You rarely see Econoline pickups these days, but this one recently made a cross-country trip.
Cool and Unusual
Most Ford truck fans are well aware that The Blue Oval built a pickup version of its Econoline van, but today, you rarely see these cool-looking creations. You most certainly never see them being driven across the country, either, but that's exactly what Tom, the owner of this 1965 Econoline pickup is doing. Along the way, Tom stopped by The Fast Lane Truck's home in Colorado and gave them a closer look at his very cool, very unusual ride.
Driver Grade
Tom hails from Pennsylvania, and by the time he stopped in Colorado, he had already added 6,000 miles to the odometer of his Econoline pickup. The clean-looking ride is obviously a driver, but it has also been treated to a host of modifications. That includes replacing the original 65 horsepower 170 cubic-inch inline-six with a 200 cubic-inch I-6 that makes around 115 horsepower, which is a nice upgrade.
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Old Fashioned Shifting
Connected to a three-speed column-shifted manual transmission, the new powerplant at least provides enough power to help the Econoline pickup keep up with modern traffic. Inside, Tom fitted the truck with a set of folding seats so that he could access the area behind them, which is rather critical when you're taking a road trip across the country in a vehicle with little storage space aside from the bed.
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Bare Bones Hauler
Otherwise, this pickup is pretty bare bones. It didn't come equipped with a lock for the passenger-side door, no door for the glove box, and not even a radio. This was a cheap, utilitarian pickup for people who needed a big bed to haul things around in, and little else. It's even capable of hauling around 1,500 pounds in that big bed, which is solid given the engine's output and the fact that the truck weighs around 2,800 pounds.
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Turning Cool
Tom notes that the truck's unique styling gets attention everywhere he goes, which is no surprise. But back when these trucks were new, a lot of people thought they were simply ugly. Thus, for some time, they could be purchased for next to nothing, but that's not the case these days as prices have steadily risen.
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Racking up Miles
Though it may not be the most comfortable vehicle to drive through the Colorado mountains in the snow, Tom has still managed to rack up a whopping 40,000 miles on his Econoline pickup over the last couple of years, and around 60k on it during his five and a half years of owning it. He admittedly doesn't drive it during inclement weather or even when it rains at home, but those things are unavoidable on a cross-country trip.
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Old School
As unique as the Econoline pickup is in general, it's also quite unique to see someone like Tom use it as much as he does. While most people have eschewed older vehicles for newer ones, at least for daily driving or road trip duties, he obviously likes to keep it old school. And for that reason, he deserves all the attention he and his cool pickup are getting.
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