Antique Ford Truck Prices: Insane or In the Right Ballpark?

What’s the most you would pay for a project truck?

It is not unusual to watch a collector’s auction on television and see an antique Ford truck bring big money, but those are all clean trucks that have usually been restored. However, the rise in prices of restored trucks has driven up the price people are asking for rust buckets, leading one member to question whether the seller smoked crack before placing the advertisements in this Ford Truck Enthusiasts thread.

Early 50s Ford Trucks for Sale

This discussion began when “bobj49f2” shared the four classified ads shown below of 1950 through 1952 Ford trucks for sale. As you can see in the pictures, these trucks are “restoration ready”, but the prices range from $2,000 to $18,000 – all of which seems outrageous to the OP.

While perusing Craiglist posts I used Google and found numerous ads for ’48-51 Fords. I only looked at the first two pages that came up before I started wondering if the rampant drug problem is worse than most suspect. Just from looking at a few of the ads I can’t believe this guys are on something. Here are four sample I found with their prices and short descriptions. Most of the trucks I found I wouldn’t offer much more than scrap price for, the few I found that were drivable but needed a lot of work to get into nice condition were only a few thousand dollar less than some of the really nice looking finished trucks. There are some really nice trucks listed for the $25K to $50K range. $50K is a lot for an old truck, IMO, no matter how nice it is but the $25~ range seems pretty reasonable if you consider how much it costs to restore a truck.

I know these are asking prices, probably no where near what they’d get for them but to list them for these prices seems nuts to me.

The first person to reply was “FortyNiner”, who had an interesting take on the situation:

It isn’t drugs, Bob, these sellers are just believers in the ‘Greater Fool’ theory of valuation. Basically, while they may very well be nuts, the sellers only need one party even more disconnected from reality to make the deal.

Thus, while I’m a fool, a greater fool exists to reward me.

We’ve seen the evidence at most any swap meet of any size. Stuff that seemingly wasn’t worth hauling to the sale finds a new owner for a price that cause many to simply shake their collective heads. Greater fools all.

Comparative Pricing

Forum member “49f3dls” posted next, explaining that he sold his F3 for just $5,500 in much better shape than the vehicles in the first post:

And I sold my F3 for $5500. All body work was done, 5.0 EFI with a 5 speed trans, Jag front end, F250 rear end, Jeep bucket seats, 4 wheel disk brakes and black walnut bed boards. It needed to be painted. It had 4 new tires on American Racing Mags. I was happy with that price now maybe I’m thinking I was nuts!

He also included this picture of his truck.

“3twinridges” chimed in, pointing out auction pricing:

People are paying big bucks for these trucks now. A 51 sold on Mecum the other day for $46k. It didn’t even have the correct air cleaner.
Sone of those trucks you posted looked pretty good. No one has gotten to them to cut them up and molest them yet.

“Mr Ed” also shared his own truck. He didn’t mention pricing, but he had some encouraging input for those on the hunt for a antique Ford truck on a budget:

Ah, the wonders of the televised auctions. Everybody thinks they have a #1 trailer queen when in reality they have a solid #4 that isn’t worth looking at. Just keep your eyes open and one will come along. I waited for close to a year until I scored Henry. 351W with C4, immaculate interior and all steel with original metal from the factory. Hang in there.

 

Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Facebook   Twitter