Sitting in this shed is a classic Pickup that has led a sheltered life. This 1968 Ford F100 Ranger has been part of the same family since Day One and has always been stored indoors. That has allowed it to remain remarkably well preserved, with its panels wearing the original paint. The seller has performed mild and tasteful engine upgrades to unlock additional performance, but the Pickup is otherwise untouched. It is set to find a new home, with the F100 listed here on eBay in Joplin, Missouri. Bidding sits below the reserve at $7,600, with time remaining on the auction.
Ford’s Fifth Generation F-Series graced showroom floors from late 1966 until 1972. This F100 rolled off the line in Kansas City, Kansas, in 1968. The seller’s grandfather ordered it in Raven Black, ensuring it was garage-kept when not prowling our roads. The approach has paid dividends, with the Ford retaining its original paint. It isn’t perfect, but the overall condition and shine are impressive for an unrestored classic. There are minor nicks and marks, but performing a cosmetic refresh on a vehicle that can be considered a genuine survivor would be a shame. The panels are straight, and rust is confined to a couple of patchable spots in areas like the bed. The most striking exterior feature is the trim, which is in exceptional condition. It contrasts beautifully against the Black paint, with the Ranger retaining its original hubcaps. The tinted glass is spotless, while the narrow whitewalls add a classy finishing touch.
It is disappointing that the seller supplies no engine photos because the minor changes under the hood represent the only apparent modifications. The VIN confirms the Ford rolled off the line powered by the 360ci V8 producing 215hp and 327 ft/lbs of torque. Shifting duties fall to a three-speed automatic transmission, but it is unclear whether there is power assistance for the steering or brakes. The seller inherited the Pickup from his grandfather when he passed away in 2000, with the vehicle sitting and gathering dust until 2022. They pulled the engine as part of its revival, treating it to a rebuild. It received a 390 crank and rods, and the block benefits from a 0.030″ bore and new pistons. They added an upgraded camshaft, pushrods, hardened valve seats, and a Holley 600cfm Street Warrior carburetor. The factory 390 produced 255hp and 376 ft/lbs, but it would be fair to expect more from this motor. The upgrades were carefully considered to ensure the F100 remains civilized, and it seems the seller achieved that aim. They say it runs and drives perfectly, with excellent throttle response. Potential buyers can consider this beauty a turnkey proposition.
Classic Pickups often feature interiors that look tired and worn. The type of life they typically live can leave upholstery ripped or torn and plastic cracked or broken. If I were to mark this Ranger’s interior harshly, I would criticize the slight wheel wear and worn faux chrome on the gauge cluster plastic. However, I don’t consider either issue genuine faults, but rather the hallmarks of a vehicle that is a genuine survivor. The seat and door trims are spotless, the carpet is excellent, and there are no problems with the dash or pad. There are no visible aftermarket additions, with this interior retaining its original AM radio.
This 1968 Ford F100 Ranger is a wonderful survivor, making it easy to understand why it has attracted seventeen bids. It sits below the reserve, and recent sales results suggest a vehicle of this caliber will probably need to nudge $18,000 before the situation changes. The price could go higher because older Pickups remain desirable in the classic market. Do you agree, or is a lower figure more realistic?
Nice truck,( but I know it’s minor) those headlights
need to go! Ruins the look of the front end.
The headlights are different in different pictures. That’s odd.
Headlights would actually look great if that early style hideous big guard was removed.
I’m in love!
Lived in California for a year and had a friend who had one of these out in front of his apartment in the complex I lived in. I started bugging him almost the day I moved in to try and buy the truck from him and after about 2 weeks of pestering him every single day he started working on the truck. He regained interest and within 3 days had it back on the road again. I’m glad I was able to contribute to him getting his truck back and getting the spark back. Sure ended up being a nice truck. Like this one. Too bad my life isn’t in a better position I would definitely buy this one. Nice truck. My dad had a 74 Highboy four-wheel drive that he was restoring. He let his partner borrow it and the carburetor caught fire and instead of just tossing something over the carburetor to put it out he ran away from the truck and let the entire front end burned to the ground. That was an incredibly sad day. Ended up putting a new motor in it all new wiring and then sold it to a 19-year-old kid who tore it down and restored it. Was good to see a youngster like that interested in something like that truck. Only bummer was it should have been in my driveway not his. Never knew my dad was selling it till after it was gone.
I feel your pain Davey Boy, I had my heart set on my mom’s car when I came of age and got that wonderful little piece of plastic with my picture on it…I had no idea she even wanted to sell it until my rambunctious cousin Donald showed up and handed her a clump of cash, and then peeled away in her ’73 Montego MX, and then proceeded to bounce it off of almost every roadside bank in the county. It took him all of about 2 weeks to have all 4 doors, both rear quarters, and both front fenders mashed in. I was devastated. I had envisioned tooling around in the big 351 Cleveland equipped sled, all 4 windows down, fm radio singing about gettin my motor running, and riding in style on those luxurious black pleather seats.. but Donald had other plans for the old Mercury, sitting there in the driveway with only one of it’s spoked hubcaps still hanging on to its wheel for dear life, hot propylene glycol smoke wafting out from under the front wheel wells, an inch of dust on everything. It was only when mom gave me her motorcycle to get my first driver’s license on that I forgave her for letting my cousin buy that car and proceed to destroy it from the outside in. Looking back, I think mom knew that the car would have lived its life out in a beautiful cloud of tire smoke had I inherited it, and was worried that I would fully explore the capabilities of that mill under the hood. Which I certainly would’ve!
