“The truck you can get right in and drive around town.” That is one of the purer selling points of any vehicle, and the seller claims this 1966 Ford F100 pickup that was used as a work truck for the fine workers of Gallatin County in Montana is such a vehicle. We love seeing work trucks with their original identity still preserved in the faded paintwork, and while this isn’t a sought-after short bed or otherwise collectible pickup, the authentic patina gives the desirability factor a nice boost. Find the Ford here on eBay where bidding is just over $2,000 with the reserve unmet.
In the world of pickup trucks, the exact equipment levels can make a Ford like this one instantly more desirable. Given this is a low-spec model – which is pretty typical for those used in municipal government – it would normally be a somewhat take-it-or-leave-it purchase. But the patina is impossible to fake and undoubtedly pushes this one over the top in terms of it being a lower-tier trim. You can’t just go out and create an F100 like this, with the specificity of it being used not only by a county in Big Sky Country but specifically by the team tasked with maintaining the local fairgrounds. The seller reports that’s where this Ford lived out its days, and I can just imagine it cruising back and forth between the 4H tent and the main hall where the craftworkers and farm equipment salesmen hawked their wares.
The beauty of buying a truck from this part of the country is how well-preserved everything that comes out of there is. If this truck were left outside in New England or the rust belt for years at a time, I can almost guarantee the bed floor would be non-existent. The seller does report that some rust repairs have been made but doesn’t elaborate as to what was fixed; regardless, I can’t imagine it was too invasive, and regardless, the work is now done so the next owner doesn’t have to worry about it. It certainly doesn’t appear that any part of the original bed was replaced.
The colors are pretty great, too, and I love the color coordination of the white steel wheels with the original painted letters on the tailgate. The tires are new, but otherwise, the Ford seems largely un-messed with. The seller doesn’t report as to whether the V8 has been serviced in any way, but if it’s been in the county’s possession until fairly recently, one would assume it received at least the minimum necessary maintenance to be kept in running order. Regardless, these are not complex machines, and with a few weekends’ worth of work, I’m sure this former fairgrounds workhorse could be made into a reliable in-town runner.
Well, coming from “that part of the country”, okay, Colorado, still, one would think, through hype, mostly, all vehicles here never rust. That’s not entirely true. It greatly depends on how they were used. This truck was more than likely a fair weather truck, and with that back bumper, probably hauled something to a job site, and it sat while whatever they pulled, did the work. Maybe even a supervisor, or lead-man, but being 2wd, didn’t do much off road or winter stuff. Front cab mounts on an otherwise rust free looking truck, are a concern. It appears someone already redid the mounts on this. Great find, priced right, for once, and while the “Twin I Beam” helped, it was still a kingpin, straight axle type, that bent in the middle. I never liked it and doubt anyone not familiar with those, will either. No P/S or P/B will be a shock.
No power steering and no power brakes will be a shock?! Only if you’re couch potato.
Twin I beam isn’t a straight axel! Its basically 2 axels.
Straightforward, honest old Ford pickup. Not being the desired short wheelbase, probably not the best restoration or restomod candidate. That said, nothing wrong with a putter-around-town vehicle for mulch and Home Depot runs. You would even draw interest at Cars & Coffee. Fix it up a bit as time and money permit.
My dad had a low-spec 1966 Ford pickup, so this brings back memories. Such as the three-knob heater controls. This one has one of those little plastic holders affixed to the bottom of the speedometer, advertising a local business, where you could place a receipt or an oil change reminder. Remember those?
For fun I looked at the 1966 brochure. I didn’t remember one could get the “Ranger Option” which included bucket seats and an optional console. That must have been a rare option. Also there was a note stating “power steering available November 1, 1965.”
Thanks Jeff.
The v8 should be the 352 2 barrel rated at 208 horsepower.
While in college, I spent some time working on a farm and one of my duties involved a similar truck, though it was a six, a 223 I think. That job was a bonanza of good luck, ended up marrying the farmers daughter and got my green card as well. 50 years later, I still wake up to her beautiful blue eyes. I am one lucky guy. We didn’t have Thanksgiving in England, but I know why I appreciate it here every year.
the 44 bids are almost all suspect, I wonder if you contacted the owner and had some dialog and made a deal to bypass all the scammer bs. I’d own it if I had the scratch. Good luck and happy motoring.
Cheers
GPC
Paint ” Majestyk Melons” on the doors and carry on
Good catch, Mal! Thats a great flick, Charles Bronson at his finest!
Cheers
GPC
Always wanted to see Adrienne Barbeaux in a Majestyk Melons t-shirt..alas, not to be. Although, you can purchase Majestyk Brand Melons shirts
modeled by guys unfortunately .not quite the same
At 12:50 pm on 11/25 bidding has reached $5200 reserve not met. Well then.
Seller would be wise to take high bid and enjoy it. Setting too high a reserve can cost you a sale. High bid is close to the actual value of this one.
Yes sir, this is a nice contribution someone made.
This is the kind of truck 90% of the people drove,just a basic truck to get the job done!! As far as not having 4wd, only modern drivers need it, if you know how to drive 3 on the tree, you know how to drive a RWD vehicle in the snow!!
Exactly. Well put Richard.
Learned to drive on on one of these, albeit a ’63 with a straight 6 and 3 on the tree and a bad clutch. No PS, no PB. My Dad told me if I can drive that, I could drive anything. That truck probably had a quarter of a million miles on it when my dad finished a job for someone and they were $100 short paying him and handed him the keys. We drove it for close to 10 years, passed it on to my grandpa, he put another 5 years on it. As far as I know it was still running when it left our family in the late 80’s. Only thing we ever did to it was replace the generator and battery. Tough old trucks.
Having ACTUALLY lived in Gallatin Co., owning a 2WD truck would not be fun in the winter, manual transmission or not. However we always had a cure for that: load up the bed with sand bags!