Well, here’s a rare one, and you’d never know it by looking at the exterior photos. At least without zooming in on the faded Farm & Ranch Special decal above the front fenders on each side. That isn’t even the rarest part of this truck, as there’s a major surprise hiding under the hood. The seller has this 1969 Ford F-100 Farm & Ranch Special pickup posted here on craigslist in Prescott, Arizona, and they’re asking $35,000. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Barney for the tip!
“$35,000, for a ’69 F-100?! What the Sam H, as if the world wasn’t messed up enough right now with prices, who in their right mind…” Just to get that out of the way. This is one rare truck, actually, it’s one of 177 according to the attached Marti Report for Ford trucks offered with the optional Electric Power Pak (or, “Pac”, as the Marti Report oddly misspells it). It’s a separate Onan generator under the hood used to provide power to an outlet in the bed of the truck. If that isn’t the coolest and most unusual option, maybe of all time, I don’t know what is. Our own Mike Stephens showed us one about two years ago here on Barn Finds. That was the first time I had ever heard of this model.
Here’s the faded decal on the Boxwood Green paint. I’m not sure why Ford didn’t use actual badges rather than a decal, but, for $50ish, you’d be back in business. I’d want those to stand out, even though I like things as original as possible. In case you were wondering about the “cargo boards” on the sides of the bed, those are part of the Farm & Ranch Special package. Ford also offered a Contractor Special truck with lockable tool boxes on both sides of the bed, where the boards are on here. Presumably, those 9-inch-high boards are for hauling hay and other farm goodies in the bed. I could see the Electric Power Pak generator option being popular with contractors more than farmers and ranchers, but I guess farmers and ranchers have a need to power tools out in the field (literally), too.
The interior looks great in this fifth-generation F-Series, which would have been made for model years 1967 through 1972 in the U.S. There’s no rugged four-speed floor shifter in this farm truck; this one has a three-speed automatic with a column shifter. Fancy. I don’t see a flaw inside, but the seller is pretty light on photos. In fact, this is literally the only interior photo. And, there are only three exterior photos, two showing the same side. There isn’t one photo showing the rear of this vehicle at all, and none showing inside the bed or the underside.
But the seller gets an A+ for underhood photos! Here’s the optional Onan generator providing 2,500 watts, and is driven by a 5.5-hp, air-cooled, single-cylinder engine. The truck is powered by a 360-cu.in. OHV V8, which would have had around 215 horsepower, sending power through an automatic transmission to the rear wheels. Both engines are said to run fine. Have any of you heard of this model before, or seen the unique generator under the hood of a Ford pickup?
Too cool. Thanks for the find Barney. Good article SG 👍
This in an excellent example of why Barn Finds is so enjoyable. Not only do we get to see interesting vehicles and benefit from good write-ups like Scotty’s effort here, we also learn something. I knew about the Farm and Ranch Special, but had no idea there was a Power Pak option. Obviously, as the Marti Report notes, very rare….. and very cool.
The truck looks used but not abused. My dad’s 1970 F-100 was this color, and even without checking, I remembered the name: Boxwood Green. His was much more basic.
Aside: the address of the selling dealer in small town St. Maries ID plots to a brick downtown building (of course), which looks to now be an automotive repair/ towing-recovery business.
Scotty!!!! Your back!!!! I missed you… This Ford is just so unique. I dont remember the one Mike wrote up which I looked it didnt have the generator. I have never seen this before. Nowadays people install an inverter in their truck to power everything. But an Onan under the hood? That took some thought. And it looks great. Love the boxwood green too. This kind of puts a face to the truck Bob had mentioned his Dad driving. I like the color. If it were me, I wouldn’t touch a thing. I would just maintain it as best as possible. How many of these could there actually be left on this planet that still has its generator, and in running condition too might I add. And its in very solid condition too. Love it Scotty, thank you so much for writing this one up and the history lesson too. And a Great find here too Barney, its the folks like you that find these gems and pass it on for the writers to research and write up. Thank you too.
“Engine & Generator Assembly – Aux, Electric Power”
Y’all (as they say in Minnesota) are way too kind, thanks much! This has to be a top-ten pickup for me.
The price is really agressive. The main selling point seems to be the generator, if you take that away you are left with a nice 2wd long bed with 120,000+ miles, that you could probably get for $15,000. This may be rare and a bit of an oddity, but will that actually entice a buyer to dig into their bank account?
