In the world of rural living, having an old pickup truck as lawn art as a status symbol is trendy. Trendy among those new to rural living, that is. These poor trucks are adorned with the accouterments of the season and left to rot out by the road. If you think trucks, especially prewar trucks, aren’t decorations, then you might be interested in a rescue. Will someone please buy this 1940 Ford pickup for sale on eBay in Assonet, Massachusetts before it ends up on the front of one of those home makeover magazines you see next to the checkout at the grocery store? This truck is painted bright blue, looks cute, and was last on the road in 1968. With bidding currently at $5,555 with just two days left, you could probably put this one down under charitable donations on your 2023 taxes and do the Lord’s work at the same time.
Out here in what used to be known as the sticks, we have been invaded by folks from other states. In their move to “the country,” these folks invariably buy a decent-sized piece of land, build a substantial home, and set out to find an old pickup truck to display somewhere between the front steps and the mailbox. They fill these trucks with hay bales and pumpkins in the fall, cover them with lights in the winter, and festoon them with flowers in the spring. They didn’t do too much decorating in the summer, as it is too hot for proper ornamentation. While decorating your property like the front room of a Cracker Barrel is nice and all, I cannot help but feel for the old trucks that are slowly returning to the Earth from which they came. Why these people can’t litter their property with a plethora of old junk cars like the rest of us is a mystery.
As for this 1940 Ford pickup, the seller tells us that they purchased it twenty long years ago as a restoration project. That restoration never seemed to get off the ground. Fortunately, the truck has spent those last twenty years inside and has escaped an extra helping of deterioration. Before this, it was a Colorado truck and has a full inspection sticker still attached to it. We are assured that the truck is all original and that the Flathead V-8 and the original three-speed transmission are still there.
We are also told that the truck does not run, drive, or stop. The engine, however, does still turn over. As for the restorability of the truck, the seller still seems to think that this truck is a good restoration candidate and has been told by observers that they would just get it running and drive it as-is. Doing so may still be a possibility, as the truck looks to be complete, and parts are readily available for these trucks.
Looking at the pictures, this truck seems to be one of those projects that can get very deep very fast. The exterior has been hosed down with blue paint reminiscent of what we used to see on the Chevy trucks in Old Navy clothing stores. A closer look at that paint, which was likely brushed on, reveals an absolute plethora of bumps, bruises, and lumpy parts. The condition of the metal body panels is a big unknown here. Inside, we know nothing about the status of the floors. Everything else looks to be quite restorable.
Above is the previously mentioned Flathead, which may be original to the truck. One area of concern is the boiled spaghetti shotgun blast of wiring disgorging itself from the hole in the cowl and spilling down towards the frame. What was going on here? These are fairly simple trucks with rudimentary electrical systems.
This is the kind of truck that a serious restorer would need to see in person. Due to their handsome styling, 1940 Ford trucks bring a premium over other prewar Ford trucks. This one may be a diamond in the rough. Hopefully, the charming, good looks (from 20 feet away) and the low bidding won’t attract someone who will just use it as yard art. These are fine trucks and there is still life in this one. Burying it above ground is just wrong on so many levels. Sacrilegious even.
What are your thoughts on the whole antique truck lawn ornament dilemma? Please share your emotional outbursts in the comments.
For those flatlanders needing “yard art”, find a clawfoot bathtub, go crazy with the deco and stay the heck away from useful things like this classy old Ford.
We can find a way of making it art of its original intent rather than just having it moldering in someone’s front yard as “that cute old truck”. It deserves better.
Besides, when your neighbors dog hike his leg on the tub it’ll just make it look all the more authentic and maybe he’ll leave you another source of “yard art” with a Dairy Queen curl on the top..
Funny Stuff. Right there in front of you
Buried above ground !!!
You realize you are under estimating restoration costs….right?
Jeff- You are FUNNY! Great write-up, keep it coming!
I’ve been fortunate enough to have owned 2 – 1940 Ford pickups in my life: first one had a Chevy V-8 and a Columbia rear- end. Went like hell, but couldn’t stop it with the original drum brakes! Second one had a souped up 51 Ford engine with Edelbrock heads, 4 barrel carburetor intake with Edelbrock 4 barrel carburetor, and dual exhaust. Also went like hell and also hard to stop with original drum brakes. Ended up selling it to Jim Edwards who owned Dunn-Edwards paint. Now, at 85 years old, can only think and wish. Loved 40 Ford trucks, coupes, and convertibles and owned them all when I was younger.
Emotional outburst? Nothing gets a comment removed faster than that, hey Jesse? Besides, what’s all the fuss? To be honest, an old pickup doesn’t do well in todays world, and I think it’s great someone displays an old truck in their yard for all to see. Perhaps as even a family tribute rather than see it go. I’ve seen many renditions of such in my travels, the “bed of flowers”, the clawfoot bathtub with a Jesus statue, some pretty clever, and GENERALLY for that, they use a vehicle that’s pretty shot, and bury it halfway in the dirt. A popular fixture out here in “Moneyland”( except me), some will take a vintage stake bed truck, park it near their entrance, plant flowers around it and mount a sign on the back. This is probably the nicest truck I’ve seen used for that purpose, but remember, to some, it’s just an old truck. I think this trucks new life has just begun, and I all but guarantee, it won’t stay like this, and that’s okay too. It really is too nice to be yard art.
