Maxim Vintage Car Shopper: 1961 Ford F100
Not all hot-rods are cars.
The Year: 1961
The Model: Ford F100
The Drivetrain: 350 cubic-inch V8 through a three-speed automatic to the rear wheels.
Favorite Five Points:
– Last week, we yearned for patina. This week, patina we got.
– The truck runs a mildly tuned 350 cubic-inch Ford V8 said to squeal the tires in second gear. So, you won’t be late coming back from Home Depot regardless of how much mulch is in the bed.
– How can you resist that face? We’re usually wary of anthropomorphizing cars, but there’s real humanity in those twin, chrome-hooded headlights. (This truck was meant to be a companion.)
– Well-finished dog-dish hubcaps and thick whitewalls look fantastic and indicate that this truck is actually a bit of a hot-rod, not a used up farm tool.
Quirks:
– There are sections of this truck, in the bed especially, where the line between patina and rust gets quite thin. We’d make sure the frame is solid before going too far.
– Between the new shifter, fiberglass patches in the interior make this truck truly scruffy. We’d say take it as it is, but that might be a deal-breaker for some people.
– This pickup is rear-driven and low-riding—any dreams of taking it offroad ought to be squashed pretty quickly. This is a boulevard cruiser, not a woods crusher.
Good Buy?
The seller is asking $11,900 or best offer. With a truck like this, the latter has real sway. Structurally and engine-wise, the Ford seems up to snuff; cosmetically, it might need a little work, though no one better try and repaint this hunk of wabi-sabi. If you could get it for ten grand, we’d call this not just a good buy, but a great one.
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