A buddy of mine found t he truck I want out of state today. A short bed, regular cab 2 wheel drive 1979 F100. 300I 6cyl., at with working air and no side trim. The price is a tad bit high for what I can afford right now, but if it is going to be super difficult to find another I may just bite the bullet. Is this truck a rare find?

 

Depends...any rust? How much is the price? How far is it for you to get?
Rare? I dont think so. Is it FACTORY A/C? Sounds like a std work truck(Custom) with A/C to me....
BUT still cool none-the less.

 

It's not an overly common truck but that doesn't mean you should pay too much for it

 

I have not seen the truck. The report I got is that it is on a cattle farm in central Georgia. It is the farmers "go to town" truck. Repotedly rust free, one owner and under 80,000 original miles with service records from he local Ford dealership. Light blue with dark blue interior, mono tone paint and factory wheels with factory hubcaps. The farmer said,he was not interested in selling. My buddy told him that I would be interested in persueding him otherwise. He stated he would need no less then $5000 to even consider letting it go. My buddy bought a Brahma bull from him and wants me to go talk with him when he picks up the bull this weekend.

 

Better be one hell of a truck for 5g's!

 

That sounds like my exact truck with the exception of being a short bed. Mine had 85k miles, but has rust along the drip rails and some in the bed, and the front end was a little banged up from the previous owner's son learning how to drive. I paid $1500. It's too basic of a truck to warrant $5k despite being in good shape. If the guy's not really wanting to get rid of it in the first place (and therefore probably not willing to budge on the price), I don't see the point in pursuing.

 

If it was $250 it would be super rare. If it was $9000, not so rare.

 

With literally millions of these trucks produced...there aren't very many combinations that are rare. Nothing about that truck tells me to pay a premium price about that truck without seeing it in person. I'd be skeptical of the 80k on the odo...but it's possible, still not a huge selling point in my book though. $5k is a helluva 2wd truck in my neck of the woods.

 

Spoke with the owner "Ed" today at great length. There will be no negotiation on the truck. He is a very nice guy who purchased the truck new after he totaled a 77' shortbed two wheel drive in the fall of 79'. He said it was a "hold over" truck and that it was only one of three remaining 79's on the lot. The new model year and new body style did not appeal to him and he drove almost to South Carolina to view the three they had. It was the only one with AC, so it was the obvious choice even though he desired a stick shift he said. He drives it to have breakfast and then to church every Sunday morning, and the longest trip it has ever been on is the one when he brought it home. All original except for tires, battery, points, oil and gas he said. Parked in the barn Monday-Saturday.

I asked if there was any wiggle room on the $5,000 price tag to which he responded, "Yeah, I could wiggle up to $5,500 or maybe even $6,000.". He told me that he honestly did not think the truck was worth $5,000, but he would sell it for that if he was given an offer that high. He told me where another was located that I could get cheap, but it needs some work to get running, he was told.

So closes the book on that one... For now.

 

That's about as honest a seller as you could ask for.

 

I agree. However, a buyer has to consider what one would maybe need to spend fixing a cheap truck especially if body work and/or major mechanical work is involved. Two to 3 thousand bucks isn't hard to put into these. I bought a cheap 2wd F250 supercab for $800 and runs good, but I have put about $2000 in it already with my own bodywork/paint, new radiator and new A/C compressor along with new tires. I need brakes and my transmission needs rebuilt. So, a cheap truck can end up costing a bunch. If a truck is mechanically sound and rust free, that can save a bunch.

 

I scan CL every day all over the country.

short bed 67-79's often average double or triple the asking price of long beds.

They seem so be fairly scarce and desirable recently.

 

I don't know how rare, but I got the same basic truck except for a long bed and $5k is what I am gonna hold firm to as well even though the paint is thin and it has some dents. The truck is tight, replaced a lot of the pain in the butt parts (heater core,exhaust manifold,water pump etc etc etc ) The body has no rust through anywhere, not a pinhole to be found. These old trucks are hard to find with zero rust through, took me couple years of searchin to find one and thats down here in S La closer where you expect to find rust free Southern trucks. Body rot is a huge PITA, always seems to come back no matter how far back you cut away and weld new in. Then you factor in just how original, complete, and un-jury rigged a truck is as well.
With todays gas prices you can actually afford to drive and enjoy the 6cyl trucks, especially with AC,ps,pb and a auto trans. Mine gets 16-18 mpg+ driven at 60 mph and is a joy to drive even in the hot summers we get here. A V8 truck is a detract with me personally, unless it's a stock 302 truck. I have had a few 400-500+hp vehicles and you just can't afford to drive em like you want IMO, if it's not the $3+ a gallon gas it's the cops ready to write a ticket for 5 mph over the speed limit, not a knock on cops but they have seriously cracked down everywhere on speeders and hot rodders the last 10 years.

I'm gonna use that wiggle line too with the low ballers