Very nice write up Jeff. Lived the Cracker Barrel line. You struck a chord in me when you mentioned Old Navy. I still cant get iver how many old Chevy Trucks were gutted and sacrificed to be a store fixture to hang clothes and bath towels on. I hope this goes to a good home and soends it time inside a garage and not on the front lawn with pumpkins on the bed
When the family estate was sold I didn’t keep the extremely rare 1942 Chevrolet pickup truck but let it go to the new owner. Parting with that land and truck was the biggest mistake of my life.
Too bad it’s so far away or I’d be trying my best to land this one. Best looking pre war design truck made.
I have to agree with the best looking pre-war truck ever made. I love these old Fords
I have a 54 Chev 3100.
Pretty but str8 axle front is a bounce and hard drive compared to newer trucks.
This is a beautiful grille.
I do like it…
Fun write-up Jeff.
I never before noticed that funky shift lever with the multiple kinks.
I think the shift lever is “custom/ modified”–an option package that usually goes along with vice grip door handles.
Not orig. They only had one bend.
“While decorating your property like the front room of a Cracker Barrel is nice and all”. – that’s gold. I literally laughed out loud when I read it.
I bought a similar 41 Ford truck about ten years ago from an estate. It had been sitting in the garage for about 25 years. From what I can see, mine is in better condition all-around. Finally getting around to working on it and hope to get it on the road come spring!
Great write up on the wannabes turning classics like this 1940 Ford truck into yard art. Totally agree with Nevada 1/2 track. Buy an old claw foot bathtub to decorate. This 1940 Ford truck is a dream truck for many classic enthusiasts, and with the V8 version even more so. Everything looks to be there engine wise, but who knows what lies beneath the paint?. She deserves better and to be on the road again.
“Very deep very fast” says it all. I love all models of the 40’s Ford. This truck looks like it’s beyond salvaging but letting it rot as weird and trendy yard art seems disgraceful.
Absolutely wizard write up, Jeff. I especially like the comment about not understanding why the Johnny-come-lately crowd doesn’t have a junk vehicle collection adorning their yards like the indigenous community. Made me chuckle. Thanks. Just another great reason to read BF.
If we bring enough money, just about anything can be saved, but whether the game is worth the candle…
So, it’s old trucks now that are considered to be fair game as lawn art. I can remember not that many years ago when we would have people driving up the driveway of my parent’s farm wanting to buy old farm implements as lawn ornaments. Two row planters were very much favored.
Add to the above.
So, after a while of that nonsense, my dad put “creating two row planters” on my brothers and my chore lists. If you ever purchased a two row planter in rural Kansas as yard art, you might want to examine it closely. LOL.
What i like about this truck is, Well everything!!! Just step back and take a look at it, No, really take a good hard look.. It’s beautiful!! It’s ALL there. The glass is good, The headlights, taillights, Trim, Hub Caps.. Plus it’s a 40 Ford Pick-up NOT a coup.. Damn if it was closer, It would be mine. Western Kansas is my location, Just a bit far for me. I’m truly in love…Hope it goes to someone with as much appricetion as i have..
The cab needs work. Other than that, make it safe for the road and drive it to Home Depot.
We live near a “luxury RV resort” that has an old truck that is being used as a water feature near the entrance. A small waterfall cascades out the driver’s window and splashes down into a nearby man-made pond. We also have a neighbor nearby that has a military tank that he takes out for a spin occasionally. Also, have seen a lot of these old trucks at “garden centers” being used for all sorts of displays around the US. All a bit shocking and confusing to folks who love old cars, truck and military vehicles . . . however glad we get to live in the US where we can make those kinds of purchase and display decisions.
Old trucks and claw foot tubs are way better the toilets with flowers growing out of them!!!!!! Some people just like all their belongins on the front lawn. Be proud of your sucess. because you have to live with it and I do not have to look at it
Hysterical write-up. Keep up the good work!
Great entertaining writing! It seems strange to me now, to see one of these trucks languishing in uncertain condition, since I was around to see lots of them on the road and in everyday use, along with their 1930s cousins. When I was still a boy, parents drove their children to school in 1939 Buicks and 1937 Ford’s and not a few Model As: the older I get, the more recent those memories seem to me, somehow. And so, a 1940 truck as an object of “antiquity” feels disturbingly jarring and unnatural. The mother of one of my classmates drove a 1933 Pontiac sedan, and I still remember the shade-blinds on the rear side windows with their pull-tassels. Then there were the Ford Standards with one tail-light and the 60 hp V-8 flathead that couldn’t get out of its own way: riding in one as a “kid”, you wondered if the driver was riding the brakes, it had so little “get-up-and-go”. So much we took for granted during those years has all-but-vanished. This truck looks wonderfully beautiful to me now — but it also dreads as an overwhelming project to restore. And yet I hope that someone younger and wealthier than I brings it back to its former glory and enjoys driving it around. I wouldn’t mind following it in a 1940 Oldsmobile.
Thanks for sharing, Harrison. I grew up in the 60s and I have always loved the front of the 40 Fords. It is still noteworthy that both cars and trucks shared that unmistakable grin.
To Matthew Dyer: I grew up in the 1940s. By the 1960s — especially by the late 1960s — 1939-1940 Fords were more occasionally (than commonly) seen on the road. 1946 and newer Ford trucks still were common in the 1960s, but those from 1934 to 1942 were fading away by then.
Great write up sir! The thought of leaving this beauty outside makes me cringe.
Me, too, John Washburn!
You are my new favorite writer. “Doing the Lord’s work..”. Very funny. Thank you for laugh and a look at a truck that I would love to rescue from Yard art status.