With all the recent hype around old pickups, it is always nice to find a running example without a sky-high asking price. This 1974 F250 4×4 came from the factory ready for work with a long box, regular cab, and four-wheel drive ¾ ton chassis. No doubt this truck has paid its dues as a workhorse and it appears well used, but not too far gone. It is said to run and drive and appears to be currently in use. With a price of $4,750, there should be plenty of financial room to give this one a good once-over or maybe even a full restoration. It can be found here on craigslist in Bozeman, MT.
Moving to the engine bay we find a good layer of dirt on the 360 cubic inch V8 with no word as to whether it is the original engine. A closer look reveals chrome valve covers and an air cleaner with the snorkel removed so it has probably spent some time with a high school kid. Other than that and a few aftermarket inline fuses, it appears to be original. No mention is made of the reason for the personalized license plates that dub this truck “Screemn”. My bet would be on the low gears that would keep that engine revved up at highway speeds. Behind the engine is the typical 4-speed manual transmission of the day with granny low and a cast-iron case. Behind this should be the equally stout NP205 remote mounted or “divorced” transfer case.
The interior looks to have the standard upgrades that found their way into many trucks from this era, including a horse blanket seat cover, a plastic steering wheel cover, gun racks, and the all-important toggle switches. I am always curious to see what lies underneath the seat cover of any old truck, but this one likely received that treatment after the original upholstery was already worn. Overall, the interior looks functional and intact.
The odometer of this truck reads around 45,000 miles and in my experience this type of truck never strayed too far from home and would rack up low but hard miles on the roughest of roads for hunting, getting firewood, or pulling ranch duty. Who knows what it really has for mileage? The body and paint are far from perfect, but appear to be original. The owner claims this truck has solid floors and cab mounts, very little rust, and would be a great one to restore. What about you? Would you bring it back to 1974 condition or just let it keep running those back roads as is?
Good write-up Rob. This is what I think of when I visualize a nearly fifty year old truck which has been used as the tool it was intended to be. And your thought that it never accumulated very many miles because it did only local duty is plausible. On the other hand, given the Montana wide open spaces, it could have way more miles (when we lived in this part of the country, it wasn’t uncommon for us to drive 100 one-way miles on a Saturday to go out to eat).
It is well-used but I could see a restoration or maybe just some refurbishment.
Nice to start a project with a rust free truck. Too bad the seller didnt hose off the eng compartment. Look it over good. could be a decent truck and it ain’t 90 grand.
Cheers
GPC
Proper truck far as im concerned, regular cab, minimum 3/4 ton chasis, real transfer case w lever, manual hubs, standard transmission.
I bought a 78 f250 4×4 about 6 years ago i was at a buddy’s in panhandle of Fl doing a mil training gig, saw it as i was coming down in a parchute, the guy was dragging it out to the road w a tractor. Jumped on an atv, paid his asking price of $1200, drug it back to lz after replacing coil, fuelpump and cleaning carb drove it home 220 miles! Fixed front bearings n locking hubs brake job drove it around for years good rig!
Finally a reasonable price for a descent old truck.
These Highboys are great trucks to drive.
These are the perfect ride in rural Montana.
These were the TRUCK to drive back in the day. I swear there had to be 20 of them in Sweetgrass alone. Despite being involved with a GM dealer I worked on lots of these. They were almost indestructible. Biggest problem was that emmissionized FE engine. Dual exhaust, Holley 500 2bbl, and a properly curved advance curve, and you couldn’t stop them. At least you didn’t burn exhaust valves at 40K miles.
I’m going to say that the speedo has been around and is well onto a second run. Nothing wrong with that. Needs a little bodywork and the hood needs some adjustment. If this came to my place it would get the driveline and brakes up to snuff first then look at the body. And in the process it would get used, like a good 4×4 should…