1979 Ford F-250: A Time Capsule in 4×4 Ranger Spec
Super-clean vintage Ford trucks have been getting rarer, which makes this optioned out F-250 4×4 Ranger even more impressive.
When it comes to vintage trucks, this 1979 Ford F-250 4×4 Ranger we’ve stumbled across on Bring a Trailer grabbed us by the heart as an example of Dentside desirability. The spec for this is just about perfect to us, including the Walnut Glow paint over a Sand interior. You may prefer the slightly earlier style F-Series split grill, but that’s a minor quibble when you consider someone originally drove this off the lot, before anything else, with the 4×4 option ticked as well as the Ranger trim for the extra brightwork.
The original owner also had a sliding rear window, aftermarket bumpers, and diamond-plate fitted on both the upright at the back of the bed and the inside of the tailgate. We also see the lift kit using Mickey Thompson shocks are also on the original build sheet. The 6.6-liter V8 was the largest engine you could get for the 6th generation, although the claim of it coming with 4-barrel carbs before being fitted with a 2-barrel unit for California compliance is dubious. However, it looks like it has the correct spec on there now.
In 1979 the base price for an F-250 was a little under $5,500. According to the seller and the paperwork, this one rolled out, with options, for a total of $11,010. That’s a hell of a lot of truck for the money, even back then, and it makes you wonder why this F-250 went for just 65,000 miles before going into storage for over 30 years. On the one hand, that’s one hell of a workhorse to not get used to its full potential. On the other hand, it means we get a chance to have a good look at what a well optioned late 1970s Dentside looks like in fresh condition.
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