new tires and a new battery; the brakes were recently rebuilt, and the exhaust was replaced, as well. According to the seller, its only mechanical fault is a slight leak from a rear drive shaft seal.
The seller describes the interior as an 8/10. Back when the engine was rebuilt, the rest of the truck was refreshed too – including the upholstery, window felts, and door seals. Even the lock mechanisms are still bright. The instruments have lately been replaced, but the originals will accompany the truck when it’s sold. Everything works, from the wipers to the lights, and the parking brake to the gauges. I’m not sure I’ve ever had a vintage vehicle where everything worked!
The paint is termed “respectable”, and the bed looks unused since the truck’s refresh. The underside is decent with the possibility of some upside after a weekend’s worth of work, though the spare tire mount is missing. You can pay a lot more and end up with a worse truck, and of course, you can also pay a lot more for a resto-mod. This example seems like a bargain to me; what do you think?
Not a bad price in today’s market
Beautiful Michelle, Really nice fat fender Ford. The red and white looks great!
What a sweet Ford!!! I’d leave this one exactly as is, straight six and all. And I agree, for how nice this looks, the price seems reasonable too. Very nice.
Nice looking truck for the price! Never heard of a driveshaft leaking though 🤔🤔
Seller probably sees wet on the front or rear, or was affected by AUtoCorreCT.
I’m sure it’s the Pinion seal, The original was made of leather, modern replacements do a better job at sealing.
My dad had a 56 in the 1980s same engine but with 3 speed,only thing he changed was the gearing so it could cruise down the highway better.
Hard to find one that’s still unaltered which is the only way I buy my cars or trucks . Great. Looking Ford at a sensible price.
The hits just keep on coming. Although I’m more of a V8 fan there is nothing wrong with a good six. And the 223 is a good six.
That’s likely a Warner T-98 transmission which will last forever in a pickup like this. A Dana rear axle which tends to loosen the pinion bearings but is easily fixed.
A nice reliable truck for anyone to enjoy. Just send it over to my place. I’ll give it a good home.
I have a 56 F-100 parts rig out back that had the 223 engine, and a column shift Heavy Duty 3 speed with a granny low gear. The gearbox has a conventional top mount shift box with a side shift conversion to mate up with the column shifter (factory original) this truck was a cab and chassis, not sure what kind of body was on it originally, but it has the short running boards.
Gorgeous truck. These mid-fifties Ford sixes were durable engines. They ran relatively problem-free for decades and proved a far better engine choice than their OHV V-8 counterparts, which were plagued by engineering defects.
very cool truck. can’t buy it and restore it for what they are asking. smoking deal if you’re into these fords.
This is my second-favorite generation of the Ford truck, my favorite being the 1950 style. All of these old Fords look best in red, I think.
This is really nice – maybe too nice to use like a real truck.
I’d definitely be interested, if it wasn’t red. Beautiful original example, and priced accordingly IMO.
The 53-56 with the slanted back windshield are in my opinion the coolest years. This one is just about perfect. I wish I wasn’t so old and downsizing my fleet of toys. I could just look at this all day long, memories of my childhood I guess.
Michelle, another great find!!! Assuming the above posters are right on the price frame, This is a top notch, all original, turnkey entry truck into the truck hobby… Originally a “Plain Jane” work truck for someone. Be sure to keep it that way as this truck is a rolling history book.. Like my Diamond T when I am at a Cruise In, C&C, or similar event I am “Under powered and under chromed”.. But I have a mostly original historical truck, like this one, which will draw some admiration from many folks.
I completely agree with you Brocky, I really appreciate it when an older truck is kept as stock as possible. These are rolling pieces of history, especially a truck like your Diamond T. Which is really nice too by the way.
Thanks, It is holding up pretty good for a 17 year old restoration.
What a sweetie, absolutely gorgeous!
Good deals go quickly. Posting has been deleted by author.
As of now (9/13, early a.m.), the CL posting is still live and active!
Someone else agreed that the price was fair.
It’s sold—
It looks like someone already bought it.. the seller deleted the ad. I hope it went to a good home.
If i lived closer I would have bought just to save it from being altered
It is quite a breath of fresh air seeing one of these un-modified.
Amazing how tiny these look next to today’s trucks and SUVs.
Quite True!!! Remember that this is a short bed also. The 8ft box makes them bigger.. The 53 to 56 cabs were bigger than the 48 to 52’s and they have continued to grow since then. People of that era were also smaller.. I am 6’4″ and when I get in my 1949 Diamond T, I have to put my foot on the clutch before I shut the door!!!