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Radios (and their speaker and antenna) were optional equipment. If you didn't order one you didn't get one.
If any of my trucks didn't come with one I'd buy an original and rebuild it. 1961-1963 used radios with vacuum tubes in it. 1964-1966 they changed over to modern transistors. The faceplate is a decent way to tell at a glance which one you are looking at. If vacuum tubes it will have a 12 in the dial and if transistorized it will have a 13 in the dial instead.
You can add modern features inside of the older case, too. Or RetroSound makes an aftermarket radio that looks similar that gives modern features.
I enjoy my 66 F100 "Shrek" without the radio, as he was ordered with the radio delete option, if the off chance I want music or to listen to something, I have my Shokz to use
Probably not worth mentioning but I will anyway. Subtle nuance but there was no radio delete option. If no radio on the order, you simply didn't get one. No reason to have a delete option in that case since it was not standard equipment. There were delete options for other standard option items.
In 1966 the padded dash could be deleted as part of a regular production truck without special order but only on certain models like the F250 4x4 and F350. To delete the padded dash on the F100/250 2WD or the F100 4x4 would require a special order.
Anyone who has their original invoices should see the radio listed if the truck got one.
Thank you, nice to know, I always thought it was a delete option, thanks for the correction! My 66 was special ordered, no cig. lighter, no dash pad, no radio, only dr. side mirror, single speed wipers, 240/T18 I think it was about as barebones as you could get.
1966 was first year for the dash pad being standard equipment so not an upgrade for that item. You had to special order if you didn't want one. Yours looks to be in decent shape. Here's the page for F250 2WD. Lower left corner.
Thank you, nice to know, I always thought it was a delete option, thanks for the correction! My 66 was special ordered, no cig. lighter, no dash pad, no radio, only dr. side mirror, single speed wipers, 240/T18 I think it was about as barebones as you could get.
As you can see from the page above the cigar lighter was optional for Standard Cab and standard equipment (included) on the Custom Cab for 1966. No dash pad probably the only reason for the special order among those choices. There was a Delete Option for the heater that would have saved a few more bucks.
I don't have either of your 1966 trucks in my list. Would you mind sharing the data plate from those two?
I have your 1963 4x4 and also gave you credit for mentioning a Ranger an eBay some years back F10YR804723. That one a special order but not because it's a Ranger - that was a Regular Production Option (RPO) - but because of the special-order paint - blank Color code.
Absolutely, I'll get good pictures of them tomorrow, and I was wrong, I forgot I took the cracked dash pad off it was so bad, so it did come with one, it has the 6-digit DSO # so it was special in one way or another
Ok, so had to walk up to my shop to get beer and bring it down to the bike garage fridge (I only have 1 motorcycle in it now but still call it the bike garage) so I took a pic of Shreks data tag, and some more info, he was from SD, bought it from the OG owners son, he lived a hard life, was towed behind a road grader when he was building roads in South Dakota, had some crude brackets bolted on the front bumper bolts and I've cleaned sooo much asphalt/tar from him over the years. He also has some nice barb wire pinstriping on the front (ask me how I know what that looks like... lol) I finally pulled the original 240 out in late 2021 and rplc'd it in late '21 with a 300 since it was smoking so bad going down the mtn.
Last edited by Pickupmanx2; Mar 4, 2026 at 08:31 PM.
Reason: went up to shop, so took a pic of Shreks tag
Um.... whats everyone doing for a radio?
didnt realize till recently that there weren't even any holes in the dash.
RetroSound makes one that looks close to the original depending on how much you want to spend you can get all the bells and whistles. But if you actually plan on listening to a radio while driving invest in a lot of sound proofing. RetroSound. Modern Sound for Your Classic. – Retro Manufacturing
I have the RetroSound. It’s fine for my needs, but I’m not all that fussy about the highest fidelity, at my age.
I also have their speaker in the dash, and another a set behind the seat. Volume gets plenty loud for the tin-can that is my mostly uninsulated cab. If you so choose, it can “ fracture your skull and make your ears bleed”.
I hook up my device via Bluetooth. Never use the radio function, only listening to non-stop music or else connecting my phone. I haven’t listened to radio, with the annoying commercials, in close to 30 years, cannot tolerate em.
My truck came with a non-functioning radio, but I didn’t want to install a non-correct-looking newer one in my dash, so the RetroSound was the logical choice.
But since you don’t already have a radio - assuming you want the stock look. I’m skeptical that you’d be able to find one, have the internals converted , and maybe have to re-chrome it - for less than the cost of the RetroSound.
If stock appearance isn’t your priority, just cut an opening in and put in a modern unit. Probably much cheaper.
