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Check Out This 1961 F250 4x4! Original Mall Maintenance Vehicle?

1961 - 1966 F-100 & Larger F-Series Trucks Discuss the Slick Sixties Ford Truck

Check Out This 1961 F250 4x4! Original Mall Maintenance Vehicle?

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#1

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03-06-2015, 07:16 PM

ARW

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Check Out This 1961 F250 4x4! Original Mall Maintenance Vehicle?

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ontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> A few months back while I was doing Christmas shopping at a local mall I came across something that really intrigued my eye while walking back to my truck. Because it was the Holiday season, parking at the mall was next to impossible so I had to park just about as far away as you can get. Anyway, on my way back they had folks temporarily traveling through near a section of their maintenance/storage lot facility and that's when I saw it, a 1961 Ford F250 that appears to be a part of the mall's vehicle fleet- or used by it at one time. I was in a rush and didn't get pictures at the time but I knew I'd be back in the near future and would do it then.

At that point, the questions in my mind starting rolling in wondering if it was purchased originally by the mall and has been stored inside the garage all its life or if it's one of the workers' trucks that stores it there. In any case, it appears to be more on the lines of a mall fleet vehicle.

I had to stop by there today so I took the opportunity to grab a few quick photos. The small maintenance storage area where it's kept is probably "technically" off limits to the public even though you can still pass through it so I made my way through as if I was just looking for my car, lol. As you can see in the photos it has probably an 1/4" thick thick of dust on the paint, glass etc. It has what appears to be a sander box in the bed and a plow on the front. It looks to have Dodge rims on it but if you look to the left in the first photo, those appear to be (original?) tires for it. I'm not sure what the large stickers say on the sides but they looked to be a designation that it's a mall maintenance vehicle. Again, I didn't want to get security after me but maybe I'll go back for a closer look as I visit there every once in a while. I guess what intrigues me the most about it other is the condition that it's in. Is it original? The paint appears to be immaculate under that dust. Just look at the state of bumper and lights! It may very well be restored (can any of you identify that by looking at the photos?), but my mind can't get over the plausibility that there may be a chance it may be all original and has been kept there its whole life!
Makes me want to contact the mall administration to find out more about it.

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#2

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03-06-2015, 10:21 PM

Jdeshler

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Sweet pickup! Thanks for sharing

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#3

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03-07-2015, 12:10 PM

ARW

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Yup, love the style. You don't see too many in this particular configuration of this year.

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#4

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03-07-2015, 03:06 PM

arctic y block

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Subscribing to learn more. Go talk to the Mall people Bud.
Tell us the story and if she is for sale.

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#5

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03-08-2015, 07:12 PM

Speedjester

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That's nice... Did you say they were dodge rims?..I have the same rims on my 66.. Been trying to iD hem for a while now..( need the center caps)

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#6

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03-08-2015, 07:57 PM

sgettin

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"if it was purchased originally by the mall and has been stored inside the garage all its life "

not unless the mall has been there since 1961, not likely in the midwest but i dunno about your area.

interesting story i"d like to here the details and that truck looks nice from here.

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#7

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03-11-2015, 01:48 PM

ARW

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Quote:

Subscribing to learn more. Go talk to the Mall people Bud.
Tell us the story and if she is for sale.

Will do.

Quote:

That's nice... Did you say they were dodge rims?..I have the same rims on my 66.. Been trying to iD hem for a while now..( need the center caps)

That's correct. The picture below is what they look like with the center caps.

Quote:

"if it was purchased originally by the mall and has been stored inside the garage all its life "

not unless the mall has been there since 1961, not likely in the midwest but i dunno about your area.

interesting story i"d like to here the details and that truck looks nice from here.

I should have specified. The mall was first opened in 1946.

Thanks guys. Flying out of town soon but I'll update later on when I find some time to contact the administration.

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#8

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03-11-2015, 04:31 PM

Speedjester

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Thank you.........

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#9

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03-11-2015, 08:46 PM

ARW

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I was doing a little research and came across this informative article from Hemmings. Four Score - 1961 Ford F-250 | Hemmings Motor News

Thought this part was interesting:

"Of the 21,000 Ford F-250s manufactured for the 1961 model year, approximately 2,200 were equipped with four-wheel drive. Just 1,671 of those were outfitted with a Flareside box, like this month's feature truck, and a scant 149 four-wheel-drive F-250s were outfitted with a fleetside or "Styleside" box. (The rest were sold as cab and chassis or cowl and chassis rigs.)"

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#10

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03-13-2015, 12:28 PM

arctic y block

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Damn I hope someone will go and get more info on this truck.
Seems to me it would be a great investment.

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#11

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03-14-2015, 09:20 PM

Conserv

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The front bumper has certainly been re-painted: the 6 bolts securing the bumper to the brackets were originally silver cadmium plated, not painted. But a bumper alone doesn't tell much of a story. I thought that West Coast mirrors were either light gray or off-white from the factory whereas these are a bright white. But mirrors alone also don't tell much of a story. Is the top of the roof white, or is the photo simply showing the bright overhead lights reflecting off a black cab roof? My gut says it's been re-painted, but I'd need to see more to be certain.

Regardless, a rare and desirable truck in apparently great condition!

Regards,

Steve

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#12

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03-15-2015, 10:24 AM

tripleframe

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Assuming the front end clip is original to truck, it is a '62, not a '61. Ford letters above grill and star in grill are specific to '62 pickups, '61 pickups had the Ford block letters in center of grill. Pretty much the exact same vehicle aside from the front end. The interesting note is in 1961, the Flareside bed was the only standard bed available and cataloged on the 4X4 models. It was very late in the production year when the transition to the separate stylside became available. By 1962, both style beds were used. The exterior has been repainted, try to check under the hood for clues for the original color. Rims are the most changed items on these era F 250's, the correct period rims will always have inner nubs for hubcap retention.

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#13

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03-15-2015, 10:41 AM

1972RedNeck

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Quote:

Originally Posted by tripleframe

The exterior has been repainted, try to check under the hood for clues for the original color.

What makes you say that? Just curious...

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#14

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03-15-2015, 12:58 PM

tripleframe

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Quote:

Originally Posted by 1972RedNeck

What makes you say that? Just curious...

In general, checking under the hood will reveal the original color, most fast repaints never bother with this. But this truck is easier to detect of being a repainted, photo #3 in first post clearly shows the dashboard the original factory color caribbean torquiose.

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#15

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03-20-2015, 01:17 PM

oaklandford

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Good eye triple

Poor color match, what where they thinking? Even the front end paint looks way too white.

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