1,500-Mile 1997 Ford F-350 Dump Truck Is Proof That the Market Is Out of Control

By Brett Foote - April 28, 2023

This 1997 Ford F-350 dump truck is an amazing find, but we aren’t ready to accept that trucks of this era are worth this kind of money.

In recent years, we’ve seen quite the shift in the collector car market, which didn’t used to really appreciate pickups that way we always have. That has changed in a big way, however, and now, people are seeking out older trucks and SUVs with a fervor, plunking down huge amounts of money to secure the nicer, low-mile examples out there. While this leaves many of us sitting on the sidelines, unable to make that sort of major financial decision, it has also stirred up a bevy of amazing trucks like this 1997 Ford F-350 dump truck up for sale at Gateway Car Connection. However, it’s also a great example of why the market has shifted from one extreme to another.

You see, the asking price for this fine workhorse is a truly eye-watering $84,800, which is, well, new truck money. Obviously, it’s a gorgeous machine that has an incredibly low 1,584 original miles showing on the odometer, which the seller uses to justify its lofty asking price. But even though 1990s Ford trucks have grown tremendously in popularity in recent years, it’s still hard to imagine that we live in a world where this stunning example is worth nearly six figures.

Unlike many low-mile survivors, this 1997 Ford F-350 does have a pretty cool story to tell, at least. “Basically, the truck was ordered by a guy that owned a Ford franchise – he owned a large Ford store,” Anthony Clavenna, owner of Gateway Car Connection, explained to The Drive in an interview. “He ordered it and hauled one load of gravel in 1999, so that’s the only thing that’s ever been in the bed. He did that one load of gravel, but he would drive it into his Ford store periodically and have it serviced. It wasn’t a truck that sat around even though it didn’t get a ton of miles put on it. It did drive periodically.”

The truck wasn’t even titled until 2020, and it’s been stored in a climate controlled facility since new, which obviously kept it in pretty pristine condition. It’s also equipped with some desirable features such as four-wheel-drive and the legendary 7.3-liter Power Stroke diesel, coupled with a set of aftermarket Weld wheels that were installed on day one, adding to what is already an appealing hauler.

The only sticking point here, obviously, is the truck’s exorbitant price tag – which, in all fairness, is probably in the right range given what we’ve seen these vehicles going for lately. However, we aren’t quite ready to live in a world where 1990s Ford trucks are selling for this kind of money, territory once reserved for crazy-fast sports cars and iconic classics. It’s unclear if the market for pickups of this era will continue to soar the way it has the past few years, but if you own one, we probably wouldn’t be parting ways with it just yet.