I think the Montegos looked better in crew cab form than the Gran Torino did. 👍
Yep, the headlights got to go.
Yep! Those ugly headlights have got to go as well as that bug shield. Both spoil the classic look of the front end. A beautiful truck in outstanding original condition aside from those minor details. I had a ’72 short bed for a few years though quite a while back. Mine had a 302 and three-on-the-tree. Dependable and decent on fuel, I even towed a 23′ ATCO trailer with it for my trips to Northern Maine for hunting and snowmobiling. I dearly wish I still had it. I really like this truck, but I’d rather have one with a small block. Still, it will be interesting to see how high this will go. The picture above shows my pickup and camper in the North Maine woods through the Six Mile entrance near Ashland.
Someone please rescue it from those ridiculous zombie headlights.
There was a farm family a few miles away that bought the near identical twin to this truck. There’s was a factory 390 as indicated by the ‘390 badge’ that so-equipped trucks had back then. It went through a lot of drivers, mostly boys but the one girl also got plenty of use out of it. To this day it’s still in the family, still running the same engine although there had to be some repairs done to the block when it started to push oil into the coolant. Still got the original oil bath aircleaner (seriously?); still running those same wheel covers. Some vehicles become members of the family…
For Fords, I consider the 1967 (and subsequent years, like this one) Ranger-trimmed F-100 the beginning of the “luxury truck”, which is going strong today. They had nicely appointed interiors, and extensively trimmed exteriors. Even simple things like full wheel covers and whitewall tires made a difference. They were usually well-equipped with V8/ automatic powertrains, power steering and brakes, even air conditioning was available if I recall.
This looks like a nice example.
Nice truck. Not a fan of the headlights but I think that’s a minor quibble. I’m watching this one.
Looks just like my Uncles truck stolen from Georgia…
I agree with the sentiment that the C3PO headlights are a fail……
Adam, I found this B/F and your presentation very interesting ,as I just bought a truck very similar to this one and I was thinking a lot about the same things you brought up. This truck market is crazy. I have had dozens of everything from the 1940’s to the 1990’s, GM and Ford’s. The C-10’s for now seem to be at the front of the pack ,but many are not far behind. I especially like C-10’s ,but not actually sure they are the end of all things P/U trucks. I started with early 50 GM’s and progressed thru the 1953 to 55 F-100’s had 1/2 dozen of those. I always thought the later F-100’s could be very cool and could compete with the C-10’s. Then I sold my last 53 F-100 and found a 73 F-100, short box, 2W-D, 302, 3 speed on the column , factory A/C and oil bath air cleaner, it had been in storage since 1980, original paint, one owner. So needless to say it is off to the races. It did not come cheap 20 K, and then I see this B//F and think, are you stupid or what? I don’t think I am. you said in the listing, this truck compares to trucks near the 18 K mark. The thing is no one knows for sure. My old college marketing professor always said “WHY / WHY do people buy” ? That’s all you have to know.
C10’s are popular because there are more of them around with log box. Very difficult finding a 67-69 f250 and impossible to find one in 4wd.
Why Ford would brand a truck with two brands sounds a little goofy.af150 ranger. That’s like gm saying Silverado Colorado. Still its a nice survivor..it will sell
Ranger was a trim package on the f100 thru f350 trucks from 67 thru 81ish(?) Until the small ranger pickup came out in 83.
I can see how it sounds odd in comparison to how the nomenclature is on new trucks. As has been clarified, the Ranger was a trim level of the F100/F150 1/2 tons. GM did the same thing with their 1/2 tons. There was custom, custom deluxe, cheyenne, scottsdale, and silverado- lowest to highest cost/trim levels. The thing that I find odd is on the brand new Chevy trucks is that you can buy a silverado custom. This strikes me as funny as it combines the highest and lowest trim levels of the past into one truck purchase. Either someone in charge of this at GM isn’t old enough to know about this, or the ones who do know won’t remember about it to make the correlation.
Great looking old Ford. I’ve come to really like the bump side trucks. Sadly those headlights make it look like it was punched in the face.
Cool truck, especially with those old-school mirrors. Agree with the others, those weird LED headlights have to go. I’ll be surprised if this doesn’t exceed $25K.
What a gem! If I had the room (I live in a condo), I’d bid on it!
It looks like the steering wheel is in great shape too. Too often they are cracked with gaps. Nice trucks.
Looks like it didn’t make reserve….
My uncle owned Old Hickory Barbeque until his passing in 2009. Back in 69 they purchased 3 black Ford Ranger XLTs with 390 engines. While promoting Old Hickory at grocery stores (remember A&P, Winn Dixie, Piggly Wiggly etc.) I was assigned one of these pickups to drive. Thoroughly enjoyed that truck. At the time these were some of the classier trucks around.