Steve R
I’ve owned one of these and it was a great truck to have and this one has options I’ve never heard of, so yeah quite rare, well cared for, but the asking price is too high. I’d be surprised if they get it, I’d consult my magic 8 ball but it’s broken at the moment.
Neat old truck, I would check the cab mounts before I would buy it. This is another example of rarity not adding value in my opinion. Good luck with the sale
Ford will sell you a brand new F150 that has an electrical outlet in the bed, for $100,000. $35,000 seems reasonable, and…you don’t have to plug this one in, every night.
Wow! Just the type of truck you
need here in Florida after a hurricane. That way, you could
charge your electric vehicles or run key systems like small fans
or refrigeration inside your house.
We sorta kinda did that after Irma
in ’17(?) My MIL had heart trouble and had to wear one of those rechargable heart monitors
that your wear for 30 days so your doctor can detect any problems they might be lurking
there. Long story short, when it
was time to charge the device, we just plugged Mom into the
generator we had set up under the carport. We ran long extension cords to the fridge, freezer, and microwave using one
of those power strip thingys we had lying around. Yessir, here in
Florida, a truck like this would more than pay for itself in saved food or medicine should the power be lost where you live. The
only problem would be finding gas to run both the truck and generator as gas price after a storm can go as high as $12-15 a
gallon when the storm passes.
Wonder if you could build your own using another truck. If not,
great find all the same.
Dad installed an aftermarket inverter in his (and later mine) ’69 F-100 (single cab, long bed, Custom Cab, 240/auto). He used it to power his electric chainsaw (this was in the 1970s!), Skilsaw, etc. when we were building a new house on property they bought. When I later bought the truck from him to use on the farm we moved to, it still had the inverter (which I removed), as well as the aftermarket “Frigiking” air conditioner (also removed, as was non-op).
This would be a fun truck to relive some memories in!
This is very interesting I certainly agree, “Barn Finds” is beyond a treat to read. Thanks to all that make this happen!
One question, and I’m not and engineer, 2500 watts is a decent amount of power, but not a huge amount by any means, rather than having two engines under the hood, wouldn’t it have been easier to just mount a generator, with a pto of some sort, to the truck engine itself? Maybe it’s an rpm/engine cooling thing?
The 2 major problems with a generator that is driven from the vehicle engine are: 1) Fuel consumption: Having to run a big 6 or V-8 engine to power a generator that needs only single digit horsepower is not really practical. 2) Frequency Control: A 2 pole generator needs to run at a constant 3600 RPM to produce 60 hertz power. A vehicle engine does not have a governor to keep it running at a constant speed, regardless of the load. The generator engine does have that governor that is required to keep it running at a constant speed.
Thanks Chuck! Answers the question! Much appreciated!!!
I noticed the electric receptacle in the bed looks old style without a ground. I agree with comments that this is way too much money to sell at that request. A nice truck, as said, worth $15,000 plus maybe.
This is a very clean Ford truck. Price is a little too high. Interesting set up on this truck. I wonder how many are still left!
This is a very clean Ford truck. Price is a little too high. Interesting set up on this truck. I wonder how many are still left! I do like that it has the original hubcaps.
I’d gofer a compressor (thru engine belt) for the air tools, an inverter (probably no need for 2nd battery) for the ele. This saves space, any extra hassles w/separate motor. Last? gimmie the 6th gen F250 truck/4 WD, step side/shortbed, 4.9L instead…
Saw a pickup with a big camper that had switches that started and stopped the remote generator under the hood, it was a ’70 or so Ford, I think it was like this one.
As long as I’ve followed Ford, this is a new one on me! This is absolutely the coolest. Great son’s!!
lot of money. it’s cool but not that cool. good luck with all that
Way back in the late 60’s to mid 70’s, I was a heavy truck mechanic (before we were technicians) and worked on a truck that had this generator option. That was the only one that I’ve ever seen in real life. Well thought out, nice option, long before power inverters around! With 2.5 KW and electric start, there was enough power to do a lot of work, and it would run until the truck gas tank was empty!
Really cool Ford pickup. Especially with that added generator. Looks to be in great shape as well. But 35k for a novelty?
Of course where else are you going to find one, in working condition?