I live in North Carolina, and it's not uncommon to see 6th and 7th gen Ford trucks still doing their daily grind.


Like today, there was a landscaper in downtown Charlotte, 6th gen Ford pick-up hauling around his equipment.


It hit me that in 1987, that would have been like seeing a 1947 pickup still being used as a daily workhorse. (And I don't recall ever seeing something like that)


I know there are several factors at play, but it's still interesting to think about.

 

In 1974 my Dad bought a 1929 Model A as a father-son project with me. That 45 year old car was an obsolete antique. No one had been using them as daily drivers for probably over 20 years.

Last summer I was driving my 1971 Bronco daily (and I plan to again this summer). Last summer marked my Bronco turning 45, the same age the Model A was when we bought it.

So yes, I've thought about...

 

Last summer the people across the street have a lawn service cut the grass and the guy uses a bull nose to pull the small trailer the zero turn is on.


Truck looks pretty good, I should get a picture if it shows up this year.
Dave ----

 

I often think about how it's interesting that my truck was made a full decade before I was. I was born in '95.
but now that I've been interested in 7.3 powerstrokes I notice that 90% of them are as old as me or younger

 

I believe these year trucks are going to become and remain popular, because they are the last trucks most people can actually work on and had carbs. If you are anti-electronics and fuel injection, these trucks have the most options (heavy payload, power steering, power brakes, A/C, and other options) and the latest engines you can get and avoid fuel injection, except the 85-85 5.0.

I think we are on a mission, and will eventually get all the electronic carbed 300's converted

 

Mine is one!

 

..and next month, mine is another!

 

I can remember when I was a senior in high school one of my teachers drove a lifted '71 F-250 Highboy with a brush guard and roll bar. I thought that was the coolest truck I had ever seen. At that time his truck was 22 years old and it was a huge motivation for me to build my own truck as I got older. Now I look at my 33 year old truck and wonder if I've inspired the younger generation the same way.

 

Often when I drive my truck young kids on walks with their mom will stop, look, and point. Makes me smile





Kids like big shiny trucks. Who knew?

 

Not related to this gen of trucks, but related to old Fords, when I was about 18 years old (around 1982) the local Model A Ford club had a car show in the local mall. I was thinking about painting mine so I was looking at another 1929 Tudor Sedan, trying to memorize where the stripes and breaks between colors were.

There was an "old guy" (probably younger than I am now) next to me, saying to his 14 year old son "I learned to drive in a car just like that."

I turned to them and said "I did too!"

 

Where I'm from here in rural Indiana (or any rural area for that matter) it's still a common sight to see 20-30 year old trucks no matter what brand, still on the road today. Most commonly they're old farm trucks still in use, or were(and still are) daily drivers being resold from the orginal owners to young adults my age. 80s and 90s pickups are coming back in popularity at least around here and don't show signs of being retired anytime soon.

 

I know people who own trucks that are as old as they are, I even have one that was made the same year and month I was born. Looking at it, I don't think of it as a 20 year old rusted truck. I think of it as the vechicle I and my father rode together in when I was a kid, and the truck I learned to drive in. You think about the experiences and good times from a bygone era. They almost become members of the family, if you know what I mean.

 

I use her regularly to haul.