I have a 1961 Ford F100 4X4 Shortbed Custom Cab with the stepside bed.
It has a Manual transmission with inline 6 engine. The body and frame are in good condition with minimal rust. The engine barely runs and smokes quite a bit.

I am trying to verify everything is correct by decoding the VIN, however the VIN seems to be very hard to find!.

There is some sort of paper sticker inside the glove box, however years of outside storage and pesky mice have destroyed the sticker beyond readability.

I have attempted to find the VIN Stamped on top of the Passenger side Frame rail near the starter, but have not been able to find it yet.

The only real thing I can find on the truck is a Colorado ID Plate which has been riveted on the inside driver's door frame near the lock plate. There are two numbers on the plate:

ID number: ID 44178 COLO
Control Number: 244078

The truck has a clear title and the VIN on the title is ID 44178 COLO
There are a couple Texas Registration Stickers in the Window, and it has a New Mexico license plate.

I dont know much about the history of this truck, but my best guess is that the VIN is either non-existant or hidden very well, so the previous owners had to create a new serial number to get the truck licensed.

Are there any other places the VIN may be stamped?
Does this Colorado ID Plate have any significance?

I would also like to know how rare this truck may be. I would like to know because this would help me decide whether to restore to original or modify it slightly to make it a very nice truck to drive.

Couple of Misc things:
It has driving lights bolted to the top of the front bumper--Is this factory or original?

It has a temperature gage to the left of the speedometer--it looks like an add-on but was this an option?

 

Welcome to FTE

At some point, your truck was prolly a theft recovery, which IMO, would be the only reason, considering where the metal Warranty Plate is located (riveted on the inside of the glovebox door) for CO to issue a new VIN.

The factory hidden VIN is stamped on the top of the right (passenger) side frame rail in front of, or partially under the cab. This VIN may be hard to find under rust and road grime.

If the truck was a theft recovery, the CO polizei and/or the DMV would have searched for the VIN, so...it may have been ground off. At that time, Kelley Blue Books listed the locations of the hidden VIN's for every vehicle.

Example of a 1961 F100 4WD VIN: F11JK123456 / F11 = F100 4WD / J = 223 1V I-6 / K = Kansas City MO Assembly Plant / 123456 = 1961.

Ford did offer accessory driving or fog lights at the parts counter. If the lights have FORD marked on them on a bezel above the lights, they are correct.

Oil & Amp guages on either side of the round speedo were optional. But the temp guage was only found within the speedo, so what you have is aftermarket.

1961 F100 4WD Flareside (a stepside is a CHEVROLET) production figure: 2,468.

But, while rare then and even rarer today, considering the mortality rate, this doesn't mean the truck is worth a pile a dough.

These trucks are money pits, worth only what someone is willing to pay for them. Whatever you estimate the total cost will be to restore/restomod the truck, DOUBLE it, then add 20%

You think you bought an old truck, but what you really bought is a hobby...and hobbies tend to be expensive.

btw: Ford installed a decal inside the glovebox door that had the tire pressures marked on it. So, that's prolly what the remains of the 'paper sticker' is.