There is no denying that old trucks are cool, but it only adds icing to the cake when it’s a 4×4 V8 variety like this ’65 Ford F250. Capable of muscling through any situation, this classic Ford looks like a fun pickup for the $3,500 asking price. Check it out here on craigslist out of Kalispell, Montana. Thanks to reader Simon P. for this
The 352 V8 has almost as much oil on the outside as it does on the inside. Despite its looks, this V8 runs great with the addition of a rebuilt carb, new fuel pump, and some fresh tune up items. Good thing this truck isn’t a speed demon as it is equipped with manual brakes. Surprisingly there is little rust to be seen in the engine compartment, but it looks as if there was a minor oil spill on the passenger side inner fender?
Bare bones and to the point, the interior is in reasonable shape with some obvious paint wear and surface rust on the floors. The steering wheel reflects some wear, as do the door pulls. Looking closely it appears that the glove box and ash tray have been covered with black tape of some sort. One significant treat about this interior is the under dash 8 track player! I am sure that it never skipped a beat while off-roading.
The cab and front end are mostly straight, but the end of the bed is a bit wonky and has some rot issues. Checking out the front end in detail, one notable issue is that the driver side of the hood does not sit flush as it should. If I had to guess it’s a rusty hinge and spring issue keeping it from seating down all the way. Also there is a large dent in the driver door, but it appears to be shallow, or perhaps it has been popped out before. I would say the worst of this truck is the rear of the bed where there is obvious rot, and one side of the bed looks to be bent slightly outward. A truck of this caliber is still a great vintage work horse that looks like it was recently used just yesterday from the extensive dirt in the bed and in the door sills. Featuring a solid 4×4 platform and great vintage looks, could you put this F250 to work?
That color looks suspiciously like a county, REA, or other public agency shade. My dad had an old Chevy he bought off the county that was a lovely hazard orange.
My dad had a 70’s Ford short bed stepside in this color with extremely low miles when I was a kid. He bought it from a cement company. It was only used in the quarry. Never could get all the cement off and wound up painting it with a roller, why I’ll never know.
Love the fact that this truck has seen a lifetime of use. Redo the seat and figure out a plan to fix up the back end. You’ll get a lot of street cred pulling into a mom & pop diner in a small town. Keep the Tennessee Ernie Ford 8-track and check out the wear on the shift knob! This truck’s been places.
Not many places, just a lot of hard work
Kalispell, huh? Not far away. If I needed something like this I’d probably be on my way. Good solid truck, probably a former highways dept. vehicle. There’s a lot of these still in use on ranches throughout the region. It’s interesting that 60 years ago, ranchers ran Jeeps. 50 years ago, they were running full-sized 4x4s. They must have found something good because a lot of them are still in service….
Where are you in Montana?
My Mom,Sister,& Family live in/near Kalispell.
I’ve been going there since the early ’70’s,when
it was a lot more laid back.
I was there last year,& noticed how much
things have changed.
20 miles west of Sweetgrass. Grew up on a ranch there. Yeah Kalispell and the whole Flathead Valley for that matter, has changed a lot. And not especially for the good. A mass of people with suitcases full of money came in in droves, bought land along the lake, built multimillion dollar summer homes and shot property values up to the point where the locals couldn’t afford the taxes. The Flathead Valley used to be a fun place to go. Well, it’s still got Moose’s Saloon…..
Hi geomechs, I almost moved to Kalispell many years ago, to take a job as a rafting trip bus driver, but never panned out. Also, I learned, they don’t call it “Flathead Country” for all the L head motors there,,, :)
You might have really enjoyed things for a while, before everyone’s property values went through the roof and turned it into another Aspen or Sun Valley. I’ve got friends who came close to selling out before the tax structure got reformed. I considered a job offer at the Chevy dealership back in the ’70s but decided that the valley was a better place to visit than live there…
Super cool…….but seems to have been left out in the snow for fifty years. I’m not sure how much of a body you’d have left if you started in on stripping it to repair it.
As comparison…..my ’72 C-!0 built in St. Louis found it’s way to California somehow and my rockers were rotted…..replacement rockers are available and I bought some,,,, but in the meantime used scrap metal to repair the rockers. My truck was no where as rotted as this one and the cab rot in the rockers went almost to the cab corners.
That said this is one cool truck and the 4 wheel is worth its weight in gold. Even if it is a Ford :)
Boy, that sucker’s gotta have one heck of a granny gear.
Can’t even get any 1 to call/come out on mine in California, straight body, heavy f250, 71 Tbird 429/c6, hauls 40′ 5th wheel w/Harley inside, where r these folks w$ 4500
Lot of body work on this one but I’ll bet it would haul a rounded over bed of firewood up a hill without even groaning.
Love this rig but would have to spend some serious time at least trying to fix those bed corners.
Judging by the bald front tires, you better stick to gravel roads with this truck. It will wobble and shimmy like a drunk on payday. Again, front cab mounts I’m sure are gone, and I bet, with funky brakes, a panic stop will send you into the ditch. Backwoods hauling wood, mending fences, pulling the stuck tractor out, perfect. 6 lane interstates, or ANY paved road, for that matter,,,lots of luck.
That truck more than any other i’ve seen recently reminds me of growing up. Not only did a lot of the trucks in northern new england look like that so did all the logging equipment littering the woods where we went brook fishing. Sadly it would likely drive just like an old skidder too…
Cold, very cold, extremely cold winters. Went to Missoula one time in January it was 50 degrees below zero farenhiet (not spelled right). 4 wheel drive is almost standard equipment there. I bought a 57 Willy’s pickup there and drove it to Everett, Washington, what a ride. Owned a 65 f-100 with 352 three on the tree and overdrive 2 wheel drive. It was a great truck, that was back in 72-74 in Redding, California.
P.s the bed on this one looks wrong. I think it might be from a 57 or 58 Ford truck.
Good eye, Johnmloghry! Definitely not the right bed. I want this p/u but can’t afford it right now. If the bed wasn’t so roached, I might just leave it as is.
you are wrong the 1965 ford f100 4×4 actually had this box but since the body lines didn’t match up it was nicknamed the “wrong box”
they made a different box for this truck, it was based on the earlier sixties trucks
The ’64 4×4 models used this bed, but I am sure the ’65s did not.
Not sure the ’65s had the foot well at the doors.
The F250 4x4s used the 57-60 bed through ’66.
I had a 65 F250 4×4 all I had on it not original was a 500 hp 390, the rest of the drivetrain were there and took every horse that 390 threw down. It could pick up one front wheel but I split the pressure plate doing it, lol. A couple of notes on these trucks, many myths on the way they are built. 1. All F100 and F250s in 65 were 120 inch wheelbase. The 61-66, 4×4 models. In 66 I believe they got coil springs in front on the F100 4×4 they had a single speed transfer case the 250s the 2 speed. The 120 inch wb dictated using the 57-60 bed.
2 The step in the cab is a holdover from the 63 models that had the step and the 57-60 bed. They just had a trim piece to make the bed look different. So you could say they used a 63 cab and bed and the 120 wb
3 The F250 4×4 used the 1 ton front fenders, they aren’t cut. The 61-64 F100 did too as well as the leaf springs in front.
4. All 61-4 engines were either the 223 or 262 4 main 6 or the 292 Y block. The 7 main 6 came in 65 along with the 352 2V. No 390s came in these trucks.
I hope this helps, I miss my truck. I am blind and can no longer drive. I can see a little but I can’t see to drive. Thanks