I posted this thread for dentsides in particular, but it wouldn't be the end of the world if car or two snuck in.
I think one of the things that fascinate me about these trucks is how many stories begin with "My Dad had one", or my Grandpa or uncle had one, or I remember riding around in one when I was growing up, etc.
For some reason these trucks really DO become part of the family.

 

Everytime i finally convince myself that I'm going with race trak trim, i see a sharp two-tone that makes me rethink that decision. Hmm, top or bottom?

 

Why not one of each? Problem solved!

 

My "one that got away" was a green 78 bronco for $1500 at the local junkyard back in '05 that was in perfect shape and ran good....when i finally had the $1500, the bronco was gone.. it had been there for months..and of course, when I finally got the money someone bought it...

 

Okay, I'll break the "car" ice with a similar story.
I was just out of high school, working for Firestone, delivering tires to the various Firestone dealers in Miami. One day I'm going down north west South River Drive. This road parallels the Miami River and was a pretty run down area. It had a lot of scrap yards along the river. Right before NW 27th avenue I saw two old cars that I thought were neat looking so I stopped. It turns out they were both '34 Packard sedans. between the two you had a good starting point to make a nice car. The guy that ran the junk yard wanted $1000.00 for both. This was 1969, I was making $85.00 a week so $1000 was a lot of money. I scrimped and saved and finally got the money, went back and they were gone. The guy said he ended up scrapping them . The '34 Packard is still one of my favorite cars. I sure missed out on that one.

 

For me, it's not so much the truck that got away, it's the stuff I gave away when I sold it. I had a '79 F250 4X4 from the mid-80's to the mid-90's. I was living in L.A. at the time, and I had to get "under the table" smog certificates because I had swapped in a 460. Those got more and more expensive every year because the Gestapo was busting smog shops in Kommiefornia. When I sold it, at that time I was figuring that I'd never own another one, so I loaded up the bed with all my spare parts and included them in the sale. I gave the buyer my complete set of factory service manuals and a set of almost-new Bushwhacker fender flares, among other things.
Fast forward to the 2000's: when I would see a really clean '73-'79 4X4, I'd get to thinking, "man, it would be cool to have one of those trucks again." I eventually did buy what I consider to be the "dream truck" of dent sides, a '79 F350 Supercab 4X4 Lariat. I now have a CD-ROM set of service manuals, but, man, I sure wish I had held on to those Bushwhacker fender flares!!

 

as soon as I move to the country that will be an option!

 

With the exception of the front fenders and the front door glass, 1933 Packards are basically the same as 1934's.

I owned a 1934 Packard 1108 V12 Dietrich Convertible Victoria for 40 years (1968/2008).

In 1972, a guy was advertising a rare 1948 Nash Ambassador convertible. When I went to look at it, he also had a 1934 Packard V12 1108 Landaulet, body by Rollston that he was using as a chicken coop!

I made a couple of calls, found out that the original owner was Charlie Chaplin.

He wanted 2 grand, I couldn't get the money out fast enough, towed it home, took me several weeks to remove all the chicken crap.

Then I ran an ad in the LA Times Classic/Antique section for 5 grand, got dozens of calls, first guy that showed up...bought it. I probably sold it too cheap, but I couldn't get it to run as the block was cracked.

I passed on the Nash, it was a horrid rusty turd and being a unit-body, would have been very expensive to fix.

btw: The former Packard dealership building in Fort Lauderdale is now a car museum.

 

So what happened to Chuck's Packard, Bill? Restored in a museum somewhere, or a daily out in LA?

 

You owned my dream car Bill
.

 

My first dentside was a 1978 shortbed 2WD with a 302 and 3 on the tree. Light blue with dark blue interior. I learned to drive in her at twelve, spent three years behind the wheel burning up dirt roads in it every day. My buddy turned sixteen and got his license a few months before I did, I let him drive it and he wrapped it around a tree.

I pulled the front clip off of her and got her running and driving again, but my parents decided to sell her rather then putting anymore money into her for the new front clip.

 

After high school, I owned a 67 Mustang that was in good condition. It was totaled after someone ran a stop sign. 5 years later, 1985, I saw a California Special Mustang for sale for $1500. Body was straight and clean. Interior had a few hangups. I drew the money out and grabbed my wife. When she saw the car, she was pissed "Why do we need extra car, what about insurance"." THAT was my car I missed out on.

 

That may just be the most beautiful automotive art I've ever seen. You were indeed a lucky man to own that piece of history.

 

Around 1982/83 I became acquainted with a neighbor down the road after I inquired about his Black 1979 F250 Camper Special (Lariat??) which I'd never seen driving around.

This gentleman was a retired Ford employee and he had a doozie of a truck, which he special ordered (he said he had connections) and only drove in the summer on fishing trips using his custom camper topper in the truck box.

When I first saw it up close it had less than 10,000 kilometers on it and it was spotless with a black frame, factory production line markings and all the like.

This was a most unique truck and here's what it had:
Black exterior with all the custom cab trims.
Short box with a custom dual tank set-up.
Large 8-bolt 16.5" steel wheels like the F350 Camper Specials (maybe 10" factory rear wheels?).
Over load, Helper leaf spring above the spring pack.
Rear sway bar.
Dana 60 (or 70?) rear differential.
460-4V engine, C6 auto, dual batteries (I don't recall if it had A/C?).
Interior bucket seats were like in same year Bronco's including center console.

This gentleman was a stickler for details and kept his truck pristine.
I only saw that truck up close a couple times and I studied it closely but it was always garaged and in a fenced private yard.
I heard the old man passed a few years later and when I inquired about the truck the family member said the old man had promised first refusal of the truck to a friend (no additional info offered to me) so I never saw it again.

That truck has been etched into my brain for decades now and I hope to one day find a decent dentside to replicate that black beauty.

Man, an F250 Custom Cab/Lariat regular cab, short box with all the heavy duty running gear would be a killer. If it weren't that it was a few years old at the time, and so remarkably "new" including the undercarriage/chassis/suspension I would have thought it was custom built...

If anyone can provide a photo of a similar truck to this please include it in this post. I saw this truck long before the days of cell phone camera's so I never had a chance to see the truck with a camera...

 

My truck first started out as my great- great grandfathers truck when he bought it new in '73. After he passed away, my great grandfather inherited it in '84. My grandfather decided to give it to me, and began restoring it in '97. I was too young to help or remember.

He taught me how to drive it when I was four (I'm not exaggerating, he was a laid back guy). He mowed his yards and neighbors yards for fun, and I grew up riding in it and helping him mow yards.
He passed away when I was 14, and had it in his will to give me the truck at 16. Had it not been for the help of this forum I would have never been able to get it on the road. I have learned a lot just from lurking, and only recently made an account. I plan to never let this truck get away.


This is her, 1973 f-100 ranger 2wd with a 302, automatic transmission, and factory a/c