1978 Ford F-250 With Only 139 Original Miles Gets First Wash In 42 Years
You can still buy a basically brand new 1978 F-250. This incredibly rare truck is currently for sale after decades in storage.
There are low mileage trucks, and there are super low mileage trucks. And then there are basically brand-new trucks. This 1978 Ford F-250 with only 139 original miles is essentially a brand-new 44-year-old truck. It is a Lariat 4×4 Camper Special painted in Crème over Dark Brown Metallic. The Saddle Lariat interior looks like it was never sat in. This color and model combination makes this truck one of only eleven built this way. The insanely low miles make this a true one of one truck.
The truck was found recently by the folks at Firehouse Vintage Vehicles, and they purchased it from the original owner. They then contacted Larry Kosilla from AMMO NYC. Kosilla was tasked with giving this time capsule truck a preservation detail. The idea was to clean it up to make it look like new. However, not to overdo it and make it better than new. A truck like this deserves to be kept as close to original as possible. And while the technology exists today to make the 1978 F-250 look better than ever, that was not what the team wanted. A video of this amazing truck and its preservation was recently uploaded to the AMMO NYC YouTube channel. Add this to your must watch list.
Backstory
As you would expect a truck like this has an interesting history. At the beginning of the video, we meet the original owner. He bought it new from Young Ford, in Charlotte North Carolina. He drove it home in March 1978. A late season snowstorm blew in and he drove his daughter to work through the snow in it. After the snow melted, he drove the truck once or twice more to his daughter’s house which was only about 400 feet down the road. After that he pulled it into the barn and never drove it again. The odometer currently reads 139.5 miles.
How Original Is It?
The original hup caps were not to the owners liking so he replaced them with a set from the 1977 Bronco. The rest of the truck is as close to showroom fresh as you will ever see. If you lift the hood, you will see the original wax pen markings on the radiator fan shroud. The radiator support still has the date stamp showing the truck was built on March 1, 1978. The tires still have the rubber nubs on the tread and stickers on the sidewall. Underneath the truck you will see the muffler also still has wax pen markings on it. This work truck never did a day of actual work in its life.
The Clean Up
Step one is a careful power wash to remove the dust, dirt and spider webs that are on the surface of the truck. Kosilla said it was the most satisfying power wash he had done in a very long time. It removed the surface junk but sitting so long embedded some dirt into the soft paint. So, to get rid of it Kosilla broke out the orbital and put on the lightest pad and lightest polish to gently remove the grime from the paint. The chrome and trim pieces were up next to remove the pitting that had formed. The inerior didn’t need much beyond a light vacuuming. The result was astounding. The truck looks like it could be sitting in a showroom in 1978. That includes the orange peel in the paint that was purposely not corrected to keep the period look.
The Downside
This 1978 F-250 looks stunning and is basically as new today as it was when first built. But there is a bit of an issue. It doesn’t run. The original owner would start the truck on occasion to keep the thing running. However, in 2005 his health started to go down hill and he was no longer able to keep up with it. As a result, this stunning, new looking truck will not add another mile to its odometer without some engine work.
Buy It Now
Despite it being a non-runner, this truck is a one in a million wonder. It could very well be placed in a museum. Or in your own garage. Firehouse Vintage Vehicles has the truck listed for sale. You have to call for the price, and we guess it will be a bit more than the original $8,240. But no matter what you pay for it, you will own a gorgeous truck that was frozen in time. There is not a nicer, or newer 1978 F-250 anywhere on the planet. We are glad it was saved and will be interested to see how it will spend the next 44 years of its life.
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