1986 Lariat F-250 Has Found the Fountain of Youth
Daily Slideshow: Most 30-year-old Ford trucks have been used, and they show it.
One in a Million
With a few exceptions, it's hard to find an older Ford truck that's in anything remotely resembling showroom-fresh condition. And for good reason. After all, these pickups were built to work and work hard. And that's exactly why people buy them. But every so often, you come across a stunning, well-preserved pickup like this 1986 Ford F-250 that recently crossed the virtual block on Bring a Trailer.
California Dreaming
So how, exactly, does a 30+-year-old pickup survive the ills of time? Well, this particular F-250 was originally purchased in California and has lived there ever since. Dry, sunny climates are one major way to save old sheet metal.
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Rarely Driven
But it appears that the original owner didn't have much of a need to drive his truck a lot, either. The F-250 only accumulated 63,670 miles by 2006. It's changed hands twice since then, but still only shows 66,600 miles on the odometer. And who can blame them, given how nice this pickup is?
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Mostly Original
This is by no means a 100% stock original truck, but it is pretty close. The original drivetrain is intact, including a 460 V8 and Borg Warner T-19 4-speed manual transmission. The truck was repainted in 2016, however, probably after spending too much time in the California sun. And of course, the wheels and tires are aftermarket bits.
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Faded but Excellent
The interior is a bit faded as well, but otherwise in excellent condition. You'd expect a truck of this age to have at least a tear or two in the original fabric, but you won't find any here. The carpet, trim, and most everything else is original, too.
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Big Motor, Little Problem
The engine bay could use a little cleaning up, but all the original stuff is there. It also reportedly runs excellent, saving for a timing issue that causes the truck to sputter at low RPMs from time to time.
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Clean Undersides
Look underneath, and things are similarly clean for a truck this age. It also comes with dual fuel tanks, one of which was replaced a couple years ago and fitted with an aftermarket fuel gauge.
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Dual Door Panels
On the inside, the seller did replace both door panels with aftermarket ones from LMC Truck. We're guessing they were probably quite faded, given the other information we have on this F-250. But they did include the originals with the sale, in case the new owner wants to go as original as possible.
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Rolling Luxuriously
This Lariat XLT-trimmed F-250 is nicely equipped, too. It rolls with goodies like power steering and brakes, tilt wheel, cruise control, and air conditioning. A new A/C compressor and hoses were just installed, so you know it'll blow cold for years to come.
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Future Collectible
This stunning F-250 might not be the perfect garage queen you see every now and then, but somebody obviously cared for it well over the years. And after selling for north of $15k, it's clear that at least one person agrees with us. We're betting that prices for trucks like this one will only rise in the future, as people find it harder and harder to find them in this kind of condition.
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