Not that cool because it's not a 56.

 

It's a neat - cool truck , But $20,000 Is way to much . Lets say you bought it, what would you do with it ? You can't change any thing on it , or the value will go down , and how many people would pay to see it ? So you can't drive it , or get your $ back from showing it . So you end up with a very expensive garage art . I can think of a lot of trucks out there that I would rather have and be able to use . Just me .

 

I agree Dave, but I'm surprised there isn't a museum or some kind of store that would be satisfied using as just that. For instance, there is a chain of truck stops out here that has a mini-museum in each facility, with maybe 4 or 5 restored cars/trucks, some with local provenance. I'm sure they paid similar money for them. It's a write-off for them, part of their decorations.

 

Dave, I agree with the value of this truck. It may be a neat bit of TV history but it's in rough shape. I would say it could be restored back to the condition it was in while being used for the TV show.





I think it would be a safe bet to say this truck is in a lot worse shape now than it was during it's productions days in sunny California. While being used for the show it pretty much just had surface rust and a few dents. What I've been reading on the net about this truck is it was bought by the junk dealer in Indiana and left sitting outside for years suffering the ravishes of upper Midwestern winters.

I don't normally go for a faux patina finish because I think they look horrid on a restored truck and are a waste of time but on this truck if a person were to restore it, repair all of the rust leaving the dents and minor rust it had in it's hey day that would be the way to go. This truck looks to be at a point where it does need some serious repair, I don't think leaving it in the condition it is in now is a good idea. We all see it's suffering from the normal deterioration at the point there is structural damage and parts such as the fenders and doors are becoming loose or separating. If a person were to do this type of restoration it would still cost as much as a show room type restoration and I doubt it would increase the value of the truck to be much more than an every day '51 F-1. I think it would have a little more added value because of it's history but not much. You'd have to find someone who can relate to the show and those of use who can are getting older and as society gets older the younger people who have never seen the show will have little interest in the truck. One place that might be interested is a Black culture related museum. This show was a ground breaking show with a lot of interest to the Black culture. It would nice is someone would restore and then donate it to such a museum.

 

You hit the nail on the head, Bob.

 

This is THE most recognizable representative of the trucks we love. You can't look at this particular truck objectively like it's just another truck. I have visited the American history museum of the Smithsonian. This truck would make a much needed addition to even that museum IMO. If I owned that truck, I would eat it or donate it to a museum before I'd take a dime less than $20K.

 

Doc? Bob and you are right on. I also do hope someone
gets it with this kind of restoration and donation in mine.
The only thing better would be for some museum to buy
it than hire one or all of us to restore it. Getting paid our
$25 an hour minimum plus room and board and travel
and .......... Oh!! what fun that could be.
"Hey Dear I got a part time job at the Smithsonian. Don't
quit your day job and keep the bills payed. I will send what
I can and see ya in 6 or 8 months."

This could work.

 

This thread is awesome.
OK, now the auction has one bidder.

Well we all have some good thoughts on what SHOULD happen to this truck, and here are my thoughts about what SHOULDN'T happen to it.

.

 

I say we hold a Truckfest/stock in Indiana and take on the proper restoration of this truck. We could do a week turn a round like one of the "reality" TV shows.

The scary/sad thing is there is probably a good number of people with the money to blow would turn that truck into a piece of crap rat rod and then justify it by saying they are preserving the memory of it. Kind of like the guys who want to preserve their memories of their time spent with their grandfathers in their F-6 farm trucks by downsizing it to a half ton with air bag suspension and blown V-8.

 

I'd be interested in knowing if that later model OHV engine was in the truck at the time of the TV series. The truck was 20 years old at the time so it is possible that it got swapped before then.


.

 

I'll volunteer the wifes parking spot in the garage and host. I'm sure she won't mind.

 

Another anomaly I see in the passenger side freeze frame is no spare tire.

DjS

 

No tire, but the post for it is there.

 

The bracket looks like it is there, just the tire removed.

 

We got Rojak's truck running in 6 hours , A week should be about right to get that truck restored .