I just needed an old beater pickup truck back in 1981.....a young guy in town had one and it ran; so I bought it for a couple hundred. Drove it for a while with little interest.....then learned it was what they called a '56 Big Window. Did a frame-off then!

 

Back in 1950, my dad had a Ford F-1 company truck. I would sit in the garage and practice shifting and using the clutch with out the engine running for hours. I was 10 years old at the time. His company later gave him a jeep as a company vehicle. About 1955, my then, future, Father-in- Law bought a beautiful, tan '49 F-1. I fell in love with that truck. To make a long story short, life took over and when I retired in 2002, I decided that if I was ever to have a Bonus Built, now was the time. I now own three of them. At my age, I can't spend years completely restoring a truck and hope to drive it. So, I'm building a daily driver using at least one of the other trucks as a parts truck and hope to have it on the road by the end of the year. Just need to finish the wiring and brakes and it's ready to go. Hope to have of few years of enjoyment out of it before I pass it on to one of my sons. Hopefully the truck will live on for a lot more years to come.

Gil

 

When I first saw my coe, I thought to myself that is was just so damn ugly that it was cute.............so I just had to have it. I paid the man $350.00 for it and then had to get it home from Arkansas. Obviously there were some that thought I had lost my mind when they saw me spending that kind of time and money on a darned old cabover. Needless to say, I like having out of the ordinary stuff. I really grew to love it after my intense 2 years of spending every free minute I had with it. It is a part of me now.

 

My dad always had Ford trucks.
When I was just a little guy, He had a 1951 F-1. Every day, I used to wait at the end of the driveway for him to come home from work. He'd lift me up onto his lap, & let me "drive" into the back yard. I've been hooked ever since.

Here's a gallery of some of my dad's past trucks.........

https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...2&albumid=1847


This is the truck he recently finished restoring..............
You can see more here.............

https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...&albumid=34737

 

The truck that I posted in pics was sold in around 1979? It was rewired by a friend of ours at the time with a roll of green wire and had a 289 in it. My brother had put in a digital clock in the dash which had to have a rectangle hole cut for it. He used an 1/8" drill bit to outline the hole and then filed it sort of smooth. The reason I tell you this is, has anyone on here seen this truck? It was sold around the Radcliff KY area. I couldnt afford to buy it back unless it was in bad shape or real cheap, but I'd love to know where it ended up?

Thats what I love about these stories, is all the ways these old trucks fit into our lives. Keep on posting, I love this stuff!!

 

Try posting on craigslist with a picture of it. Someone might know something.

 

These are pretty good stories. I've read some 3 times as I go through the thread.

BUT, I'm really waiting for someone to say, "Well, I was watching Sanford in Son..." or "When I saw that truck chasing Forest Gump..." hehehe

 

Was born into mine. Dad bought the truck new in 1950 and after it was used on the farm for about 20 years he gave what was left of it to me when I was a youngster. It sat in the trees for almost 30 years before I scrounged up the time and money to fix it up. I just wanted to make it drivable but everything was in such bad shape it turned into a full frame off restoration which I completed just a couple of months before Dad died. I persuaded him to go with me on one short, painful trip which of course is something I'll never forget. RIP Dad.

 

it's in the first three paragraphs here .....

http://jniolon.clubfte.com/Trialsofa...mebuilder.html

later
John

 

There weren't many pick-ups in my family. My grandfather had Internationals but I only remember two of those. He was a sign painter and his truck had about a zillion different colors on the rear fenders. My dad always had old cars for work and my mom had the best car.

I got to drive the '53 Merc we had and they finally gave it to me. I alway sort of wanted a pick-up back then but I didn't have one. Later in life I made up for that with a string of newer ones leading up to my '03 F-350 dually diesel crew cab.

I always liked the '53-'56 body style and every once in a while I would see one and think I'd like to have one. My son who lives in the Atlanta area started looking for one for himself and found two '53 F-100s. I decied to buy one of them and four months later I went to get it. Since then I found another one, a reasonable sized plie of body parts and several donor vehicles. Now if I can live long enough I want to build up two of them simultaneously. It's also nice to have my son working on one too. It's a kind of long distance father and son bonding thing since he is 600 miles away.

Later Folks...

 

Dad had a 54 was the second owner I became the third. The 54 is gone but not forgotten. Now I have a 56.

 

In 1970, I was just coming of age of driving, and my father owned a 1955, F-100 that he drove back and forth to work. He decided to purchase a van, and drive a group of guys to the copper mines outside of Tucson, where we lived and wanted to sell the truck. Well I begged and pleaded, and finally he allowed me to purchase the truck from him for a grand total of $500.00.

It took me about 7 months to pay him off, (that was a lot of money for a 15 year old then) but I worked through the summer, got it paid off and was able to drive it when I turned 16 years old.

The truck had a 292 and a Ford-O-Matic transmission. I kept having trouble with the rockers running dry of oil, so I purchased and external oiler for the rocker assembly (that was the hot ticket then) put it on and seem to have helped, but there was really no way to keep this thing from leaking oil outside the valve covers, all the time. (Maybe I intalled it incorrectly, who knows)

Well, in my auto mechanics class, I pulled the engine, and rebuilt it, put it back in the truck, and extracted the external oiler and it ran great.

Again, we lived in Tucson, so the summer of 1972, i took it down to Nogales, Mexico and had the truck painted and the seat redone in leather, for a grand total of again, $500.00. The truck was painted a canary yellow with a brown leather seat. So i guess you may have already figured out why I am mellowyellow55 on this site, anyway, to this day, when I run into people I went to high school with, when in Tucson, many of them ask if I still own the yellow 55'? (I sold it in 1975)

So, now I own two, a 1953 and a 1954, both of which are in paint prep stage.

 

Hi All. We purchased the old girl 12 years ago, from a neighbor. The truck was made in Long Beach, and never got too far away from home. She is pretty much stock, except for a header with dual exhaust. The motor is a 223ci. six with Ford O Matic transmission. Also equiped with an original equipment, Eagle hood ornament. We belong to Pickups Limited Orange County, and have lots of great times with our friends and their trucks. Life is good. Hey Terry, say hi to PEGYSU.

 

I'll do it man. She's kind of mad at me right now, she knew I was out with another truck at the PF show

 

...My Dad worked as a Design Engineer in Dearborn, MI at the Design Center (now called PDC, Product Devleopment Center) directly across the street from Greenfeild Village.

I grew-up a Ford-Kid...I was Waaaaayyyyy into cars & hot rods at a young age and saw my first Effie at a local car show/picnic at the "Wilson Barn" in Livonia, MI...an Historical Site...

Anyway...I've wanted my OWN Effiie ever since...and now I've git it......

Just didn't know it would take 40 years......